Lap records on the board at Teretonga

Three new lap records were set amid some exciting action at Teretonga Park in Invercargill last weekend.

Cameron Jones, of Palmerston North, broke the OSCA Sport Saloon record in a turbo-charged Mazda RX7 as he stormed from a lap down to fifth in a handicap race, setting a new mark of 57.777 seconds. Jones also topped the podium for the round ahead of Dunedin drivers Brian Scott (Porsche 997) and Steve Ross (Jaguar TraNZam). Jones won two of the four races and finished second to Scott in the opening race on Saturday on a damp track.

It was Scott’s first OSCA win and it sealed him second place on the podium after he and Ross tied on points, Scott’s win earning him second spot.

Seb Manson, of Auckland, dominated the South Island Formula Ford Championship races, qualifying fastest, winning all four races and also setting a new lap record of 1 minute 02.920 seconds. Caleb Byers, of Rolleston, took three seconds and a third to place second for the round with Dylan Petch third. Southlander Jacob Begg claimed second overall in Class 2.

Another lap record was set in 2K Cup South Island when Southland Sports Car Club member William McDonald recorded a lap of 1 minute 13.573 seconds in his Toyota Corolla. Despite winning two of the four races and also taking a third place, McDonald did not feature on the class podium after losing time off track in Sunday morning’s race.

Faron Poulter, of Christchurch, and Tim Wallace, of Dunedin, were the other race winners in a huge field of 32 cars but it was Greg Mitchell, of Darfield, in a BMW who took round honours from Michael Gunstone, of Christchurch, (Honda Torneo) and Greg Barclay, of Woodend, in a Toyota MR2.

The SS Cup also had a large field, Gerald Hargreaves, of Winchester, in a Toyota Altezza winning two races and James Black, of Mosgiel, in a Honda Civic and Jason Kelly, of Dunedin, (Nissan 280ZX) the others. When the points for the weekend were tallied it was Josh Ward, of Blenheim, who won the round from Chris Buckley, of Arrowtown, and Corey Ashworth, of Ashburton.

There were four different race winners across the Pre-78 Classic Saloon races with Piers Mingham, of Ashburton, in his Escort MK1 taking one, David Hunter, of Dunedin, winning the Sunday morning handicap race in his Ford Cortina, Monty McHaffie, of Lyttelton, taking one in his Ford Capri and Todd Rea, of Queenstown, the other in a MK 1 Escort.

Invercargill driver John Smolenski won the Pre-65 Saloon Class in his Falcon XP from Christchurch drivers Tim McCullough (Anglia) and Mark Burrows (Chrysler Valiant). Smolenski won two of the four races, McCullough one and Corey Ross, of Ashburton, the other in a Ford Mustang. Invercargill driver Doug North (Falcon) took a second and third place and David Robertson of Invercargill in another Falcon scored a third.

Invercargill driver Jordan Michels topped the Noel McIntyre Drainage Club Saloon podium from Kyle Dawson of Invercargill in his Nissan Skyline and Timaru’s Jimmy Liemburg. Dion Dawson returned from a non-finish on Saturday to take a third and two second placings.

Local driver Bradley Dawson took the round win in the Mazda Pro8 NZ Saloons from Jared Pyke of Rangiora and Ben McConochie, of Rolleston. Dawson also won the Veteran Trophy while Jeremy Dawson took the Rookie Award. Bradley won two of the four races and Pyke and Cory Stewart, of Prebbleton, shared the others.

Justin Neill, of Christchurch, won three of the Mini 7 South races and Daniel Lamb of Kaiapoi won on Saturday when Neill did not start.

Mick Ross, of Dunedin, won two of the three NZ Six Saloon races in a Commodore while Cody Welch, of Omakau, won the other in a Falcon.