He might have been behind the wheel of a different car – his father Frank’s Gurney-Eagle FA74 – but the result was still the same for series young gun Michael Lyons on the first day of competition at the final round of the 2013/14 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series at Christchurch’s Mike Pero Motorsport Park (Ruapuna) today.
After blowing the engine in his own Lola T400 in practice on Friday the 23-year-old stepped into his father’s Gurney-Eagle and with little more than a new seat and some minor suspension tweaks qualified it on pole and set a new category track lap record (at 1:17.723 almost half a second under the previous record set by visiting Canadian driver Jay Esterer in a McRae GM1 in 2011) on his way to victory in the first Mobil 1-backed 8-lap MSC series race at the annual Skope Classic meeting.
The victory extends Lyons Jnr’s winning 2013/14 MSC series streak to seven and means he now holds the F5000 category lap record at two New Zealand circuits, Hampton Downs in the North Island and Mike Pero Motorsport Park (nee Ruapuna) in the South.
“The initial thought when Dad offered me his car was to say no, because I had already damaged one, “said Lyons Jnr, “but then David Abbott was kind enough to offer Dad his car (a Lola T430) so I thought, I might as well (drive the Gurney-Eagle).
“The good thing with the Eagle is that it is such an easy car to to drive. We had to take Dad’s seat out so I could fit in it but the boys made me up one of my own overnight and apart from that, a bit of bar (antiroll) bar and a few tweaks to the suspension here and there everything else is as Dad raced it at Hampton Downs.”
Lyons was second away at the start but once in the lead eased away from a front-running foursome which included series champion-elect Andrew Higgins (Lola T400) and third quickest qualifier, Tony Richards (Lola T332).
Enjoying one of his strongest runs just behind Richards was fellow Lola T332 driver Russell Greer with a gap back to a a three-way mid-field battle-pack consisting of Aaron Burson (McRae GM1), David Banks (Talon MR1) and Ian Clements (Lola T332).
Keeping pace behind them, meanwhile, were Frank Lyons in his borrowed Lola T430, Tony Richards’ brother Glenn in only his third meeting behind the wheel of his Lola T400, and Tim Rush (McLaren M22) and Peter Burson (McRae GM1).
Local man Ian Clements had a close shave in qualifying, running off the track at high speed and grazing the tyre wall when bolts in a rear brake caliper broke, and – though the the time he had already set was good enough for P6 on the grid – started the race on P9 thanks to a new rule which penalises drivers who disrupt a qualifying session.
Another Christchurch-based driver, Dave Arrowsmith, was part of the mid-field group early on in his Class A Lotus 70, running in eighth spot until the fourth lap when he speared off the track and brought out the Safety Car.
That bunched up the field for the next two laps with the track only going green again for the final lap.
Determined not to lose his hard-won lead Michael Lyons not only timed the re-start just right, it was on the final lap that he set his new lap record…and afterwards reckoned he might go even quicker tomorrow! ”
“We did in qualifying (his pole time was a 1:17.403) so yes I think I can get down to that time in a race,” he said.
Today’s race was preceded by a minute’s silence in honour of the late Stan Redmond. Tomorrow there see the final two MSC NZ F5000 series races for the 2013/14 season with a second eight-lapper in the morning and a 12 lap feature race in the afternoon.
The MSC NZ 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.
