Ross Back on the Podium

Cambridge BNT V8s driver Nick Ross put on a stunning show and clinched a well earned podium position in front of a large contingent of the team's sponsors and supporters from around the South Island.

The enthusiastic group had packed out the TOTAL Lubricants hospitality tent, in conjunction with The Front Store, at the Timaru International Motor Raceway joining the typically large crowd of southern race fans who lined the circuit over the weekend.

In the final race of the weekend Ross shot off into the lead at the green light to hold off numerous attacks from other drivers challenging for the number one spot. Eventually turning into a battle with veteran V8 Supercar driver Jason Bargwanna who used all his experience and cunning in his attempts to pass the TOTAL Lubricants Commodore.

Unfortunately for Ross after a faultless and determined effort, Bargwanna was able to eventually pass him outrunning him down the pit straight with just two laps remaining. At the finish line Ross was a mere half a second behind him staying ahead of past champion John McIntyre in third.

"We were all pretty happy but those guys were a bit faster than me so I just had to control it and make sure I was getting plenty of drive going into the back and front straights." said Ross.

"He was giving me some gentle little rubs just to let me know he was there. I had a good race with him and when he came past it was a nice clean move. If you're going to get beaten you want to get beaten by a V8 Supercar driver, that's what he's paid to do. We would have liked the win but second is better than third and we'll take it." he said.

The race was an exciting one for all when another driver blew a differential spilling over a litre of oil onto the circuit. Several cars fell victim to the slick resulting in carnage and a dangerous situation with more cars falling off the track and colliding with the cars already stricken from the previous laps.

The race was red flagged, temporarily stopped and restarted with Ross in the number one spot which he held until the aforementioned pass by Bargwanna.

"I saw everybody spinning, there was only a yellow flag but I had backed off just enough to only catch the edge of the oil and get through. It was nice to be on that side of fortune rather than the other side for once." said Ross.

In the first race of the weekend Ross placed 13th, a move up from starting 15th on the grid.

"We went forward... not a lot, but forward. I dropped a couple of spots at the start while missing all the carnage but made them up again. The race was fairly uneventful after that but I had another good race with (William) Bamber, got past him but ran out of laps to get around John Penny." said Ross.

The second race of the weekend brought a mechanical black flag when an oil leak on the engine was unable to be remedied mid-race.

"We noticed a bit of smoke in the warm up lap, after starting we brought the car into the pits and had to retire from the race." he said.

"The boys put in a lot of effort over the weekend and it was nice to put on a good show for TOTAL (Lubricants) who had a big corporate tent there. They came down to put on a big do and invited all their people from around the South Island."

"Once again I want to thank all our sponsors and also Waikato Car Rentals for the awesome van they gave us for the South Island leg of the BNT V8s tour."

After a strong weekend at Timaru Ross and the Concept Motorsport Team have moved up to 15th in the BNT V8s Championship.

Ross and the BNT V8s return to the North Island where they will race next at the Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding for round five of seven over the weekend 12-13 February.

ENDS

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