[ Summary | First Qualifying | Second Qualifying | Race 1 | Race 2 ]
Saturday & Sunday 24/25th October 1998
There have been three NZRDC Championship leaders during the Series and as the NZRDC 2.0 litre Championship came down to the wire Ross Heffernan held a tenuous 2 point lead over Jason Richards. Ed Lamont was only 12 points off the pace and in with a chance for glory if Richards and Heffernan couldn't manage to finish the races.
One of the highlights of the meeting was seeing Toyota provide some sponsorship for Ross Heffernan to complete the NZRDC series. The support of manufacturers is vital to the health of the Touring Car Class and it is hoped that the Toyota Signature Class Sponsorship deal is an indication that the New Zealand motor industry is once again prepared to return to the track in support of their product.
In an ironic twist of fate, Toyota driver Ed Lamont helped cement Lyle Williamson's International Motorsport BMW Team reputation as the best in New Zealand. His dogged refusal to let Ross Heffernan through in the early laps of the first race allowed the BMWs to take control of the race and collect vital championship points against the championship leader. Lamont later joked tongue in cheek that he hoped his efforts would be rewarded with a drive with International Motorsport.
Heffernan took the challenge to the BMWs in the second race, setting a new lap record for Taupo in the process. However Jason Richards's flawless start propelled him to a lead that never looked under threat.
Jason Richards was a deserving winner of the NZRDC Championship, having missed two races in the series, his consistency and maturing driving style gave him his first major Touring Car title. For the first time in a long while though teams stepped up to the plate to really pressure BMW for the Championship. In the first two rounds it was Ed Lamont and later Bart Simpson at Taupo. However it was the rapidly improving Ross Heffernan who gave the BMWs their biggest fright. The Toyota driver started the series with terrible luck, heavily damaging the car in practice before the racing had even begun. To come back from the brink required a tremendous effort from Ross and his crew. Their reward was to nearly steal the Championship from under BMWs nose!
Congradulations must also go to Chris Abbott from the NZ Racing Drivers Club whos super human effort created a series that looks set to become a regular feature of the Touring Car Calander. Dunlop Tyres have shown the kind of committment to the sport that should be the envy of other sporting organisations. Mr Greg Ryan, General Manager for Dunlop Tyres (NZ) Ltd has made a terrific contribution to New Zealand Motorsport at one of the most critical periods in its history. All in motorsport thank him sincerely.
Weather conditions were fine, clear and warm but with the odd gust of cool wind blowing in from the central plateau. Jason Richards made a fine start in his bid to regain the championship lead he lost to Ross Heffernan after Races 7 & 8 at Pukekohe a fortnight before. Impressive too was Geoff Brabham's performance, who had to readjust to the BMW 320i that took Rod Hicks and Kevin Bell to a Class win at the AMP Bathurst 1000. Brabham was only 0.05 seconds behind Richards, having no previous experience of the circuit. With BMW one - two on the grid, Ross Heffernan was going to find it a lot more difficult to get past the BMWs on a circuit which presents few passing opportunities.
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
Gap |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 42.63 | 0:00.00 |
| 83 | Geoff BRABHAM | BMW 320i | 42.68 | 0:00.05 |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 43.24 | 0:00.61 |
| 8 | Ed LAMONT | Toyota Corona | 43.82 | 0:01.19 |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 43.89 | 0:01.26 |
| 9 | Aaron HARRIS | BMW 325i | 45.16 | 0:02.53 |
| 67 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 45.25 | 0:02.62 |
| 21 | Murray POOT | Honda Civic | 46.91 | 0:04.28 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 47.45 | 0:04.82 |
| 38 | Glen COLLINS | Nissan Sentra | 49.59 | 0:06.96 |
| 29 | Shannon MILLS | Nissan Sentra | 49.86 | 0:07.23 |
| 84 | Shayne LAWREY | Peugeot 106 | 49.86 | 0:07.23 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 50.37 | 0:07.74 |
| 76 | Glen COLLINSON | Nissan Sentra | 50.48 | 0:07.85 |
The weather was similar to the morning session and as expected qualifying times were slightly slower. The most noticeable exception being Ross Heffernan who improved by 0.3 seconds to put him up onto the front row of the grind with the other main contender for the championship title, Jason Richards. It came down to another front wheel drive versus rear wheel drive drag race to the first corner. Whoever got there first was going to have a good chance of staying there.
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
Gap |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 42.73 | 0:00.00 |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 42.90 | 0:00.17 |
| 83 | Geoff BRABHAM | BMW 320i | 43.05 | 0:00.32 |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 43.66 | 0:00.93 |
| 8 | Ed LAMONT | Toyota Corona | 43.84 | 0:01.11 |
| 67 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 44.55 | 0:01.82 |
| 9 | Aaron HARRIS | BMW 325i | 44.70 | 0:01.97 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 47.55 | 0:04.82 |
| 21 | Murray POOT | Honda Civic | 47.68 | 0:04.95 |
| 38 | Glen COLLINS | Nissan Sentra | 49.16 | 0:06.43 |
| 84 | Shayne LAWREY | Peugeot 106 | 49.22 | 0:06.49 |
| 29 | Shannon MILLS | Nissan Sentra | 49.87 | 0:07.14 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 49.93 | 0:07.20 |
| 76 | Glen COLLINSON | Nissan Sentra | 50.91 | 0:08.18 |
Race One proved to be as nerve wrenching as would be expected of a Championship where three drivers had a possibility of taking home the prize. Jason Richards has been the the man to beat off the line this year and Taupo was no exception. He out gunned his Australian team mate Geoff Brabham to comfortably hit the lead into the first turn.
Richards's main rival for the championship, Ross Heffernan was trying a new starting technique to compensate for the front wheel drive of his Toyota which traditionally has difficulty getting initial drive from a stationary start. Unfortunately it was a poor start by his standards and he didn't make as clean a get away as Ed Lamont in the other Toyota. Lamont headed Heffernan off as they entered the first corner with Bart Simpson in the Nissan Bluebird in hot pursuit. Ross managed to hold the inside line and the Toyotas made contact twice. Initially as they exited the first corner and again more spectacularly at the hairpin, Lamont sliding sideways through the corner. Heffernan braked to avoid any further contact and this provided Simpson with an opportunity to take a peak on the outside and Geoff Short to close right up on him from behind. Heffernan had the better line and he managed to hold on to fourth place. All the while the BMW 320is placed real estate between them and the bunch.
Heffernan was held up by Lamont's slower car and he sent the next 3-4 laps trying to get past. Desperately he probed for a way past Lamont, finally sweeping around the outside of Lamont coming onto the main straight on the fourth lap, but by then Richards and Brabham had cleared out. Simpson capitalised on the gap Heffernan had opened up and moved through on Lamont into fourth position.
Clearly there were no team orders in the BMW camp as Brabham hounded Richards throughout the race. With Brabham keen to go back to Australia with at least one Kiwi scalp and Ross Heffernan driving out of his skin to catch the leading pair it was not surprising to see the lap record fall three times during the race. Richards, then Heffernan and finally Brabham trimmed back last years NZRDC Championship winner Barrie Thomlinson's time of 43.50 seconds to an impressive 43.05 seconds.
Shayne Lawry came to a halt on the hairpin exit after breaking a drive shaft in his Peugeot 106, ending his day prematurely.
Aaron Harris, who's writing his racing career book backwards recorded two firsts. It was the first time the nineteen year old had racing in New Zealand (but he has raced in the AMP Bathurst 1000!) and it was his first grid start having started from pit row in the Great Race. Harris in the BMW 325i he campaigned at Bathurst was battling with Geoff Short, finding a way past the Ford Telstar when Short got trapped behind a back marker, allowing Harris to squeeze through on the inside.
The BMWs had caught the Sentra 1600s by the eighth lap, Richards having to choose his moment carefully because the smaller cars were absorbed in a battle of their own. On the following lap Bart Simpson was lucky not to get involved in their battle. Having just got past them, his rear view mirrors were filled with Shannon Mills sliding off the track in a cloud of dust at the first corner after Dean Mildenhall made contact with the rear of his car.
In the end the race would see a role reversal of points with Jason Richards heading Ross Heffernan off by 2 points to lead the Championship heading into the tenth and final round.
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 43.21 |
| 83 | Geoff BRABHAM | BMW 320i | 43.05* |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 43.16 |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 43.50 |
| 8 | Ed LAMONT | Toyota Corona | 43.82 |
| 9 | Aaron HARRIS | BMW 325i | 44.50 |
| 67 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 44.54 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 47.28 |
| 21 | Murray POOT | Honda Civic | 47.57 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 49.59 |
| 29 | Shannon MILLS | Nissan Sentra | 49.53 |
| 38 | Glen COLLINS | Nissan Sentra | 48.32 |
| 76 | Glen COLLINSON | Nissan Sentra | 50.52 |
| DNF | Shayne LAWREY | Peugeot 106 | 50.32 |
The weather remained fine, with a mild cool breeze for Race Two. After his attempt at a different starting technique to get a better start from the front wheel drive Toyota in the first race proved unsuccessful, Ross Heffernan returned to the tried and true. It paid dividends and although he couldn't quite match the lightening start of Jason Richards he was successful in shutting the door on Geoff Brabham to retain his second place on the track. Geoff Short made a great charge off the line to sweep wide of Bart Simpson's Nissan Bluebird as the cars headed into the first corner. Brabham stood on the brakes, witnessed by a puff of blue smoke, retained the inside line, leaving Simpson and then Short to follow through leaving Lamont to join the back of the pack at the first corner.
Richards driving looked clean and confident and he managed to put three car lengths on the Toyota by the hairpin. On the second lap Brabham came under pressure from Simpson's Nissan at the hairpin and again at the sweeper as Bart continually probed the inside line.
As the cars were completing their third lap it was Brabham's turn to put Heffernan under some pressure, the Toyota driver moving to the inside on the main straight to close the door on the immensely experienced Australian. Brabham tentatively tested Heffernan as the cars entered the first turn on lap 4, moving to the outside and then swinging to the inside for the hairpin. Heffernan managed to squeeze the BMW out but the result encouraged Brabham to try the same thing on the following lap, all be it more aggressively. This time Brabham was not to be denied and to Heffernan's credit once the BMW was clearly in the gap he conceded his position without incident. Once the space had opened Brabham made the overtaking manouver look easy.
Richards had settled into a comfortable race pace, his championship chances strengthening with every lap. However, neither Brabham nor Heffernan had given up the chase. Heffernan's Toyota had developed noticeable pace during the meeting and this coupled with his determination to take the race to the BMWs resulted in first Geoff Brabham and then Heffernan himself claiming a new lap record of 42.84 seconds.
By lap seven the lead cars had started to lap the backmarkers. Reminencent of Bathurst, Richards turned his headlights on to warn the slower cars he was about to lap them. Like most of the season the 1600s made room for the 2.0 litre cars as they streamed past. Geoff Brabham might have considered himself a little unlucky to have been balked momentarily by Dean Mildenhall as they howled past the Clubrooms on lap 8. Back in fourth position, Bart Simpson was finding it hard to keep on the pace of the leading three, a gap opening which allowed Heffernan to concentrate on what was happening in front of him rather than behind.
Geoff Brabham had not tasted victory during the series and in the closing stages both he and Heffernan closed up on Richards. However, the maturity that Richards has displayed throughout the series really came to the fore and catching him was one thing - passing him was another!!
Brabham was right on Richards exhaust by the eleventh lap. But it was too late. Richards was not going to be denied his first major New Zealand Touring Car Title. And that's how they finished with Jason Richards deservingly taking his first outright championship for Touring Cars, with Ross Heffernan accumulating enough points for second and Ed Lamont in third position.
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Best Lap Time |
| 2 | Jason RICHARDS | BMW 320i | 43.12 |
| 83 | Geoff BRABHAM | BMW 320i | 42.89 |
| 6 | Ross HEFFERNAN | Toyota Corona | 42.84* |
| 33 | David SIMPSON | Nissan Bluebird | 43.29 |
| 67 | Geoff SHORT | Ford Telstar | 43.66 |
| 8 | Ed LAMONT | Toyota Corona | 43.55 |
| 9 | Aaron HARRIS | BMW 325i | 44.48 |
| 21 | Murray POOT | Honda Civic | 47.02 |
| 23 | Paul PAVLETICH | Nissan Sentra | 47.18 |
| 38 | Glen COLLINS | Nissan Sentra | 48.31 |
| 14 | Dean MILDENHALL | Nissan Sentra | 48.07 |
| 29 | Shannon MILLS | Nissan Sentra | 50.59 |
| 76 | Glen COLLINSON | Nissan Sentra | 50.52 |
