With just one race to go in the Nexen Tyre NZ Mazda Racing Series National Championship at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding today, the title race is going down to the wire.
Chris White had a 69-point championship lead coming into the round, but a tough start to the weekend has seen that margin slashed to just 23 points. White has also lost the lead in the North Island Championship, of which this is the penultimate round, albeit by just one point to Aucklander Warren Crowther.
White’s problems started in the first practice session on Friday when he dropped a wheel onto the grass and went into the wall at Higgins Corner leading onto the back straight. It was a heavy hit, and initially, it looked as though he would be out for the weekend.
However, his fellow competitors, in a great show of camaraderie, banded together to help him out, and while he missed the remainder of Friday’s programme, including qualifying, he made the start of the first race of the round on Saturday morning. White would start from the back of the 18-car grid due to missing qualifying, while his main rival in both the National and North Island Championships, Crowther, started from the pole.
White charged through the field to finish fourth in the opening race behind Stiaan Kriel, Crowther and Will Kitching to gain valuable points after Kriel and Crowther had an epic battle at the front.
Stu Lawton was fifth, ahead of Leo Bult, Arthur Broughan, Nigel Edger and Jesse Gould. Steve Brown completed the top ten. Sam Dashfield, who was third heading into the final lap, lost second gear and limped home in twelfth.
With a reverse top ten grid for the second race that afternoon, White was well placed, but an oil cooler hose came adrift on the warm-up lap, depositing oil around the circuit and rendering him a non-starter.
A delay ensued, but once underway, Brown led early from Edger before Kitching took the lead on lap 5. Crowther found his way into second a lap later, with Lawton following him through into third place. Kriel worked his way into fourth until his clutch pedal broke, and he fell back through the field.
Kitching continued to lead and took the flag from Crowther and Lawton, with Broughan, Brown and Gould enjoying a very good weekend next. Mac Templeton and Bult were seventh and eighth, respectively, ahead of Edger, who lost some places after sliding on some oil near the end of the race, and Alex Canty.
It means the New Zealand Championship will come down to the wire in today’s 10-lap race, scheduled for 11 am.
White takes a 23-point lead into the final day of the championship from Crowther, with Kitching third, 35 points off the lead. Sunday’s grid is based on points scored at the round to date, and with White not starting the second race today, he will start from seventeenth on the grid.
In the North Island Championship, Crowther now leads White by a point with one round remaining after this weekend’s action.
