Angus Fogg is the winner of the first round of the Toyota Finance 86 Championship after an eventful weekend that included pole position, two race wins and a brush with Highlands Motorsport Park’s unforgiving concrete walls.
Driving the Gulf Foods TR 86 race car owned by Chris Lewis, Fogg held off a strong challenge from Callum Quin, Tom Alexander, Jamie McNee and Matt Gibson in today’s third and final race of the opening round.
Callum Quin set two fastest laps, including a race lap record for the TR86 category of 1:52. 191 for the 4.1 km circuit.
A crash on lap four took Bill Williams out of the race, his car digging into a gravel trap and losing its front bumper, dislodging a safety stack of tyres as it went. The yellow flag stayed out for four laps while the damage was repaired, and the field bunched up behind leader Fogg, but when the racing resumed Fogg pushed back out to a half second lead almost immediately.
He was never headed, the group behind him becoming enmeshed in a struggle for the other podium positions.
Fogg had been enthusiastic about the category and the new Highlands Motorsport Park circuit after winning race one of the series. With two wins and the championship lead he was ecstatic.
“We had some really close racing out there, the young guys behind me never let me rest so I was watching my mirrors for the whole race, but I knew if I controlled the restart after the yellow that I could stay out in front.”
The category has its first lap record of the seven-round series, a 1:52.191 by Callum Quin.
Multiple touring car champion Fogg won Saturday morning’s race by .516 of a second from Christchurch’s Tom Alexander.
He drew eighth spot for the semi-reverse grid second race, and was on a charge up to fifth when he brushed a concrete wall and was forced to nurse the car home.
That race was won by Jamie McNee.
McNee, a graduate of the single-seater Toyota Racing Series, seized the lead at mid-race and proceeded to race out to an advantage of 7.712 seconds over Matt Gibson, who was in turn .454 seconds ahead of Tom Alexander at the chequered flag.
Fogg now holds a four point lead in the championship, with 195 to second-placed Jamie McNee on 191, Tom Alexander is third on 187.
The next round of the new Toyota Finance 86 Championship is at Pukekohe near Auckland from 29 November to 1 December.
