Visiting British driver Michael Lyons (Lola T400) completed a winning trifecta of the MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series races on the second day of competition at the first New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs today (Sunday Jan 19).
In the continued absence of veteran Kiwi ace Ken Smith (Lola T332) who blew an engine while leading Saturday’s 8-lap encounter, 23-year-old second-generation racer Lyons ran away with both Sunday races, underlining his superiority by lowering his own outright track record from the 59.840 he set in 2012 to the 59.483 he set in the eight lap race in the morning.
In that race Lyons lead Kiwi counterpart Andrew Higgins (the pair in almost identically liveried ‘Viceroy’ cars) from start to finish, crossing the line just over five-and-a-half seconds in front with defending series champion Steve Ross in his newly-liveried (now blue) ‘Quicksilver’ McRae GM1 third and 2012/13 series race winner Clark Proctor (March 73A) making it from the back of the grid (after crown wheel and gearbox problems meant he didn’t start Saturday’s race) to fourth.
Like Saturday’s race Sunday morning’s one had to be re-started, in this case after just the one lap thanks to a coming together between Michael Lyons’ father Frank (Gurney-Eagle FA74) and Grant Martin (Talon MR1A) as the field streamed into the first corner. Lyons was able to continue but Martin couldn’t (damaged rims) and the race was red flagged and re-started.
Class A (for older cars) standout Michael Whatley (Surtees TS8B) again ran third early on before eventually being caught and passed by both Steve Ross and eventually, Clark Proctor. Brett Willis (Lola T330) again ended up best of the mid-field battle-pack in sixth place, ahead of Ian Clements and Frank Lyons, however another coming together saw both Aaron Burson (McRae GM1) and UK visitor Greg Thornton (March 75A) out of the race.
In the 15-lap feature final Michael Lyons was able to further stretch his advantage though this time Clark Proctor made it all the way to second place from P14 (out of 16) on the grid with Steve Ross third and Andrew Higgins slipping back to fourth by the time the flag came out.
Ross went back several places after a half-spin at Turn 1 but was able to gather it up and work his way forward again before the chequered flag was unfurled.
There was disappointment for Michael Whatley, however, the visiting British veteran slowed and eventually stopped as his engine lost power. Brett Willis and Sefton Gibb also failed to finish, the former thanks to a broken throttle linkage, the later a battery issue.
The weekend’s races were the first of a total of six MSC series races which will be contested at Hampton Downs this season with another three at the second New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing meeting celebrating Ferrari next weekend.
.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.
