1998/99 MANZ 2.0 litre
Touring Cars Summer Championship
[ Summary |
First Qualifying | Race
1 | Race 2 | Race
3 ]
Round 2 - Centennial Park, Taupo
Sunday & Monday 27/28th December 1998
Summary
| In a flawless performance International Motorsport
pilot Jason Richards showed that he is in a class of his own,
spiriting his Castrol/BNT BMW 320i on to a clean sweep of qualifying,
bagging a hat trick of races and setting a new lap record to
boot. He has a perfect points score and has left the competition
struggling to make any impression on the Championship Title and
only some seriously bad luck will stop the Aucklander from achieving
his goal of winning both the MANZ Summer and NZRDC Winter Championships
. |
 |
Richards
Powers to Another Victory
|
That is not to say that Richards had it all his own way. Team
mate Barrie Thomlinson pushed Richards in the first race, initially
setting a lap record, before Richards responded and claimed the
lap record in return. Thomlinson has been struggling with oversteer
at Taupo and has found it difficult to find a set up this season
that suits his driving style. His hard charge came unstuck with
a spin at the hairpin, allowing Geoff Short to capitalize and
take second place.
Talented driver Angus Fogg returned for what is hoped is more
than a one off drive in the second of Geoff Short's Ford Telstars.
Fogg was unlucky in the first race, a loose spark plug lead requiring
an unscheduled pit stop and an end to any podium finish. His day
got better and better, finishing third in the second and then
second in the third race, worrying Richards in the opening laps
of the reverse grid third race.
 |
Aaron Harris had mixed fortunes as
his team came to terms with the new engine they had only transplanted
into the car a few days before. Although the new 2.0 litre engine
is down on horsepower over the old 2.5 litre powerplant, regulations
will allow the Harris Team to strip a considerable amount of
weight out of the car. It is believed that in addition to the
removal of the lead ballast already removed from the car an additional
70 kg can be removed. Added to a car that must have felt very
different from the one he drove at Manfield, Harris struggled
with a gearbox/radiator problem that summed up a pretty ordinary
day for the rapidly improving Wellingtonian. |
Harris
and Team Complete a Rushed Gearbox Change
|
Good weather and the inclusion of motorbikes and sidecars provided
a much larger spectator crowded than had been seen at Manfield,
with all the best vantage points round the track full of motorsport
fans.
Qualifying
Session started at 11.40 am (Maximum 15 minutes)
Weather conditions at Taupo were dry and hot with a mild breeze.
The new format, designed to increase the number of races per meeting
has been very popular amongst the teams. The number of qualifying
sessions has been reduced to one and qualifying no longer contributes
points towards the championship. Grid positions for the first
race are determined using the qualifying sessions times.
 |
The second race's grid positions are determined
by comparing the qualifying time and the best lap time from the
first race and choosing the fastest. The top six positions in
the second race are reversed for the third race of the meeting.
Jason Richards once again lead the qualifying times to take pole,
with team mate Barrie Thomlinson still unable to reduce the seven
tenths of a second Richards put between them at Manfield. Geoff
Short, third in the qualifying session had his hands full keeping
fellow Ford Telstar driver Angus Fogg behind him. |
Thomlinson
Chases Richards's Time
|
Aaron Harris who had been such a factor at Manfield rounded
out the top five, the BMW having received a complete engine rebuild,
replacing the 2.5 litre engine with a 2.0 litre one that will
allow the car to shed well over 100 kg of weight over the season.
Ted Jarvis in his Toyota Corolla was the best of the smaller cars
beating off Dean Mildenhall's Nissan Sentra and Anton Tallot's
Peugeot 106 to put him at the head of the under 1600cc Class.
Qualifying Times
No.
|
Driver
|
Car
|
Best Lap Time
|
Gap
|
KPH
|
| 2 |
Jason RICHARDS |
BMW 320i |
42.34 |
0:00.00 |
119.04 |
| 1 |
Barrie THOMLINSON |
BMW 320i |
43.05 |
0:00.71 |
117.07 |
| 5 |
Geoff SHORT |
Ford Telstar |
43.44 |
0:01.10 |
116.02 |
| 4 |
Angus FOGG |
Ford Telstar |
43.73 |
0:01.39 |
115.25 |
| 9 |
Aaron HARRIS |
BMW 320i |
45.43 |
0:03.09 |
110.94 |
| 21 |
Murray POOT |
Honda Civic |
47.24 |
0:04.90 |
106.69 |
| 17 |
Les BROWN |
Nissan Primera |
47.40 |
0:05.06 |
106.33 |
| 70 |
Ted JARVIS |
Toyota Corolla |
47.79 |
0:05.45 |
105.46 |
| 21 |
Mark ROSCOE |
Suzuki Swift GTi |
48.22 |
0:05.88 |
104.52 |
| 14 |
Dean MILDENHALL |
Nissan Sentra |
49.04 |
0:06.70 |
102.77 |
| 42 |
Anton TALLOTT |
Peugeot 106 |
49.16 |
0:06.82 |
102.52 |
| 76 |
Glen COLLINSON |
Nissan Sentra |
49.37 |
0:07.03 |
102.09 |
| 30 |
Wayne MOORE |
Nissan Sentra |
49.80 |
0:07.46 |
101.20 |
| 6 |
Peter BUTLER |
Ford Telstar |
DNP |
|
|
| |
Chris LANE |
|
DNP |
|
|
Circuit Length: 1.4 km
Full Race Report
Race One
| |
 |
The Ford
BMW Battle Continues...
|
 |
|
Murray
Poot Looked Happy with His Result
|
|
Results - Race 1 (10 Laps)
No.
|
Driver
|
Car
|
Best Lap Time
|
Best Av. Lap KPH
|
| 2 |
Jason RICHARDS |
BMW 320i |
42.12 * |
119.66 |
| 5 |
Geoff SHORT |
Ford Telstar |
42.89 |
117.51 |
| 1 |
Barrie THOMLINSON |
BMW 320i |
42.13 |
119.63 |
| 9 |
Aaron HARRIS |
BMW 320i |
45.91 |
109.78 |
| 21 |
Murray POOT |
Honda Civic |
47.13 |
106.94 |
| 70 |
Ted JARVIS |
Toyota Corolla |
47.50 |
106.11 |
| 17 |
Les BROWN |
Nissan Primera |
47.28 |
106.60 |
| 14 |
Dean MILDENHALL |
Nissan Sentra |
48.57 |
103.77 |
| 76 |
Glen COLLINSON |
Nissan Sentra |
49.05 |
102.75 |
| 21 |
Mark ROSCOE |
Suzuki Swift GTi |
48.22 |
104.52 |
| 30 |
Wayne MOORE |
Nissan Sentra |
49.59 |
101.63 |
| 42 |
Anton TALLOTT |
Peugeot 106 |
48.93 |
103.00 |
| 4 |
Angus FOGG |
Ford Telstar |
43.73 |
115.25 |
Fastest Lap: Jason RICHARDS 0:42.12 sec (2nd lap )
* Lap Record
Elapsed Time:
Circuit Length: 1.4 km
Race Two
 |
|
Angus
Foggs Day Just Kept Getting Better !
|
Results - Race 2 (10 Laps)
No.
|
Driver
|
Car
|
Best Lap Time
|
Best Av. Lap KPH
|
| 2 |
Jason RICHARDS |
BMW 320i |
42.46 |
118.70 |
| 1 |
Barrie THOMLINSON |
BMW 320i |
42.79 |
117.78 |
| 4 |
Angus FOGG |
Ford Telstar |
43.18 |
116.72 |
| 5 |
Geoff SHORT |
Ford Telstar |
43.11 |
116.91 |
| 9 |
Aaron HARRIS |
BMW 320i |
46.14 |
109.23 |
| 21 |
Murray POOT |
Honda Civic |
47.52 |
106.06 |
| 70 |
Ted JARVIS |
Toyota Corolla |
47.73 |
105.59 |
| 17 |
Les BROWN |
Nissan Primera |
47.72 |
105.62 |
| 14 |
Dean MILDENHALL |
Nissan Sentra |
48.66 |
103.58 |
| 21 |
Mark ROSCOE |
Suzuki Swift GTi |
48.05 |
104.89 |
| 76 |
Glen COLLINSON |
Nissan Sentra |
49.32 |
102.19 |
| 42 |
Anton TALLOTT |
Peugeot 106 |
49.04 |
102.77 |
| 30 |
Wayne MOORE |
Nissan Sentra |
49.60 |
101.61 |
Fastest Lap: Jason RICHARDS 0:42.46 sec (2nd lap )
Elapsed Time:
Circuit Length: 1.4 km
Race Three
Results - Race 3 (12 Laps)
 |
|
The Opening
Lap - Richards Leads Fogg
|
| |
 |
A Fresh
Sight This Season - Short in the Telstar Leads Thomlinson in
the BMW
|
 |
|
Thomlinson
After his Tangle with Short
|
Fastest Lap:
Circuit Length: km
