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Thomlinson
On Track But Fogg Dents Record!
by Tony Bunyan
For
the second meeting in a row, NZRDC Winter Cup Champion
Barrie Thomlinson continued on his winning way in the
Wynns New Zealand Touring Car Championship, piloting
his Toyota Altezza to two victories. However, Taupo
specialist Angus Fogg in the Team Kiwi Nissan Primera
put the brakes on a clean sweep by taking out Sunday's
reverse grid race.
Race
One
Thomlinson in the Toyota Altezza made a great start
to beat the BNT/Castrol BMW of Kevin Bell into the first
turn. Following close behind were Team Kiwi's Angus
Fogg and the second Altezza of Phil Hellebrekers. As
the cars swept on to the main straight for the first
time Fogg ran wide, lost traction, and slide sideways
through the kitty litter before coming to rest up against
the tyre barrier.
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Angus
Fogg's First Race lasted less than 40 Seconds!
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Fogg's
misfortune was Rhys McKay's gain as he pressured third
placed Hellebrekers for the a podium finish. By lap
four Hellebrekers was under tremendous pressure from
McKay. The pair playing swap as they battled to dominate.
The Nissan Primera finally gaining an upper hand to
cement third position.
In
the meantime Thomlinson and Bell had cleared out from
the pack by almost 0.5 second. Bell constantly probed
Thomlinson looking for any opportunity to pounce. His
best opportunity came as the cars swept onto the main
straight for the sixth time. Despite pulling out of
Thomlinson's slip stream and pulling ahead down the
main straight, Bell waved Thomlinson through, believing
a yellow flag to be still in force as a result of Fogg's
incident. Thomlinson shut the door firmly on Bell as
the pair headed into the left hander before the hairpin,
never allowing Bell to get as close again.
Further
back in the pack Aaron Harris and Tony Oliver scrapped
for the minor money, Harris still suffering from the
poor engine performance that had plaqued him in qualifying.
The
tail enders provided some entertainment as the leaders
passed them in the closing stages of the race. Barrie
Thomlinson once again vindicated Toyota New Zealand's
faith in his driving ability, continuing his unbroken
record as he marches towards the 2001/02 Championship
title.
Race
Two
The weather was warm, but changeable as the cars made
their way to the grid for the first of Sunday's two
races. Kevin Bell's assertion that the BMW was every
bit as fast as the Toyota proved right with his fastest
lap in Saturday's race (42.30 sec) promoted him to pole
position for race two, Thomlinson joining him on the
front row of the grid.
However,
Bell couldn't capitalise on his position, the BMW wheel
spinning off the line and not getting the drive necessary
to stave off the Toyotas. As the cars reached the end
of the main straight it was Thomlinson and Hellebrekers
followed by Bell in third. McKay, Fogg and Millener
all made excellent starts, McKay swallowing Bell up
as they went through the left hand sweeper. The back
of Bell's car stepped out through the hairpin and Fogg
tagged him as the cars exited the turn. Peter Millener
in the second International Motorsport BMW ran wide
at the same place that Fogg had in the previous race
managing to get the car back onto the track but lossing
several places in the process.
Hellebrekers
was making good progress on his team mate, showing the
flare that had made him New Zealand Formula Ford Champion,
only to spin at the end of the main straight on the
fourth lap, collecting Kevin Bell in the process and
forcing Rhys McKay in Team Kiwi's Nissan Primera into
the run off zone.
It was the break Thomlinson had been looking for, providing
him with a comfortable buffer between him and the rest
of the field.
The
real action was for second place. Fogg's Pitstop Nissan
Primera got past Bell in the mayhem of Hellebrekers
spin and Bell was determined to regain his place. Fogg
wasn't having a bar of it, the Nissan riding on three
rather than four wheels for most of every lap as he
pushed the car to the limit and beyond. There were several
heart stopping moments as the cars entered the left
hander at the end of the main straight two wide and
at full race pace. The racing was hard and clean, the
cars exchanged paint on more than one occasion.
In
the end Thomlinson made his win look easy, Fogg crossing
the line ahead of Bell. The rest of the field was lead
across the line by Harris, McKay and Hellebrekers unable
to recoup the time they lost at the start of the race.
Race
3
In the 16 lap reverse grid third race, Angus Fogg who
had thought his relatively slow lap times were a disadvantage
now found himself on the front row of the grid and relishing
the opportunity for a clean start. He didn't disappoint
his Team Kiwi fans, blasting off the line with a catch
me if you can attitude. Thomlinson and Bell had a lot
of traffic to pass if they were going to beat him!
Bell's
BMW was an early casualty, parking his car at the end
of the main straight, a tap on the front right bending
a steering arm and terminating his race. The DNF doing
nothing for his championship points tally.
The
sky darkened and a few spits of rain swept across the
track, but after threatening to disrupt the race, it
passed Centennial Park by. Taupo is notoriously difficult
to pass on, as Thomlinson was finding out as he tried
to pass Aaron Harris's Dynopack BMW 320 coupe. Thomlinson
made some stabbing darts onto the grass at the hairpin,
but Harris made his car very wide. Eventually Thomlinson's
race craft won the day, selling a dummy first to Harris
and then later in the race to Millener by running wide
at the end of the main straight before diving down the
inside of the left hander to take the place.
Earlier
rookie Peter Millener had done a great job holding off
the more experienced Rhys McKay for second place, but
inevitably McKay secured the place to give Team Kiwi
a familiar one-two formation. By lap 11 Thomlinson had
advanced to third place and Hellebrekers was also making
progress to slot in behind Thomlinson.
More
problems for Harris, a gearbox failure ending his race
prematurely.
In
the dying laps of the race Thomlinson was making some
do or die moves on McKay at the hairpin, forcing his
nose into the gap but failing to find the exit speed
to make the move stick. As the checkered flag dropped
it was a Team Kiwi double, followed by the Toyotas of
Thomlinson and Hellebrekers.
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