Arthur Broughan of Tuamarina near Blenheim celebrated his sixteenth birthday with a clean sweep as the penultimate round of both the NZ Mazda Racing Series New Zealand and North Island Series which took place at Taupō International Motorsport Park over the weekend.
The weekend was full of action, but Broughan emerged through it all to win the round as he turned sixteen on Sunday, with Stuart Lawton of Paraparaumu second and fourteen-year-old Ajay Giddy of Auckland third overall.
Broughan, Prebbleton driver Chris White, and Simon Baker all returned for cameo appearances at this round, but it was White who drew first blood by taking the Racetech Pole Award ahead of fellow Prebbleton driver Mac Templeton, Giddy, and Broughan on Saturday morning.
After White retired with ABS issues, Broughan won the opening race that day. New Zealand Series leader Will Kitching of Timaru was second, and Giddy was third. Templeton had run second until a mechanical issue sidelined him near the end of the race.
Simon Baker had pole in Sunday morning’s top ten reverse grid race with Mac Berkett of Nelson alongside, but when the lights went out, Berkett’s car stalled. That resulted in several collisions, which brought a red flag and lots of damage. Berkett, Steven Spear, Dave Atkins, and Templeton were all eliminated, while Steven Gaskell retired with a mechanical issue.
After a lengthy delay, Baker led from the restart, but the big movers were Broughan, who gained five places from tenth on the grid by the end of lap 1, and White, who had come from the rear of the field to eleventh in just one lap. White had driven Lance Gerlach’s car in Saturday’s race but, after the braking issues, took over Elton Wichman’s car for Sunday.
Baker led from Karl Gaines of Auckland, while Broughan was into second on lap 3 and took the lead on lap 6. Lawton displaced Baker for second on lap 8, and it was at that stage, Kitching, who had been running as high as sixth, started falling back with a gearbox problem to eventually finish twelfth.
Broughan won by 11.690 seconds from Lawton, while White snatched third from Baker on the penultimate lap. Baker kept fourth with Giddy, Sam Dashfield, Jesse Gould, Gaines, Callum Pratt, who came through from near the back of the field, and James Black of Dunedin, completing the top ten.
Broughan completed the clean sweep on Sunday afternoon with an all-the-way win from Lawton. Baker was third ahead of Kitching, while White and Templeton were among several drivers who did not start the race.
The lap record was lowered throughout the weekend and eventually settled with Broughan’s lap of 1.41.359 seconds.
As competitors head to the final round of both the New Zealand Series and the North Island Series at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon this coming weekend, Kitching has a 44-point lead over Lawton in the National Series points, while Lawton leads the North Island title race with 506 points, 35 points ahead of Gaines.
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Header Image: Geoff Ridder
