This coming weekend sees the penultimate round of the 2013 Winger Suzuki Swift Sport Cup, and for Hamilton racer Shaun Lawrence it’s a return to the location of his dominant performance in the opening leg earlier this year. With just the two rounds remaining, Lawrence has a 12.5 point lead in the Championship and another strong result at Hampton Downs this weekend will put the title well within his grasp.
The Liquorland Racing team have been working hard on the car since the most recent round which was held at the Taupo Motorsport Park. At this stage of the game it’s a case of doing everything possible to make sure that they can get the car home in one piece, and whilst it’s Lawrence behind the wheel there’s a ton of credit that has to go to the service crew for the tireless efforts they put in.
“Hampton Downs is definitely a happy hunting ground for me and the team. It’s a fantastic circuit and really seems to suit my style of driving” explains Lawrence. “We’re obviously going to run the set up we had for Round One and I can see this being a really pivotal weekend as far as the Championship goes. If we can pull another strong result here it’ll take a lot of pressure off for Pukekohe” he added.
Having won two of the opening four rounds of the 2013 Championship outright, it’d be easy to suggest that it’s simply a matter of figuring out how not to lose the points lead as opposed to focusing on increasing it. Nothing however could be further from the truth, and the entire team are more focused than ever on the task ahead as they search for Lawrence’s first ever NZ title.
There is also the added incentive of having a double points race up for grabs this weekend with a compulsory wheel change also in the mix. The pit stop alone can be a game changer as a fast (or slow) stop can have a massive influence on the outcome of the race by picking up, or in some cases losing positions on the track.
What the team do have their favour however is form and consistency. Throughout the season if they haven’t been winning races, Lawrence has always managed to collect points and when the season is over that could well prove to be a telling factor.
