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Tim Edgell of Auckland and the Chesters Ford Falcon in action in front of part of the huge crowd during the BNT V8s Trophy Race at Hamilton this weekend - please credit - SportProMedia.com

MEDIA RELEASE
21 APRIL 2009

Edgell Runner-Up At Hamilton

Young Auckland driver Tim Edgell put together three superb races to take second place in the BNT V8s Trophy Round at the Hamilton Street Race this weekend.

Edgell overcame the odds to produce three excellent drives on the testing 3.4 kilometre Hamilton Street circuit. A driveshaft failure in qualifying meant the Chesters Ford Falcon started the opening race from a lowly sixteenth grid position. However Edgell recovered well from his qualifying disappointment to charge through the field to a fine fifth place. That result left the former NZ Formula Ford Champion in good shape for the following day's racing on Sunday when he scored a second and a third placing. The points for second, third and fifth over the course of the three races gave Tim the runner-up spot for the round, second only to recently crowned BNT V8s Champion, Kayne Scott.

Edgell has been extremely quick over the past few seasons, frequently qualifying in the top six of the highly competitive V8 grid. However he has often been robbed of top placings when problems, seldom of his own doing, have prevented him from enjoying a troublefree run throughout an entire weekend. This weekend provided the Aucklander with just such a troublefree run, ironically after one of his worst qualifying positions for quite some time.

Tim ran at the top of the timesheets in Friday testing to record an excellent time to be sixth fastest with a lap of 1 minute 33.2554 seconds.

However the broken driveshaft in qualifying dropped him to near the rear of the grid. Edgell then produced a magnificent first lap in Saturday afternoon's opening race to cross the line in ninth spot at the end of the opening lap from sixteenth on the grid. Over the remaining thirteen laps the Chesters Ford Falcon continued it's impressive forward progress, avoiding some of the carnage around the circuit to climb into fifth place at the end.

Tim was more than happy with the effort although he made reference to the demanding nature of the circuit when he said, "by the time you get through you've used your tyres and brakes up".

Saturday's result placed Tim fifth on the grid for Sunday morning's 14 lap race and he made the best of it. He was quickly into third place and pressured Andrew Porter until he got through on lap 6. That put Edgell into second place behind Scott at the finish.

Edgell ran in second place in the initial stages of the final race before a slight error allowed experienced campaigner Angus Fogg to get by on the fifth lap. Tim continued to run at a good pace at the front of the field however and brought the Chesters Ford Falcon across the line in third place.

That secured the runner-up position to Scott for the Trophy Round, Edgell's best ever result in the BNT V8s category. With a top ten finish in the recently completed 2008/2009 BNT V8s Championship it brought down the curtain on a very successful season for Tim Edgell and Team EPR.

Tim's 2008/2009 BNT V8s Championship campaign is supported by Chesters Plumbing and Bathroom, BNT, Marley N.Z. Ltd, IMG, Enviropeel, Fuchs Oils and Wurth NZ.

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CALENDAR 2008/2009 BNT V8s CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 1 - 3-5 October 2008: Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupo

Round 2 - 7-9 November 2008: Pukekohe Park Raceway, Auckland

Round 3 - 28-30 November 2008: Powerbuilt Tools International Raceway, Ruapuna, Christchurch

Round 4 - 9-11 January 2009: Timaru International Motor Raceway, Timaru

Round 5 - 16-18 January 2009: Teretonga Park, Invercargill

Round 6 - 27 February - 1 March 2009: Manfeild Park, Feilding

Round 7 - 13-15 March 2009: Pukekohe Park Raceway, Auckland

Non-Championship Trophy Race - 17-19 April 2009: Hamilton 400, Hamilton

ENDS