[ Summary | Qualifying | Race 1 | Race 2 ]
Round 2
Levels, Timaru
15th and 16th November 1997
In form driver, Brett Riley once again proved that he is the
man to beat in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship as he
swept to another maximum points score at the Timaru 
International
Raceway at Levels. He set the fastest times in the two qualifying
sessions on Saturday 15th November to place him on pole for the
two races he won convincingly in the Castrol BMW 320i on Sunday.
The first race saw close racing between Riley and his team mate
Jason Richards, with Riley under threat in the opening laps and
again towards the end as Richards made a late charge. Richards
had a much better meeting than he had in the opening round at
Manfield, breaking the lap record in the first race as he hounded
Riley for first place. The second race was a "Rileyfest"
as Brett capitalised on the mistakes of others and the gaps opened
before him. By the end of the race he was well clear of the pack
as he romped home for a decisive second victory.
Barrie Thomlinson in the Albert Street Dental Care/Autotrader
Ford Telstar spoilt a BMW 
one-two
finish in the second race, making his Ford Telstar too wide for
Richards on the slower parts of the circuit and too quick down
the start/finish straight. Both Thomlinson and Richards ending
the weekend with a second and a third place a piece. Of further
interest and spawning more rumours of Nigel Mansell's participation
in the series is a change of sponsorship on Thomlinson's car -
it now has sponsorship from Autotrader and a HUGE F1 Formula 1
Cars on the bonnet!
Peter van Brugel after an excellent start to his championship hopes at Manfield and good qualifying times at Timaru battled on in the races, alternatively dicing with Thomlinson and Richards, but ultimately having to settle for the minor money. Still it was a better meeting for him than last season when he had a nasty off that nearly put him out for the rest of the season. This leaves Riley with an enormous 57 point lead after only two rounds of the championship, but with an interesting three way battle developing between van Brugel, Richards and Thomlinson who have only three points separating them.
Both qualifying sessions were held on Saturday afternoon, the weather was fine but cold and windy. The first qualifying session saw Riley in the Castrol BMW 320i take pole with a 69.70 seconds. Another great performance from Peter van Brugel (70.29 sec.) in the Beaurepaires Nissan Sentra SSS placed him second on the grid, with Jason Richards in the BNT BMW 320i following close behind with a time of 70.48 seconds. The Albert Street Dental Care/Autotrader Ford Telstar of Barrie Thomlinson rounded out the top four with a time of 71.14 seconds.
Most competitors managed to improve in the afternoon's second qualifying session. Once again Brett Riley was the only driver to go under the 70 second mark to take pole with a 69.49 seconds. Due to Jason Richards improving his time (70.04 sec) and Peter van Brugel losing a little on his earlier time (70.44 sec) their positions were reversed with Thomlinson a further half second off their pace with a 71.01 seconds.
Full Race Report
The weather on Sunday morning was bright, but with a very cold
wind. Brett Riley made a good start in the Castrol BMW 320i but
didn't find the traction of his team mate Jason Richards. Richards
catapulted himself into second place behind Riley, with Barrie
Thomlinson following him through into third. The big loser at
the start was Peter van Brugel who had qualified second on the
grid. As the cars came round for the first time Riley was followed
by Richards, Thomlinson and van Brugel, with Pateman and Short
making up the bunch. The race then developed into two 
races
with one. Jason Richards in the BNT BMW 320i hounded his team
mate in the early laps making several assaults on the lead. Midway
through the race Richards reported severe understeer at the top
end of circuit that he initially thought was related to a suspension/tyre
problem. This gave Riley the break he wanted and he put a comfortable
gap on Richards who had backed off to assess his understeer problem.
Meanwhile Thomlinson and van Brugel were in a colossal struggle
of their own. Thomlinson who in the Albert Street Dental Care/Autotrader
Ford Telstar had made an excellent start, was making his car very
wide for Peter van Brugel in the Beaurepaires Nissan Sentra SSS.
It was difficult to see daylight between the pair 
as they
diced through the esees complex at the top of the circuit but
van Brugel could not capitalise as the Ford Telstar stretched
it's legs each time they went down the back straight. Richards
diagnosed his understeering problem as oil on the track and set
off again in pursuit of Riley who was enjoying the clear track
he has found in front of him all season. Richards produced his
best performance of the season to date, recording a time of 70.15
seconds giving him the lap record for Touring Cars at the Levels
Circuit in the process. With Richards dialling in on him for a
second time, Riley responded to the pressure with quicker lap
times to take the race by 2 seconds from Richards, with Thomlinson
shutting out van Brugel to take third.
Although sunny, the cold wind which had dogged the teams since Thursday continued to blow for the second race of the afternoon. Originally scheduled for 18 laps, the race was reduced to 12.
A reverse grid for the top six cars had Geoff Short in the Collingwood Mowers Ford Telstar and Kevin Pateman in the Timaru Motors Ford Telstar on the first row, with Barrie Thomlinson and Peter van Brugel on the second row and the two BMWs of Brett Riley and Jason Richards on the third row.
Kevin Pateman and Barrie Thomlinson in the Ford Telstars made excellent starts, which allowed Richards to charge up the inside of van Brugel and Riley to follow him through. As the cars entered the esees complex at the top of the circuit for the first time, Pateman was maintaining a gap back to Thomlinson, followed by Richards and Riley. Peter van Brugel had lost ground off the line and was siting off the back of this pack. At the entrance to the hairpin Richards ran wide, kicking up dust and opening space for Riley to move on to the inside line. This allowed Riley to nail both Richards and Thomlinson as he exited the corner.
The top end speed of the Ford Telstars' in the championship
is a real threat to the BMWs and Pateman was able to hold Riley
off for the rest of the lap. Riley found his opportunity at the
esses 
before the hairpin
and once past Pateman streaked ahead of the Ford Telstar. Meanwhile
an interesting battle was developing between the straight line
speed of Thomlinson's Telstar and the balance and handling of
Richards's BMW 320i. Richards swarmed all over the back of Thomlinson
but was unable to stay in touch with the Ford Telstar on the back
straight, the Telstar putting 5 -6 laps on the BMW by the end
of the straight. Three quarters of the way through the race and
the dicing duo had caught and passed Pateman. Placing Pateman
between him and Richards provided Thomlinson with a short respite
- but not for long. Lap times were down on the earlier race with
Brett Riley producing the best time of 71.01 seconds. In the end
Riley having done all the hard work at the beginning of the race,
made his win look easy, finishing 9 seconds ahead of Thomlinson,
with Richards rounding out the top three.
This finished Riley's best meeting yet, with another perfect points score, giving him a total of 140 points in the championship, with Richards on 83 points, Thomlinson on 81 points and van Brugel on 80 points.
