Dayle ITM Racing is looking to build on their success from Manfeild in this weekend’s penultimate round of the Best Bars Toyota 86 championship at Pukekohe Park.
Christina Orr-West made category history at Manfeild last month when she became the first-ever female driver to score a podium.
She did so still bearing some tenderness from a rib injury sustained from an incident at Hampton Downs earlier in the year.
Teammate Ronan Murphy also impressed over the meeting, racking in a healthy bag of points and claimed his debut podium.
The duo are sixth and seventh in the standings, with Murphy holding a mere 32 point advantage over the sister car.
Pukekohe is a circuit Orr-West labels a “hit and miss track” for herself but targets a top-five result from herself this weekend.
“Having a few extra weeks has helped in the healing and hopefully it will be enough to hold up to the turn one bump,” Orr-West said.
“Pukekohe is a hit and miss track for me. When it loves me, I can be a pain in the ass to the top guys and can win.
“When we are not getting along it’s not pretty and nor are my radio messages. A top five would be great anything else would be amazing but I’ll be focussing only on being at the front and how to get there.”
Murphy has turned several laps of Pukekohe in the past. Yet he only made his TR 86 debut here last year during the mini-endurance series.
The 19-year-old identifies consistency as his target for the weekend ahead over a set result.
“It’s a great track for me and I can find good speed there, but it’s fair to say my focus this weekend will be on putting together a strong overall result,” Murphy said.
“I think we’ll have plenty of speed, so it’s going to be about taking the opportunities and focussing on my results.
“None of the front runners can afford not to finish this weekend, so they’re going to be cautious.
“For the other fast runners like us at Dayle ITM Racing, that’s definitely going to present an opportunity.”
Two practice sessions will be held on Saturday, followed by qualifying in the afternoon.
The first of three races will then start at 10.15 am on Sunday.
Images: TGRNZ