Tim Edgell supports the introduction of the longer feature races in this year’s Racer Products V8 championship. Still, he has offered his suggestion for race formats in future seasons.
The current championship leader clean swept the latest round of the series at Manfeild over the weekend, claiming the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy with his victory in Sunday’s feature race.
The new format for the 2020/21 season sees drivers run in two short qualifying races on Saturday and one longer race the following day.
Sunday’s race is forty minutes long and includes a compulsory pit stop. Times for each pit stop vary per car and is calculated using a balance of performance system to give every driver equal chance to fight for the win.
Edgell, who has won the last two feature races, is a fan of the new concept. However, he suggests having two shorter races on Sunday might further spice up the competition.
“The longer races are great,” Edgell told Velocity News.
“I had to work for the win in the final race at Manfeild. Coming out of the pitlane in third, I had to make up ground to get to the lead, which was fun.
“But I think there is potentially an opportunity to have a pair of twenty-minute races on Sunday instead. They will still have the balance of performance pitstops, but having shorter, twenty-minute races will give all drivers a better chance of winning.
“But for us, having the forty-minute feature race is great. We are chipping away at tuning the car for the North Island Endurance Series, so these races are a great way to smooth out reliability.”
Edgell’s victory had him presented the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, an achievement which has a meaningful connection to him.
“Of course, winning [the trophy] means a lot to me. Jason is a renowned driver.
“I carry the number eight on my race car, which was a significant race number for Jason, because one of my sponsors, the late Greg Horne, supported Jason for his whole career.
“So, I am very proud to win it.”
Despite extending his championship lead over the weekend, placing him in the box seat to clinch the title with two rounds in hand, Edgell is still playing each race as it comes.
That mindset will extend into his endurance campaign, which kicks off in April.
“I’m just taking everything one meeting at a time. Every race is a chance to enjoy my racing, and that has been really good for me.
“It will be the same for the endurance series. We will stick to the one-hour race this year, but I would also love to try the three-hour at some point.
“We just need to work on fine-tuning our reliability between every meeting and we will be alright.”
Round four of the Racer Products V8 Allcomers will be at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo over March 26-28.
Images: Racer Products V8s