Young driver Will Kitching has extended his championship lead in the Pro8 South Island Series after taking round honours at Highlands Motorsport Park over the weekend.
Kitching demonstrated the 2023 Winmax Junior Driver programme grant he received mid-week was well deserved to take two wins, a second and a fifth over the four race weekend.
Sam Wallace, Jared Pyke and Shane Roughan kept the youngster on his toes all weekend but he kept a cool head on his way to another round victory.
Australian RX8 Cup champion Tom Shaw also had a great weekend on track in his cameo, taking part in a driver exchange which will see Mackie, McConchie and Parmenter compete in April’s Bathurst 6 Hour.
Shaw finished 14th in Race 1, 13th in Race 2, 15th in Race 3 and 13th in Race 4 as well as running in the M-Development Sprint Series where he took two race wins on his way to Class B honours.
He made continuous progress in the Pro8 Series despite having to overcome some differences between the two series which include no ABS in New Zealand and cars running 140kg lighter, making them faster.
It was Wallace- who won all four races at Highlands last year- who started the day in fine form, taking pole position over Kitching by just .016 seconds, setting up a thrilling battle which unfolded over the entire day’s racing.
The scene was also set for a tight battle for second on the ladder between Pyke, Roughan, Brad Dawson and Kris Mackie with Pyke qualifying third, Dawson fifth, Mackie sixth and Roughan seventh. Simon Grace ensure he got right in on that contest to qualify fourth.
It was Grace who took Race 1 honours despite being second across the line, a post-race 5 second penalty for Wallace dropping him to second. It was a case of almost but not quite enough for Wallace who crossed the line 4.890 seconds ahead, only .110 seconds off holding on to
Roughan finished fourth in the opener, one spot ahead of Kitching who made the start after some post-qualifying suspension issues were quickly fixed by his team with the help of Jarrod Parmenter.
A stall on the line didn’t help the championship leader’s charge but he was quick to recover and hold on for fifth.
It was a tougher race for Pyke who finished 10th overall whilst Mackie failed to finish after making contact with the wall on the penultimate lap in a bid to make up spots after missing a gear the lap before.
With only 90 minutes between race Parmenter sprung into action on Mackie’s car to have it race ready as the field left the dummy grid. Running on one oil cooler in hot conditions limited his progress from here but returning to track limited his losses on the championship table.
A reverse top 10 grid for Race 2 worked wonders for Pyke who bounced back to form to take line honours ahead of Kitching by 1.637 seconds. Wallace rounded out the podium after a charging drive from the fifth row with Flyn Mitchell and Ash McConchie rounding out the top five.
Race 1 winner Grace managed to make up two spots to finish eighth, ahead of Mal Walters in ninth, Roughan in 10th and Mackie in 11th.
Kitching was back to winning ways in Race 3, the full reverse grid proving no issue for the #76 who moved from 16th to first over just 8 laps. Roughan was back on the podium in second, 2.363 seconds up the road, whilst Wallace rounded out the podium.
The final race of the day featured a points grid race with Kitching starting on pole in a winner-take-all scenario for round honours with Wallace.
It wasn’t to be for last year’s round victor, a front wheel hub collapse on Lap 1 resulting in him withdrawing from the expected blockbuster battle with this year’s championship leader.
Kitching ran away with the final, taking the flag over 10 seconds clear of Pyke in second. Roughan earnt another podium in third ahead of Grace and Dawson respectively whilst Mackie did great despite his restrictions to finish 10th.
Round victory sees Kitching extend his lead in the championship standings. Pyke finished second overall to make a step forward to finishing second this season whilst Roughan rounded out the podium.
Round 5 of the Pro8 South Island Series, the final event this year, takes place at Ruapuna on March 25-26.
Header image: The RX8 Cup liveried Mazda with Tom and Ric Shaw, Kris Mackie, Ash McConchie and Jarrod Parmenter. Supplied
