The 2013 Winger Suzuki Swift Sport Cup got back under way last weekend at the Taupo Motorsport Park, with Round four of the six round Championship. At the midway stage of the season, it was Hamilton’s Shaun Lawrence sitting atop of the points table and the goal for the Liquorland Racing team for Taupo was a simple one; to come away with that lead in tact.

The weekend started well, with Lawrence 2^nd fastest through practise, and qualifying in third position for race one. In what can only be described as an “eventful” race for a number of competitors, Lawrence was pushing hard and with just two laps remaining made a bold move for third place. It turned out to be a move that didn’t pay off, contact with Andrew Vincent resulting in a Pit Lane drive through penalty for Lawrence, and forced to start race two from the back of the field.

“I may not necessarily agree with the penalty, but it’s done now and we just have to keep pushing on. You can’t change the outcome and it’s going to achieve nothing by dwelling on it. There’s still another couple of races left so the weekend if far from done-and-dusted” said a philosophical Lawrence afterwards.

Race Two saw the Liquorland Racing Suzuki on a charge, Lawrence coming from the back of the grid up into fourth position on the last lap. Sometimes however things just don’t go your way, a thirty cent roller pin in the gear selector broke leaving the Swift with no drive and left to coast across the finish line, dropping Lawrence back to seventh place as a result.

What happened immediately following the race is pure testament to the camaraderie in the Swift Sport Cup. Championship rival Glenn Collinson’s crew jumped straight in to help the Liquorland team, and were able to undertake a full gearbox change in less than an hour. The weekend was far from done for!

“When the helmet goes on, every one of us want to win as much as the next guy. The thing I love about the Swift Sport Cup is that when we all get back into the pits after a race, we genuinely get along great and the teams don’t hesitate to help each other out. It’s fantastic, and the fact that we were able to get back out there for the final race and keep pushing for points…. it’s hard to explain, but that last race might turn out to be pivotal come the end of the season” explains Lawrence.

The Swift field took to the Taupo circuit for the third and final race on a very cold Sunday afternoon, and by his own admission Lawrence was in “points recovery mode”. Starting from the back of the field once again, Lawrence simply charged and as the chequered flag dropped to signal the end of the race, it was the Liquorland Racing Team coming home in first position, and third place overall for the round. Most importantly however, the points from the weekend saw Lawrence slightly increase his lead at the top of the table.

With the final two rounds at Hampton Downs and Pukekohe respectively, Lawrence has a genuine shot at becoming the 2013 Winger Suzuki Swift Sport Cup Champion for the very first time. For the final round at Taupo for 2013 it was definitely a case of “mission accomplished”, but only just!