There were some anxious moments for MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series pace-setter Michael Lyons (Lola T400) before he successfully completed another race clean sweep at the second New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing meeting at Hampton Downs today.
Lyons, who qualified on pole and won the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, was leading the second MSC race on Sunday morning when it was red flagged, while he had to nurse his car home from half distance in the 15-lap final when an exhaust header cracked then ran under his car’s right rear wheel when it (the header) finally broke off.
“I heard it crack first ,” said the just-turned 23-year-old, “then a couple of laps later the engine note changed again and when I looked in the mirror after the car suddenly jumped sideways when I was accelerating out of the sweeper there was a big cut in the right rear tyre so I spent the rest of the race thinking that I needed to keep going fast enough so that the boys behind me didn’t think they had a chance of catching me but not so fast that I was going to risk blowing the tyre because if it was going to go it was going to be a big one.”
After the second weekend race was considered null and void because it was red flagged before 75% of its full distance was completed after Brett Willis (Lola T330) hit the start/finish straight wall when he lost control on oil dropped from another car, the 15-lap final also started – literally – under a cloud.
First it was brought forward until just after lunch because of the threat of rain. Then, just as the field thundered out onto the track for the warm-up laps light rain started to fall, prompting race organizers to call the cars back to the pits to swap from slick tyres to wets.
By the time all the cars were back in pitlane however, the shower had passed and even those drivers who had elected to change to wets had to change back to slicks when the race was declared dry.
With Clark Proctor (March 73A), Greg Thornton (March 75A) and David Banks (Talon MR1) already out with gearbox issues of one sort or another, Sefton Gibb (Lola T332) sidelined by a broken brake caliper, Brett Willis (Lola T330) and Warwick Mortimer (Surtees TS5) out after car and/or engine damage from the aborted race in the morning, and Michael Lyons’ mother Judy (Lola T332) electing not to start the feature final, the field was down to 11 cars by the time the feature started.
That didn’t mean it was without interest though, with Michael Lyons’s father Frank (Gurney-Eagle FA74) grabbing second place after a daring move around the outside of Andrew Higgins (Lola T400)through the first turn and special event and MSC series guest Guido Belgiorno-Nettis (Ferrari 156/85 turbo F1) working his way from the back of the grid (after a rush to even get there thanks to a misunderstanding about the earlier race start) to fifth place at the flag.
Lyons Snr held second for the first two laps before being slotted back to third and eventually fourth with Belgiorno-Nettis getting closer but still just over two seconds adrift at the flag.
“I could see him making progress, but because he was only a second a lap quicker than I was the gap was too big for him to close,” Lyons Snr said.
One of the reasons was that it had taken the Sydney-based Ferrari driver two full laps to catch and successfully pass the dicing Calven Bonney (Begg 018) and Aaron Burson (McRae GM1).
Class returnee Bonney got the better of Burson at the start but the pair were never more than a couple of car lengths apart with Burson eventually finding a way past on the 10th lap.
“Calven was a bit braver at the start, but I got alongside him one lap and past the next,” said Burson.
Once past Ferrari ace Belgiorno-Nettis then set off after Tony Richards (Lola T332), giving Aaron Burson a lesson in just how quick a turbocharged 1.5 litre Ferrari Formula 1 car can go – with a clear track in front.
“It’s definitely got some wellie!” he said of the exotic ex Michele Alboreto car.”
Tony Richards, meanwhile was just happy to finish the race – and weekend – with his car in one-piece after spinning in front of the field in the first turn at the start of the aborted second race.
“It was definitely a scary moment,” he said. “It’s not much fun going into Turn 1 here backwards watching all the other cars coming towards you. I’m not quite sure what happened; I braked a bit later than Andy Higgins who was next to me bit it didn’t feel like I was going too quick, but it stepped out and I was very lucky everyone was able to avoid me.”
Finally having a – virtually – trouble-free from lights-to-flag was Auckland McRae GM1 driver Alastair Russell who has struggled to complete a race at Hampton Downs for the past two years thanks to various mechanical issues. With a new oil system and overheating issues under control, Russell ended up in eighth place between Aaron Burson and Calven Bonney.
“I’m totally elated, over the moon. We’ve still got some handling issues but the plan now is to get some seat time and see if we can run even further up the field.”
Saturday’s race was won by Michael Lyons from Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, Andrew Higgins, Tony Richards and Frank Lyon.
MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series competitors now head south for the final round on the 2013/14 series at the annual Skope Classic meeting at Christchurch’s recently renamed Mike Pero Motorsport Park (nee Ruapuna) next weekend.
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The MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series is organised and run with the support of sponsors MSC, NZ Express Transport, Bonney’s Specialized Bulk Transport, Mobil Lubricants, Pacifica, Avon Tyres, Webdesign and Exide.
