South Islander Mac Templeton was the star of the show in this weekend’s round of the Mazda Racing Series at Hampton Downs, winning twice and finishing as runner-up once on his way to winning Round 3 of the North Island Series ahead of Stuart Lawton and series leader Rex Edwards.
Lawton began the weekend strongly, powering to pole 0.25 seconds ahead of Templeton on Saturday morning, with Callum Pratt, Edwards, Jesse Gould, and Mark Oudney completing the top six.
The start of Saturday’s sole race was frantic as Lawton and Templeton ran side-by-side through Turn 1, the latter prevailing to take the lead.
Lawton ran wide at Turn 2, and deeper in the pack, there were incidents at the same place, with David Atkins turned around, leaving Alex Canty no room to manoeuvre. Canty collected Atkins in the driver’s side, forcing their retirement. As the incident unfolded, Edwards got past Templeton, but a safety car had been called, so he redressed the position.
The action resumed on Lap 4 with a massive battle between Templeton, Edwards and initially Lawton at the front. Karl Gaines joined the action early on Lap 5, slipping past Lawton to take third place.
At the front, Templeton built a gap on Edwards, but Gaines and Lawton were having a massive battle, the latter having a couple of big slides as he pushed hard to re-pass the Aucklander. Behind them, Samuel Dashfield, Pratt, and Gould were locked in a mammoth battle.
There was no denying Templeton, however, as he crossed the line for his debut victory, 3.356 seconds ahead of Edwards. Gaines was third, ahead of Lawton, Pratt, Dashfield, Oudney, Gould, Leo Bult and Steve Brown, completing the top ten.
Templeton declared himself “ecstatic” with the win, especially after recently losing a potential victory at Taupō after receiving a penalty. ”I’m so glad to do it the right way this time,” he said from the podium.
Sunday morning’s race featured a top ten reverse grid from Saturday’s result, and after an early incident that brought out the safety car, Edwards was quickly into the lead.
Gould trailed him initially before Lawton climbed to second on Lap 6, with Templeton following him through a lap later. Lawton was into the lead on Lap 8 and went on to take the win, also breaking Templeton’s lap record from the day before with a new time of 1.50.277. Templeton snatched second from Edwards on the final lap, with Gould fourth ahead of Pratt, Dashfield, Bult, Gaines, Spear and Brown, who recovered well from being turned around on the opening lap.
The final race was an absolute stunner, with Lawton, Templeton and Edwards battling at the front. The action behind was just as intense.
Lawton led most of the early stages, despite Edwards having a short stint in front. The defining moment came on Lap 7 when the trio headed into Turn 2 three-wide. In an audacious move, Templeton went through the middle, seized the lead, and held it to the end, with Lawton settling into second and Edwards third.
Behind them, Pratt, Gould, and Dashfield had been having a similar battle, and eventually, Dashfield took fourth and Gould fifth. Pratt struck a problem and dropped down the order, while Bult was a distant sixth after a half-spin during the race.
Asked about the pass for the lead at the end of the race, Templeton said, “I saw an opportunity and took it. I was pretty stoked with the pass.”
Lawton acknowledged the “great racing” between the three, while Edwards said the car was strong at the start of race three but “fell away towards the end.”
The series returns to Hampton Downs for the next round of the North Island Series over the weekend of 15/16 March.
Before then, competitors from both islands will be in action at Teretonga when the opening round of the Nexen Tyre NZ Mazda Racing National Series takes place over the weekend of February 1-2 as part of the Ascot Park Hotel Teretonga International. That outing is also Round 3 of the South Island Series.
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
