Breakthrough V8 Utes win for rising star Mitch Sparrow

While Glen Collinson won Race Three, the weekend accolades belonged to Mitch Sparrow. As the youngest driver in the series at just 19 years old, winning Race Two of the V8 Utes was a standout drive for Mitch Sparrow.

He then backed that up with a 2^nd in Race Three, giving him enough series points to seal the Round Three win.

Even more outstanding was holding off the massively talented Glen Collinson in Race Two. Here’s how Sunday’s racing at NZIGP’s March Madness unfolded.

In the reverse grid Race Two on Sunday morning, Mitch Sparrow took the lead early on. But current series champion Glen Collinson wasn’t taking it easy, moving up quickly from his fourth starting position into second early in the race.

Glen threw everything at it, including setting the fastest lap in pursuit of the flying Sparrow. But Mitch kept extending his lead, lap after lap. Come the chequered flag, a jubilant Mitch Sparrow relished that winning feeling, finishing more than 4 seconds ahead of Glen Collinson.

Mitch modestly admitted after the race, “It’s easy when you’ve got a fast race car.”

Behind the lead duo, Brad Kroef stormed through to fourth after starting a lowly eleventh – a mere 8 thousandths of a second ahead of Blair Gribble-Bowring in third. Not to be outshone by his son, Greg Kroef finished fifth ahead of Dan Ludlam. Sadly, a mid-race spin sent Paul ‘Smokey’ Fougere into a spin and tumbling down the order to twelfth.

For Race Three, Mitch Sparrow and Brad Kroef started on the front row, with Greg Kroef and Glen Collinson breathing down their necks at third & fourth on the grid. Mitch Sparrow held his lead off the line, but Brad Kroef soon overtook Mitch late in the first lap.

It wasn’t long before Brad had concerns of his own. Glen Collinson had found a way past Mitch, and by the third lap, Glen overtook Brad. From there, Glen proceeded to stretch his lead.

But Mitch Sparrow wasn’t done. Just 1.2 seconds behind Brad mid-race, Mitch saw an opportunity coming into the hairpin on the seventh lap. Brad Kroef’s Heron / P & I Pascoe Ford developed front brake issues hampering his progress, and Mitch Sparrow pounced.

Behind the lead trio, Greg Kroef kept his game up to finish third, and Daniel Ludlam improved on his sixth-start position to finish fourth. Phill Ross ran a clean, composed race to finish fifth, improving on his eighth-place starting position and moving ahead of a wounded Brad Kroef. So close was the racing that after 10 laps, the field was stretched out by just 20 seconds.

That’s how the weekend finished for the V8 Utes, leaving Brad Kroef on top of the series, Daniel Ludlam second, and Greg Kroef third. The next round is Taupo, the final weekend of March.

Race Two Results:

Race Three Results:

Header Image: Dillon Photography