NZTC Championship 2000/01

PRESS RELEASE #7
30th January 2001

CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO THE WIRE

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. Round five at Pukekohe Park Raceway on 20/21 January 2001 was no exception.

Jason Richards has come back from a 106 point deficit to within one point of Championship points 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.

In another development, for the first time this season, a car other than a BMW or Nissan qualified in pole position. Barrie Thomlinson in the Geoff Short Motorsport Lexus 200IS put in a great performance at Pukekohe last weekend to place himself eight thousandth of a second ahead of second placed Angus Fogg in a qualifying session that saw drama unfold for the main rivals for the Championship, Brett Riley and Jason Richards.

Add to this that fact that not only are the professional teams slogging it out race by race, but they have to be on guard for the highly competitive privateers like Rhys McKay and Jody Vincent. They outpaced International Motorsport and Team Kiwi to take the top two podium spots in the reverse grid race and stole 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.

Thick rain cloud had gathered over the Pukekohe track during the morning prior to the qualifying session. It began to lightly drizzle ten minutes prior to the start of the session. The surface was slightly damp, but not enough to remain on the track once the cars started their installation laps. Jason Richards put in a quick time early on as did his team mate Angus Fogg.

Those drivers who opted to ride the ripple strip had a wild ride through the Esses. Both Nissan Primeras came to grief, Jason Richards unfortunate enough to punch a hole in his gearbox housing, flame clearly visible beneath the car. Peter Scharmach in the Toyota Corona was experimenting with a lower gear through the Esses and spun out as a result.

Kevin Bell had a fuel pump failure at the same point on the circuit. Without any drive out of the corner he careered across the grass and came to a halt on the back straight.

Unfortunate too was Brett Riley. A loss of oil pressure curtailed his session, the amount of traffic on the track also hindering his progress.

The weather was overcast and the threat of rain hung in the air as the cars assembled on the dummy grid for Saturday's race.

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 a disappointed Riley.

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 always going to be a very different assignment to pass Thomlinson.

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.

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 22† 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 a clutch problem. On the second lap he was passed by team mate Richards, Riley, Bell and McKay. Now only 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.

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 again showed pace, passing Bell in the second International Motorsport BMW to claim fourth position.

With Richards through, Thomlinson drove defensive lines 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.

By the afternoons second 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.

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 and the Castrol/BNT BMW E36 was literally several centimetres shorter.

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 get 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 either, 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 relegating him to 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.

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! The final round at Manfield on 3rd & 4th February 2001 is one not to be missed.

For more information contact:
Tony Bunyan
New Zealand Touring Car Website

Email editor@nztouringcars.co.nz
Website www.nztouringcars.co.nz