2 minute read
Little top scores at Timaru
ALTHOUGH HE POSTED ONLY A SINGLE RACE WIN, defending national champion Alex Little built on his series lead in round two of the NAPA Auto Parts New Zealand Super Truck Championship.
The Aoraki Trust Thunder Down Under meeting at Timaru’s Levels Raceway over the January 28-29 weekend saw 11 trucks in action.
Once again, the three championship races produced three different winners, but that didn’t see the championship race tighten up. With maximum points in qualifying followed up by a Saturday victory and then a second and third place on Sunday in his Freightliner Century, Little stretched the title lead be established at the Manfeild series opener in October.
Little now leads with 114 points with Shane Gray (Kenworth) moving into second spot.
Slipping down the order was Timaru favourite Brent Collins. He failed to score points in qualifying because his truck exceeded the 160kph maximum speed. That meant a rear of the grid start on Saturday afternoon from which Collins climbed to fifth only to be handed a 20secs penalty for another over-speeding offence and be classified eighth.
Collins’ best efforts came on Sunday with a win in race two followed by fifth in the third points race and another win in the non-points Jimmy Thickett Flying Farewell.
Gray’s weekend included third in qualifying and two third placings before finishing sixth in race three. In fact, no driver could offer a consistent challenge to Little as Wheeler (Freightliner) qualified second and raced to second on Saturday.
It was race two on Sunday that provided the most drama. As the fastest trucks moved through the pack there was lap two contact between Australian Champ Steven Zammit (Kenworth) and Wheeler. Wheeler spun and lost a full lap regaining the track while Zammit was handed a drive through penalty for the incident and finished 10th.
Connor Etting had his best run to date in his Kenworth, leading four laps and eventually finishing fifth. Collins took the win with Little on his tail ahead of Gray and West.
The race two finish positions were reversed to set the grid for race three and Wheeler seized upon the pole position opportunity to race clear and win by a commanding 22secs from Zammit who held off a challenging Little. Dave West held onto fourth under pressure from Collins.
Collins won the non-points Flying Farewell ahead of Little, Zammit and Cody Wheeler.
While Gray trails Little by 23 points in the title chase the minor places are closely contested. Gray was 91 points ahead of Collins on 84, Wheeler with 78, Dave West (Freightliner Argosy) 77 and Zammit with 66.
The series is taking a break until the action resumes at Southland’s Teretonga Park on March 18-19 and the teams face a long haul and a quick turnaround for the championship finale at Pukekohe on March 25-26. T&D
