Craig Baird takes V8s lead in Timaru rain

OISIN DUKE

RUMBLE TUMBLE: Young Suzuki Swift driver Bramwell King got a different view of the track after he hit the wall during racing at Levels yesterday. He was back racing later in the day.

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Rain, drizzle and cold weather didn't deter the crowds at the weekend's racing at the Timaru International Motor Raceway.

Thousands turned out over three days of testing, qualifying and rubber-burning sprints to the finish line.
However, the busiest vehicles during  the weekend were the recovery trucks, with persistent rain and heavy drizzle bringing endless crashes, spins, delays and red flags.

The first to crash was Matt Gibson, in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup qualifying session on Saturday. He came to grief when he spun going through the grid, hitting the wall and badly damaging the front of his car.
Two more spun just after Gibson due to pooling water in the grid area and eager driving.

Wanganui's William Bamber managed to keep it together the longest, finishing the weekend in first place, on 754 points in the Swift class.

Luck wasn't on the side of 14-year-old Andre Heimgartner in the Formula Ford. He spun in the same place as Gibson, hit the wall and lost his front left wheel.

The Auckland teen finished fifth, on 577 points, well behind Hamilton's Martin Short, who leads the class on 806 points.

Craig Baird tops the BNT V8 Championship, with 668 points. He took the top spot from Nelson driver John McIntyre, whose bad run of luck began in yesterday's first race with an impressive five-car pile up.

He was first to come to grief, slamming into the wall in the grid area. It sparked talk about whether the race should have been declared wet, forcing teams to put on wet weather tyres because most were running with slicks.

Clark Proctor  protested after  that  race. He finished first but was put at the bottom of the field because he was in the pits changing tyres when the cars first left the grid. Due to the pit start he was counted as only doing 11 laps, instead of 12. If he is successful the points' board will change.

McIntyre's crash leaves him third in points, finishing with 553. In spite of his attempt to get in another car for the following races, it too was plagued with issues and the Nelson driver walked away with zero points for the three races yesterday.

Again, Proctor showed he was the master of driving in rain, blitzing the competition in the final race to earn   75 points. He sits in 10th place, with 376 points.

V8 drivers Andrew Anderson and Angus Fogg weren't immune to the carnage, both ending up buried in the tyre wall at the end of the back straight. Fogg and Timaru's John Hepburn were taken out in the last race altogether, when Hepburn's car clipped Fogg's.

One of the most devastating crashes came in race three of the TRS when Mitch  Evans slammed into the wall at the end of the back straight. His vehicle flew into the air from  the  impact and parts rained around him. Luckily, he walked away.

Earl Bamber showed his skill to come from seventh on the grid to the front, winning the if Timaru Herald trophy and snatching the race lead from Estonian driver Sten Pentus.

Overall, however, it is Pentus who leads in points from the second of five TRS rounds.
He sits on 379 points, ahead of Evans on 374 and Bamber on 352.

While Baird had to run to swap cars between races,  he cemented a solid lead on the points' board for the Porsche GT3 Cup, on 1003 points.

Matt Halliday, who started off the weekend wondering who stole his steering wheel  later recovered  finished second on 868 points.

Palmerston North's Ryan Bailey is leading the MINI Challenge Championship on 747 points and Scott McKelvie leads the Production Racing Championships' largest class in his Mitsubishi EVO 9, with 791 points.

- © Fairfax NZ News