History is Made Today at Pukekohe

History is Made Today at Pukekohe

History was made today at Pukekohe Park Raceway when for the first time 14 cars from the NZV8 Touring Cars TLX and TL categories shared the grid with six V8ST spec cars heralding a future of cooperation between the two V8 series which have been until today strong rivals.

The first day of the Metalman United V8 Spectacular was a great success with the first race bringing much excitement with a rumbling pack of 20 V8 powered touring cars.

Nick Ross kept the NZV8 Touring Cars TLX title battle alive with a race win today whereas points leader Jason Bargwanna placed fifth after a flat tyre forced him to pit in the opeing lap.

Bargwanna was invloved in an incident in turn one with V8ST driver Gene Rollinson causing the puncture yet the ex-TKR driver was able to continue.

Kevin Williams took the race win in the NZV8 Touring Cars TL Championship ahead of Brock Cooley and Steve Taylor. Taylor extended his grip on second place in the championship which was already won by Williams at the previous round held at Manfeild Autocourse.

Andre Heimgartner won the V8ST class but with Simon Evans placing second today was able to wrap up the series for this season.

All in all it was incredibly exciting to have all three classes on the track together and an apt reward for all efforts made in bringing the classes together for this weekend as a trial run for a cooperative future.

At this stage there have been no measures taken to resolve parity issues between the NZV8 Touring Cars TLX and V8ST Spec cars which saw a time difference of just over two seconds per lap in the opening race between the fastest drivers of each class.

However Nick Ross in the Nissan Altima TLX managed to hold on to the back of the quick V8ST cars keeping the leading pack reasonably honest over the 15 laps and adding to the excitement.

"I was catching Manuell for a while there but the car was not handling all that well and we have some work to do before the next race tomorrow." said Ross.

Jason Bargwanna was unable to wrap up the title chase placing fifth today after contact was made in the first turn of the race which resulted in his making a stop with a puncture.

"Our cars are faster in the corners and theirs have the outright power coming out of the corners which I think is why we had the problem at the start. The pack ahead of me slowed down going into turn one and I tried to go down the middle but the other car just came across in front of me." said Bargwanna.

Bargwanna believes there is very little between the NZV8 Touring Cars TLX and the V8ST Spec cars which have more horspower and a little more rubber with an extra half an inch width over the TLX.

With Ross winning today's race he has closed the gap a little on Bargs and kept the chase open but he still has to find 132 points from two races with just 150 on offer.

In the NZV8 Touring Cars TL Championship Steve Taylor could wrap up second place behind Kevin Williams in the next race.

He now leads third placed Nathan Pilcher by 129 points and also has 150 points up for grabs over the last two races of the season.

Brad Lathrope who was holding third place had a DNF today which let Taylor slip further ahead.

The Metalman V8 Spectacular has attracted 20 entries from the NZV8 Touring Cars TL and TLX caregories along with the V8ST spec cars for the weekend. The entries include five TLX, six V8ST and nine NZV8 Touring Cars TL Championship.

The three classes come together once again tomorrow for a longer 20 lap race at 12.00pm before the NZV8 Touring Cars TL Championship go their own way for the Dave Slater Memorial Trophy 15 lap race at 3.10pm.

The grand finale of the weekend's merging of these two great V8 categories takes place with a 25 lap race at 3.40pm. The race includes a mandatory stop for all cars where the TLX cars will do a wheel change and the V8ST cars will have a timed 30 second stop.

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