Bob McMurray Toyota Racing New Zealand Ambassador, writes from the second round of the Toyota Racing Series round at Teretonga Park, Invercargill…..
It’s Saturday so qualifying and racing today.
A very busy day it will be as well.
Cool and dry is the forecast with a whole bunch of rain due in tomorrow.
Today we have NZ Super Trucks, NZ Touring cars, TRS (2 qualifying sessions and 1 race), NZ Six, OSCA saloons, NZ Formula Ford, TR 86 (2 qualifying sessions and 1 race) and NZ V8 Utes.
They pack ’em in does the promoter Speedworks.
One story that I neglected to mention is a bit of a tale of woe.
Giles Motorsport German engineer Ralf Druckenmeuller, vastly experienced in European Formula 3, Formula 4 etc., was doing the usual Queenstown thing, bungee, jet boat all the exciting and dangerous stuff and came through unscathed.
He and other team members then decide to engage in the safe sport (relatively) of ‘paintball’.
While trying to hide from ‘the enemy’ he jumped over a small barrier, landed badly on his right hip and broke it!
Team Principal Steven Giles drove him from Queenstown to Invercargill hospital where they immediately operated and inserted three metal pins in his hip, kept him in overnight and out the next day.
Just like that!
He has full movement in the right leg but can put no weight on it so is on crutches but is full of praise for the way he was looked after by the medical staff at the hospital.
And they say motor racing is dangerous!
Qualifying #1 for race 1 started under a slightly overcast sky but dry conditions and moreover, good conditions.
First to blink was Harry Hayek who slid into the tyre barriers at the ‘Lexus’ turn causing a red flag for him to be towed out but it appeared with minimal damage.
Enaam Ahmed reported an ‘oil issue’ and Taylor Cockerton slid into the gravel. Red again.
Causing a red flag is an automatic three place grid penalty.
Victory Motorsport was having a good session and their driver, Australian Thomas Randle, grabbed the pole position with a time of 53.758.
Second was Giles Motorsport Richard Verschoor just .040 seconds behind, then another Victory driver in third, Brendon Leitch, with 53.812.
In fourth was Piquet 53.891, Habsburg 53.940, Daruvala 53.961, Armstrong 54.106, Ahmed 54.170, Hayek 54.287, Andres 54.425, Hahn 54.340, Cockerton 54.421, Blackstock 54.425, Enders 54.425, Vaidyanathan 54.520, Leeds 54.557, Laliberte 54.588, Lastochkin 54.647, Neubauer 54.706 and finally Simmenauer 55.081.
In Qualifying #2 the good ship Victory rolled on with a front row lock out!
Randle and Leitch went head to head for much of the session which was once again interrupted by a red and this time for a slightly more extensive accident.
Luis Leeds got seriously on the grass on the exit to turn #1 and could not get the car back on track.
He bounced over the grass and into the barriers causing some extensive damage to the nose area of the car, the front left, the rear wing (lying some 10 metres away) the right rear suspension and a few other bits around the car.
He was pretty angry with himself.
The grid ended up with two Victory Motorsport cars on the front row, two M2 Competition cars on the second row and two Giles Motorsport cars on the third row.
Getting more like Formula 1 every day!
Times once again were close.
Leitch 53.304, Randle 53.326, Daruvala 53.334, Habsburg 53.374, Verschoor 53.376, Ahmed 53.401, Piquet 53.516, Armstrong 53.532, Laliberte 53.555, Enders 43.570, Cockerton 53.685, Hahn 53.747, Andres 53.837, Blackstock 53.852, Lastochkin 53.861, Vaidyanathan 54.093, Neubauer 54.224, Simmenauer 54.277 and the unfortunate Leeds was last with 55.091.
Neither of the two remaining Kiwi drivers had good qualifying sessions.
Cockerton was not feeling the car as well as he hoped and Armstrong was having the most problem with getting around turn #1 but both thought that the solution was simple.
Cockerton was also experiencing that annoying electrical gremlin and that was destined to blight his whole day.
Drive better!
Lunchtime came and with it came some VERY excited people waiting for Grant Aitken and Brent Sellens to give them a hot lap around the circuit in the Course car and Safety car.
Sam MacNeill was also pressed into service with the LFA taking one or two, frankly overexcited, guests of sponsors around the track.
Castrol Toyota Racing Series Race #1 of the weekend was remarkably clean.
All finished, no safety car and some good battles down the field.
Not at the front however as Thomas Randle got a great start from Richard Verschoor and headed down to turn #1 with Verschoor trying to head him off and then settling for a slightly wider line as he attempted the outside pass.
Randle was having none of that and gently escorted him a little wide which gave Brendon Leitch the chance to get alongside Verschoor but as the turn unwound itself Leitch had to back off and sit in third position.
That was the order at the finish.
The race win was not confirmed for a while as Randle was the subject of an investigation for a jump start.
The finishing order behind the top three was, in 4th Piquet then Habsburg, Ahmed, Daruvala, Cockerton, Hahn and in tenth Hayek.
A lot of good clean racing.
The result of the stewards investigation was awaited …….. and it eventually came through.
Randle was penalised for a jump start.
Others to receive a similar penalty for a similar offence were Jehan Daruvala and Harry Hayek.
The final result was, in first place, Richard Verschoor, second place to Brendon Leitch, third place and final podium position to Pedro Piquet. Then came Habsburg, Ahmed, Cockerton, Randle, Hahn, Daruvala, Andres, Armstrong, Laliberte, Hayek, Blackstock, Vaidyanathan, Leeds Lastochkin, Enders, Simmenaur and last was Neubauer.
Richard Verschoor pulled the #4 marble from the hat for race #2 and made Ferdinand Habsburg a happy man as he is now on pole position for the race.
The top points are now Verschoor 256, Randle 220, Habsburg 190, Leitch 190.
As we left the circuit just after 7.00pm it seems as if the day may well come to an end with yet another weather bomb.
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