[ Summary | First Qualifying | Second Qualifying | Race 1 | Race 2 ]
Saturday & Sunday 13/14th June 1998
Neither the wet weather conditions nor his lack of time at
the Taupo Track did anything to stop Jason Richards from topping
the qualifying times for the second meeting of the NZRDC Series.
The BNT International Motorsport BMW had been favoured as the
car to beat, the BMW suited to a track requiring
balance
rather than raw power. The predictions appeared to be coming true
as Richards pulled out a handy lead on the rest of the field in
the first race to score an excellent win. With championship points
leader Ed Lamont out of the country, Richards forged ahead to
take a substantial points lead in the championship.
However David (Bart) Simpson emerged as the BMW slayer of the
meeting, proving the competativeness of the Nissan Bluebird on
the rain sweeped track to win a thrilling second race. Although
Richards made 
another
of his great starts, he ran wide at the hairpin to allow Simpson
through. The BMW continually pressured Simpson throughout the
race, momentarily taking the lead on several occasions. In a display
of superb driving skill, Bart never lost his cool to score his
best finish since his race against the BMWs in the rain at Manfield
two years ago. Simpson was delighted with the result, leapfrogging
him from the bottom of the points table into sixth equal place.
Taupo allowed the smaller horsepower cars to put in much more
competative times. A highlight was Grant Aitken's third and fourth
in qualifying.
Glen
Collins had put in excellent qualifying times to head off Paul
Pavlettich (the 1600 cc class leader). His meeting went from very
good to very bad as he lost control of his car in the heavy rain
of the first race to roll into the ditch on the main straight.
Fortunately he sustainned no major injuries, but it was the end
of his weekend, forcing a restart of the race. Ross Heffernan
had a consistent weekend, recording two third placings. Geoff
Short in the Husquvana Ford Telstar should be pleased with his
weekend, outscoring team mate and main rival Barrie Thomlinson
to move into second equal on the points table with Ross Heffernan.
Controversy arose over the points standings in the 1600cc class with Paul Pavletich contending, contrary to the results sheet, that he finished the second race ahead of Les Brown in the Nissan Primera and Bill Cooney in the Toyota Sprinter. Irrespective of this he still heads the 1600cc class.
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
Gap |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 47.00 | 0:00.00 |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 47.84 | 0:00.84 |
| 10 | Grant AITKEN | Suzuki Baleno | 48.39 | 0:01.39 |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 49.60 | 0:02.60 |
| 5 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 49.93 | 0:02.93 |
| 11 | Bill TUNZELMANN | Peugeot 405 | 51.30 | 0:04.30 |
| 38 | Glen COLLINS | Nissan Sentra | 51.47 | 0:04.47 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 51.63 | 0:04.63 |
| 12 | Barrie THOMLINSON | Ford Telstar | 51.64 | 0:04.64 |
| 42 | Anton TALLOTT | Peugeot 106 | 52.23 | 0:05.23 |
| 81 | Bill COONEY | Toyota Sprinter | 52.90 | 0:05.90 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 53.66 | 0:06.66 |
| 34 | Mark LORENZEN | Nissan Sentra | 54.43 | 0:07.43 |
| 17 | Les BROWN | Nissan Primera | 54.48 | 0:07.48 |
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
Gap |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 45.36 | 0:00.00 |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 46.41 | 0:01.05 |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 46.68 | 0:01.32 |
| 10 | Grant AITKEN | Suzuki Baleno | 47.07 | 0:01.71 |
| 12 | Barrie THOMLINSON | Ford Telstar | 47.23 | 0:01.87 |
| 5 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 48.28 | 0:02.92 |
| 17 | Les BROWN | Nissan Primera | 50.03 | 0:04.67 |
| 38 | Glen COLLINS | Nissan Sentra | 50.37 | 0:05.01 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 50.53 | 0:05.17 |
| 42 | Anton TALLOTT | Peugeot 106 | 50.59 | 0:05.23 |
| 11 | Bill TUNZELMANN | Peugeot 405 | 51.73 | 0:06.37 |
| 81 | Bill COONEY | Toyota Sprinter | 51.73 | 0:06.37 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 52.18 | 0:06.82 |
| 34 | Mark LORENZEN | Nissan Sentra | 52.36 | 0:07.00 |
The
weather for Sunday's races dawned mild but very wet, with the
occasional heavy shower of rain peppered with periods of dizzle.
The conditions meant drivers were torn between caution and pace,
resulting in some very entertaining driving and a serious off!
The skies darkened just prior to the beginning of the first
race and competitors were forced to turn on their windscreen wipers
as heavy rain washed across the track. Jason Richards in the BNT
BMW 320i sat on pole and true to form made a driving start off
the line to head the pack into the first left hander. David (Bart)
Simpson found his front wheel drive Nissan Bluebird was at a disadvantage
coming off the line, but made a clean start to retain his second
position. 
The
biggest loser off the line was Grant Aitken in his Suzuki Baleno
who went from third to fifth by the end of the straight. Ross
Heffernan (intitally taking a wide berth in an attempt to make
room down the outside of Simpson) and Geoff Short blasted past
either side of Aitken to move into third and fourth places respectively.
Aitken took the inside line at the first corner, forcing Barrie
Thomlinson in his Ford Telstar wide. Glen Collins also got the
inside line into the corner to the detriment of 1600 cc class
leader Paul Pavletich .
At the hairpin Richards ran slightly wide, allowing Simpson to take a peak up the inside, though be it at a distance. Heffernan found himself under pressure from Short and Aitken from Thomlinson respectively, the two Ford Telstar drivers keen to make some progress. Bill Tunzelmann had settled onto the back of the leading bunch.
The
wet conditions helped make the gap in performance between the
2.0 litre and 1600cc classes much less noticable. This in combination
with a circuit which made passing difficult resulted in close
racing. Glen Collins was the clear winner from the 1600 cc clash
at the first corner, well ahead of Pavletich, who was finding
himself in all kinds of trouble with a charging Bill Cooney.
By the end of the first lap Richards had pulled out a handy
lead on Simpson, with Heffernan in third and Short fourth. Grant
Aitken in the 1800 cc Suzuki was doing a fantastic job to be well
ahead of Bill Tunzelmann and Barrie Thomlinson in their larger
2.0 litre cars. Collins, Pavletich and Cooney rounded out the
top ten places. The rain had not abated and the rain drenched
track had developed a number of deep puddles through the Esses
leading onto the Grandstand straight. Even the incredibly well
balanced BMW of Richards was dancing through the wet as Glen Collins's
day came to a premature and abrupt end. The front wheel drive
Nissan Sentra lost traction through the Esses, careering off the
track on the Grandstand straight and rolled into the drainage
ditch. 
The
race was stopped while the emergency services retrieved the car
which had sustained surprisingly little external damage. Remarkably
Glen Collins, though "shaken and stirred" was not seriously
hurt and was able to exit the track without assistance.
The incident resulted in a delay of 20 minutes to the restart of the race. the car, as he the
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 47.07 |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 48.10 |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 48.34 |
| 5 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 48.50 |
| 12 | Barrie THOMLINSON | Ford Telstar | 48.16 |
| 10 | Grant AITKEN | Suzuki Baleno | 48.32 |
| 11 | Bill TUNZELMANN | Peugeot 405 | 49.59 |
| 18 | Robbie KER | Toyota Corona | 50.86 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 51.91 |
| 34 | Mark LORENZEN | Nissan Sentra | 52.88 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 53.12 |
| 81 | Bill COONEY | Toyota Sprinter | 53.23 |
| 42 | Anton TALLOTT | Peugeot 106 | 53.38 |
| *17 | Les BROWN | Nissan Primera | 56.70 |
| *38 | Glen COLLINS | Nissan Sentra | 00.00 |
| *Denotes DNF | |||
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 45.46 |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 45.04 |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 45.97 |
| 5 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 46.20 |
| 10 | Grant AITKEN | Suzuki Baleno | 46.89 |
| 11 | Bill TUNZELMANN | Peugeot 405 | 47.47 |
| 18 | Robbie KER | Toyota Corona | 48.39 |
| 17 | Les BROWN | Nissan Primera | 49.59 |
| 81 | Bill COONEY | Toyota Sprinter | 49.21 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 49.22 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 50.97 |
| 42 | Anton TALLOTT | Peugeot 106 | 50.54 |
| 34 | Mark LORENZEN | Nissan Sentra | 51.46 |
| *12 | Barrie THOMLINSON | Ford Telstar | 46.48 |
| *Denotes DNF | |||
