Round 1 -Taupo  3-5 October 2008

Yortt has the inside, Innes through the middle and Herbert now three out.   That's Maddren inside in row two with Hunt outside him.                 Rounding the corner the angles narrow up.             Yortt needs the distance between he and Innes into the next corner as it's a right hander.             The momentum carries them forward as they separate out.  Maddren is now through on Herbert but the next corner is a right hander.             It all comes undone for Maddren who spins - seemingly without contact so blame it on cold tyres.             Gavin Yortt's first win, is he happy ?             The KPH Project kids learn how to use a rattle gun with Colin McLennan, Dad of driver Simon McLennan who is in the background talking to the kids parents.       Learn more on this great cause: www.projectkph.co.nz       It   G                                                                              MINI CHALLENGE'S RACE 1 FROM TAUPO.   As the cars went out on their warm-up lap the blustery wind was carrying spots of rain.  That would indeed make life interesting for the short wheel based MINIs.   As quick as they came around to assemble on the start, the rain spots had disappeared.  Gavin Yortt was on pole on the inside of the front row with Justin Herbert outside of him.  Row two was Craig Innes and Simon McLennan.  There was nothing between these four and when the five red lights went green, Innes got away quickly and was soon in the middle of the front two.    As they turned left into Turn 1 (T1) they were three abreast.    Hunt was first to turn around followed by Maddren.  The rest were gone and these two were left to race each other at the back of the field and indeed that is what they did.   Hopkins had water 'steaming' from his frontal damage and soon pulled off the circuit.   As the racers settled into their laps there were two groups.  Yortt, Innes and Herbert at the front with a gap back to Timms, McLennan and Calder with Maddren and Hunt at the rear.   As an aside, the ECU units (engine management) are changed each race so there are no disadvantages let alone advantages.   Five laps to go and the front three are very, very close.  At the other end of the track we see on the monitor that Yortt outbreaks himself and Innes and Herbert close up.  He survives and now they are at the halfway point with four laps to go.  Into T7 Innes is through on the inside under braking but Yortt has the inside into T9 and takes the lead back.  Herbert's karting experience shows and he's through to 2nd.   Now three to go and Innes darts up the inside at the end of the start finish straight.  Not only does his Formula Ford experience show but some know it's genetic !!  From his Dad, Brian Innes.  I recall motoring scribe Kevin Lancaster telling me of the days in the late 60's when Brian drove Mini Coopers.  He won the B&H (Benson & Hedges) in a Chrysler Valiant Charger.  In the Castrol GTX days, driving a Valiant Pacer he was faster than the BDA Escorts. No, it was not the car but Brian Innes's driving skills.   It was short-lived because T2 is a right hander and Yortt was back in front.  Herbert is again all over Innes and whilst these two fight it out, Yortt gets away by 3 to 4 seconds.      Innes's back-end is very loose from over-heated tyres and we later learn his brakes have gone off as well. At the very far end of the circuit, before the main stright, Innes spins but catches it quickly and is away again.   Now one lap to go and whilst the monitors have followed the top three we have all been watching the fight between the 'wiley' Timms and the 21 year olds karter McLennan.  McLennan had his lights on and was ducking and diving behind Timms but with 24 years of racing experience Timms never moved an inch off his line.  No blocking here, just smart driving.   Yortt, Herbert and Innes cross the line 2.3 and 3 seconds apart.  It's another 2.8 second to Timms and just 0.3 to McLennan.  Calder has done everything right and the car is still straight and whilst he is 5.9 seconds adrift, he's still 6th.     All eyes turn to Maddren and Hunt who are coming into braking at the end of the long, long main straight.  Hunt has gone up the inside and they are pillar to pillar and he forces Maddren wide.  Maddren takes his front spoiler off on the tyre marker and the front leaps into the air off the ripple strip.  They are still side by side into the front straight.  Un-be-known to all Maddren has steering rack damage and the car veers right and glances off the tyres in front of the concrete wall and the crash resonates with a big bang . A metre less and it could have been very nasty as he would have gone straight in.  He limps over the finish line.   For only eight finishers it was so-far the most exciting racing of the day thus far.  Commentators Brian Kelly (BK), Chudleigh Hackett and MINI's Mike Eady were testament to that.    Great racing, roll on Sunday.   ENDS.   Alan Henderson / HH Media

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RAINY SUNDAY FOR DAY TWO AT TAUPO.   Clarke Hopkin's (Roofing Industries, Colorcote NZ) day was over right from the outset when at warm-up a damaged head gasket was diagnosed.  Rather than replace it and run the risk of greater cylinder head damage the decision was made to withdraw.   Yesterday I said Mark Maddren turned himself around.  He showed me the rear damage where he was pushed around !!   RACE 2:  That left only eight cars out on full wet tyres for the, extended to two, warm-up laps.   Gavin Yortt (Squawking Magpie Wines) was on pole but his MINI's front drive spun-up and the hesitation was enough for Craig Innes (Taupo Weekender) to duck through on the outside.   Justin Herbert (Golden Homes) maintained his outside line and was in fact through in front of Innes.   Simon McLennan (New World Metro, Willis Street in Wellington) used his karting experience and was on the outside of Herbert.  As they disappeared into Turn 1 in a sea of spray,  Innes left his braking to the absolute last and was inside Herbert.    Yortt now found himself back in fourth with Hunt (Moneyworks, Typeface) on the outside of him but with the right, left combination coming Hunt dropped in behind.  The front four progressively moved out and Hunt dropped off.  He later said he had no ABS and decided to back off the furious pace of the front four.   On lap 3 Mark Maddren (E.P. Maddren Construction and Kiwi Can) ended in the 'kitty litter' at the bottom end of the track.  The Marshalls saw smoke and filled under the bonnet with extinguisher powder.  A big mess to clean up for what was probably just a drop of oil off the new steering rack onto the exhaust.   A lap later Wayne Timms (Timms Vending) slowed and pulled off the track.  It was later revealed that a circlip holding the front left drive-shaft in place, had dropped out, hence no drive.   As the laps progressed Herbert got closer to Innes and was able to get very, very close under brakes only to lose exit speed, so Innes was able to move out again.   At the flag it was Innes by 0.791 from Herbert, 3.003 back to McLennan and 4.983 back to Yortt.  21 seconds back to Barry Calder (Modepartners) and 2.783 to Hunt.   RACE 3:  After a day of showers, when it came time for MINI Challenge's Race 3, they followed the all horsepower Super GTs who had created definite dry lines.  Everyone was on slick tyres.   The race is reverse grid and it's Timms who gets the jump on Maddren with McLennan going around the outside.  Going even wider is Innes which places him perfectly for Turn 2.  Whether he was tapped or did it himself, Hunt turns in front of four other cars. Innes goes left forcing Yortt well out onto the grass.   Heading back north again Timms goes straight ahead at Turn 5.  He later says he must have damaged the ABS when he put the half-shaft back.  He continues without ABS which is extremely difficult as you get constant lock-ups.  He had a huge moment at the end of the main straight where he had to grab a lower gear and throw the car into the 90 degree left up on two wheels.   Hunt's race is over and heads for the pits. Innes has small margin over Herbert and further back Maddren is just ahead of Yortt.   Next lap Herbert is ahead of Innes but Innes reclaims it at the bottom of the circuit. In the run down to Turn 4 Yortt, who has been trailing Maddren, goes around him to take third.   After 12 laps it's Innes by half a second over Herbert with Yortt fifteen seconds back. Maddren is three seconds behind him and McLennan is another thirteen back.   So the 'provisional' overall for Round 1 at Taupo is:   1st        Craig Innes           210   2nd       Justin Herbert        201   3rd       Gavin  Yortt           189   4th        Simon McLennan   158   5th        Barry Calder          139   Round 2 is at Pukekohe Park 7-9 November.   ENDS.   Alan Henderson / HH Media                                                                                                     Herbert gets the run on the outside of Innes.     Lots of spray, you can see Innes's white car up inside Herbert.     The front four of Innes, Herbert, McLennan and Yortt.     Innes takes the chequered flag in front of Herbert.      Race 3, reverse grid and Innes is right in behind Timms.  That's McLennan on the very outside with Herbert inside him.       Around goes Hunt.       Innes is through but Yortt is living dangerous out on the wet grass.     Overall result for the weekend is (L to R) 1st Craig Innes, 2nd Justin Herbert and 3rd Gavin Yortt.

MINI CHALLENGE SERIES UNDERWAY.   The 2008/09 MINI Challenge New Zealand started off in Taupo today with Qualifying late this morning.   Now entering their third year of competition, this summer series incorporates a refreshed calendar with the competitors in the series commencing their championship at the Taupo Motorsport Park, as opposed to Pukekohe.  Round 7 was scheduled for all new Hampton Downs Motorsport Park at Meremere on 20-22 March 2009 but we are told "a Winter of wet has delayed the track construction so that Round will now transfer to Pukekohe."     Disappointingly only 9 of the 23 cars in the country have showed up for then Round.  On the lighter side that makes the Race 3, 'Top 10 Reversed Grid' an easy task.  Those who did show will certainly be able to give their sponsors good television coverage.    Friday was a day of two timed practice sessions in blustery conditions but thankfully no rain.   Saturday is same conditions but very overcast. Qualifying was at 10.40 and there were several changes from the practice sessions.  Intriguingly was the fact that the first six were under the MINI Challenge lap record of 1:46.700    1st        Gavin Yortt                    1:45.462   2nd       Justin Herbert                1:45.626   3rd       Craig Innes                    1:45.693   4th        Simon McLennan            1:45.910   5th        Mark Maddren                1:46.072   6th        Martin Hunt                    1:46.291   7th        Clarke Hopkins               1:46.948   8th        Barry Calder                   1:47.401   9th        Wayne Timms                1:47.494   Gavin Yortt - Squawking Magpie Wines, Gavin's vineyard in Hawkes Bay.   "My fastest lap on lap 2 wasn't supposed to be that way but my fuel mapping sensor failed and limited the revs to 3000 rpm.  It's my first pole so thanks to Brad Flowers from Lodge Autos."   Justin Herbert - Golden Homes.  Justin has been mechanic on this car for the last two years and drove it with some success in the endurance races.  Justin has 13 years of karting experience and is current Yamaha KT Lights Champion in the 3NZ Sprint Racing and Dirt classes.   "It's a bit different to karting.  I have learned you have to be more patient and you don't hustle."   Craig Innes - Taupo Weekender with further support from Toptown Tyres (the Tordoffs in Hamilton), WebDesign (Dave Blythe), West Hamilton Auto Refinishers (who put the car back together after the Hamilton street race damage) and Signmaker Graphics in Taupo.  Interesting point, with MINI Challenge not running at next year's A1GP event at Taupo, Craig will co-drive in one of Shane McKillen's (XXX Motorsport) Porsche 997s.  The racing consists of a 60 minute race on the Saturday and a 90 minute on the Sunday with driver changes.   "Motorsport Services are working on the car for me and after a last minute wheel alignment yesterday I had second fastest time. 3rd today but there is only 200th of a second in it."   Simon McLennan - New World Metro (Willis Street in Wellington). Seven years in karting Simon is from Wellington and is studying for his post graduate honours degree in Business Management.   "Part of the attraction of this series was that there's not much we can do in terms of setting up the car and it all comes down to driver ability on the track. It doesn't come down to who has the most money to spend on getting the fastest car." says Simon. " Also we have decided to show our support to Project KPH which we think is a great venture. It's an initiative offering special needs children the opportunity to be hosted at New Zealand's tier one motorsport events around the country."   Mark Maddren - E.P. Maddren Construction and Kiwi Can, a life skills and values programme for Year 1 to 8 students.   "Between practice and qualifying set-up changes have given me a second so I am really happy."    Martin Hunt - Moneyworks, Typeface.  The Wellington based team is a shared drive between Martin and Brent Melhop.  Their third driver Karl Wilson is in Japan racing Yamaha Class karts - a prize for winning his class, the NZ Stock Lights.     "I will drive here, Manfield and Pukekohe and Brent will do Ruapuna and the final round which is now at Puke. I have been going quicker eack lap so looking forward to racing."                   Clarke Hopkins - Roofing Industries, Colorcote NZ.   "I was 2nd and 4th yesterday but made some mistakes today so I'm disappointed with 7th.  I haven Rhys McKay helping me get into the right headspace come racing."   Barry Calder - Modepartners.com.  Barry hails from Christchurch and has purchased a brand new car.    "I'm happy to be competitive and only be two seconds off the fastest time" Calder said.   Wayne Timms - Timms Vending.  A veteran of 24 years motor racing he was surprisingly two seconds off the pace just behind Calder.   "Tyres" he said.  "I am running to a tight budget and got approval to run old tyres hence my slower time."    The first race is scheduled for just before 3pm this afternoon and two races on Sunday.   ENDS.   Alan Henderson / HH Media

Fujitsu 200 TRACK 1