In atrocious track conditions, Jason Bargwanna has come out on top, taking the round win in the BNT NZ Touring Car Championship at Teretonga this weekend.
Turning on an epic battle and providing the best racing of the season, Bargwanna claimed a win and two second place finishes, enough to give him a points advantage over Nick Ross in his Nissan Altima who finished second for the weekend ahead of Simon Evans in his Holden Commodore.
Finishing second behind Evans in the final race, Bargwanna was quick to praise the work of his Richards Team Motorsport team.
“This is something the team can be really proud of. From the start of the year we were on the back foot and we’ve turned it around,” said Bargwanna.
“To get a race win last weekend at Ruapuna was up there, and to turn it into a round win this weekend is fantastic.”
“It’s a shame this championship is only six rounds long because it feels like we’re starting a tilt for the title.”
Bargwanna said that conditions throughout the weekend were very difficult.
“Race two was greasy with some sprinkles of rain, that last race this afternoon was standing water, it was very wet.”
“A lot of us were fogging up, so you couldn’t really see, but it would have been great viewing for the fans.”
Bargwanna started the final race of the weekend from position six on the grid, and was leading the pack by the first corner. Evans managed to slip by for the lead during the pit stop cycle.
“Our car lacked a lot of lateral grip and drive but was strong under braking. So I had to work out where we could control the race and that was through turn one.”
“Simon got by in the pitstops, but towards the end of the race there we were catching him. It would have been nice to have beaten him, but we were also thinking about the round win and making sure we kept Nick Ross behind us, as we were tied on points heading into the final race.”
Class Two was won by Invercargill’s Liam MacDonald who took three race wins. Brad Lathrope claiming second overall for the weekend followed by Justin Ashwell.
“The GT Radial NZ Falcon was good in the dry, we didn’t have a quick car in the wet, it wasn’t balanced but we managed to keep consistent to take the round win,” said MacDonald.
Round five of the championship will be held at Manfeild Feb 11-12.
