Championship Goes To The Wire
by Tony Bunyan
There is
no doubt that the 2000/01 season will go down as one of the
hardest fought and exciting in the history of the New Zealand
Touring Car Championship.
Jason Richards
has come back from a 106 point deficit to within one point of
the Championship leader Brett Riley, while Richards team mate
Angus Fogg, Riley's team mate Kevin Bell and Lexus pilot Barrie
Thomlinson are all well within striking distance of the title.
Not only
are the professional teams slogging it out race by race, but
they have to be on guard for the highly competitive privateer
teams. Rhys McKay and Jody Vincent outpaced International Motorsport
and Team Kiwi to take the top two podium spots in the third
race and steal valuable points from the leading Teams.
Throughout
the weekend there was some breath taking passing maneuvers and
the amount of panel damage sustained by the cars is also testament
to the closeness of the racing.
Race One
The weather was again overcast and the threat of rain hung in
the air as the cars assembled on the dummy grid.
Angus Fogg
got a fantastic start to dart into the lead, with Thomlinson
and Riley side by side thorough the sweeper. As the cars excited
the sweeper Riley found himself barreling across the outfield
grass at 160 kph, with Thomlinson also careering across the
grass. "I got a great start and felt I had the edge over
Barrie. He tried pushing me wide and the next thing I knew we
were off the track and on the grass", commented Riley.
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Brett
Riley Found Himself Flying Across the Grass at 160 kph.
Barrie Thomlinson Came Along for the Ride!
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Riley returned
to the circuit ahead of Thomlinson, but had scrubbed off a lot
of speed to get back onto the track. Thomlinson managed to pass
him on the back straight and to add the final insult to injury
Riley's BMW 320i's clutch failed, ending his race.
The big
winners out of this were Team Kiwi. Angus Fogg stretched out
an enormous lead, while defending Champion Jason Richards stayed
clear of the mayhem and slipped into third spot.
For lap
after lap Richards made assaults on Thomlinson's second place,
but to no avail. The Lexus 200IS was clearly the faster car
and although Richards was able to close up on him, it was going
to be a very different thing to pass him.
On lap 3
Peter Scharmach had a big moment, going off the track, but recovering
enough to continue racing. Wayne Moore also decided to try some
off road action, charging across the grass where Riley and Thomlinson
had earlier.
By race
end Fogg had consolidated his lead for a convincing victory,
with Thomlinson holding out Richards for second. Further down
the field Kevin Bell in the Castrol/BNT BMW 320i had had his
work cut out for him fending off Rhys McKay in the fast and
reliable Toyota Corona for fourth.
Riley's
DNF put another large dent in his Championship hopes. Richards
while on the podium was unable to push home a death blow. Fogg
and Thomlinson gave their championhip hopes a significant boost.
"I got a great start, avoided all of the drama behind me
and maximized my points. Its been a good day", commented
Fogg.
Race 2
A huge crowded turned out on Sunday to enjoy what promised to
be a day of exciting highly entertaining motorsport. So much
so that there were long cues of cars waiting to enter the circuit.
The weather
was overcast, dry and 22û C. With no one improving their lap
times on Saturday the grid for Sunday's first race remained
the same.
Thomlinson
got away to a good start, followed by Fogg, Riley and Richards.
With Thomlinson under pressure from Fogg, Richards made his
move on Riley, passing him at the beginning of the second lap.
Just as
it appeared he was about to push on for the lead, Fogg's car
began to slow dramatically with an engine problem. On the second
lap he was passed by team mate Richards, Riley, Bell and McKay.
Now interested in accumulating as many points as possible and
keeping his championship hopes alive Fogg slowly circulated
for the rest of the race to claim 13th place and 8 valuable
points.
Richards
in the Pitstop Primera rapidly moved in on Thomlinson, with
Riley in hot pursuit. For lap after lap the lead pair diced,
with Thomlinson retaining his cool under Richards intense pressure.
By lap five Riley had joined them, closing rapidly on them at
the hairpin.
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Richards
Continued to Pull the Points Back on Riley. Barrie Thomlinson
was on the Podium All Weekend
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The frantic
pace was taking its toll on the cars with Richards and Riley
both losing ground the Lexus. Thomlinson's respite was short
lived as Richards and Riley attacked again.
On lap seven
Richards succeeded in overhauling Thomlinson at the sweeper
to steal the lead. Further down the field Rhys McKay made his
move stick,passing Bell in the second International Motorsport
BMW to claim fourth position.
With Richards
through, Thomlinson took up a defensive strategy to keep Riley
behind him. And that's how they crossed the line with Richards
taking his seventh win of the championship and continuing his
march towards the 2000/01 NZ Touring Car Championship.
Race 3
By the afternoons third and final race the day had cooled, with
a steady wind and thickening cloud. The ten lap race reversed
the grid of the 2.0 litre cars. Richards superb performance
in the second race produced the second fastest lap time of the
weekend. Although Riley also improved his time, it was a mixed
blessing for Richards because it relegated him to a position
behind Riley, Fogg, and Scharmach, making his job that much
harder. A win would see him overtake Riley for the Championship
lead.
As the cars
blasted off the line it was Riley who got the best start. As
the cars streamed down the back straight only Vincent and McKay
were between him and the lead. Arch rival Jason Richards was
close behind, with Farmer, Harris and Scharmach close behind.
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Riley Out of Control in a Cloud of Blue, Spinning Off
the Track. Note the Severe Damage Sustained to the Front
of Harris's Car as a Result of the Same Incident
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Chaos broke
out behind Riley, with Aaron Harris slamming into the back of
Matthew Farmer setting off a chain reaction which sent Riley
spinning off the track. By the time he returned to the track
he was in tenth place.
Also in
big trouble was his team mate Kevin Bell who after tangling
with Mathew Farmers Nissan Bluebird had to pit for a damaged
left wheel rim and flat tyre. He joined the race at the back
of the field.
Richards
had the inside line at the hairpin and capitalized on Riley's
misfortune to drop into second place in front of Rhys McKay.
Richards had a huge chase on his hands if he was to catch and
pass race leader Jody Vincent. All credit to Vincent's team
who had struggled to make their car back to the track, let alone
competitive, after loosing four engines during the course of
the season.
Neither
was top running privateer Rhys McKay about to let his best chance
of securing a race win go without a struggle. On lap two he
regained his second place from Richards. He now set his sights
on Jody Vincent's Nissan Sentra SSS. "He was just so far
ahead of us I really wondered how we were going to catch him"
commented McKay after the race.
Richards
couldn't mount a counter offensive, the Pitstop Primera gradually
loosing performance as the race progressed. Ironically fourth
placed Peter Scharmach couldn't take advantage of Richards problem
losing position at the same rate as Richards.
The big
movers through the pack were Thomlinson, Fogg and Riley. Fogg
had an appalling start, his clutch slipping badly and finding
himself down in ninth place by the end of the first lap. Fortunately
the problem disappeared after the first lap. With the demise
of Kevin Bell and passing Grady Homewood's Honda Integra he
quickly dialed in on Barrie Thomlinson"s Nokia Lexus 200IS.
As a result Thomlinson and Fogg found themselves in a driving
duel lap after lap.
On lap 4
McKay passed Vincent and made it stick. However Vincent, McKay
and Richards continued to trade positions at the hairpin with
Vincent and McKay always managing to get the better of Richards
and return to the status quo. The racing was door handle to
door handle, with no driver prepared to concede any real estate.
Only when his engine went off completely did Richards drop off
the front bunch.
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Rhys
McKay on His Way to His First New Zealand Touring Car
Race Win with Vincent and Richards in Hot Pursuit!!
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This was
Thomlinson and Fogg's chance to advance through the field. Thomlinson
passed Richards at the end of lap eight followed by Fogg on
the final lap. By race end Rhys McKay had scored a brilliant
win with Jody Vincent only half a second behind him. Thomlinson
and Fogg scored enough points to close up the gap on Riley and
Richards. Asked how it felt to win his first NZTC race McKay
paused thoughtfully before a wicked grin filled his face, "It's
better than sex!" he quipped.
With only
one one round left to go the Championship is far from over.
Riley, Richards, Fogg, Bell and Thomlinson could all take the
2000/01 New Zealand Touring Car Championship and all have the
equipment capable of doing it!
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