Young Kiwi drivers blitz big international field

Media release from MotorSport New Zealand

Sunday 22 January

Young Kiwi drivers blitz big international field

Kiwi teenagers Nick Cassidy and Damon Leitch dominated a field including 15 overseas drivers at Timaru’s second round of the Toyota Racing Series today.

Aucklander Cassidy, 17, won today’s feature race, the Timaru Herald Trophy, to back up his victory in yesterday’s opening heat. With a third in today’s final race, he now leads the series by 11 points from 18-year-old Leitch, from Invercargill.

Leitch ran away with the final race, which started with the six top drivers in reverse order on the grid.

The feature race was run in very demanding conditions – the track was wet at the start, but it dried out a lot during the 20 laps as the sun started shining. Almost all started on wet-weather tyres, which deteriorated badly on the dryer track.

Brazilian Bruno Bonifacio led early, ahead of Dutch driver Hannes van Asseldonk, Cassidy, Leitch, Josh Hill (UK) and Felix Serralles (Puerto Rico. Bonifacio dropped back to third, Cassidy closed in on van Asseldonk, passed him just before half-distance and pulled away to a big lead.

It was a finely judged race – Cassidy had to balance raw speed against the need to preserve his tyres. He said van Asseldonk had gone too fast too early and thereby ruined his tyres.

“Qualifying didn’t go so well but we were strong in the races,” said Cassidy, who wants very much to win the series to bolster his claim for a good international drive later this year.

“Things are going pretty well but there’s a long way to go yet.”

Leitch also went better in the races than he had in qualifying.

“I got a great start, pushed for first few laps and then the kept the gap,” he said of his breakthrough victory. “I’m very happy to get the first race win off my back.”

Serralles, fast and consistent, was the top international driver and third for the round with placings of fourth, second and 10th. Aucklander Jono Lester was fourth equal for the round with British driver Jordan King, just ahead of Hill who is the son of former ld champion Damon Hill.

In the BNT New Zealand V8s, series leader Angus Fogg from Auckland was totally dominant with two wins and a second in the reverse-grid race. He won the 20-lap feature race by nearly 23 seconds – a margin almost unheard-of in this category.

Australian V8 Supercar driver Jason Bargwanna was second for the round while Hamilton’s Simon Richards scored his first V8 victory with a good drive in the reverse-grid race.

“It’s been five years in the making,” Richards said. “I got the right break and then it wasn’t a struggle to do it.”

These three all drove Fords.

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MOTOR RACING

New Zealand motor racing championships, round four, Timaru

Toyota Racing Series – Race one: Nick Cassidy (Auckland) 1; Damon Leitch (Invercargill) 2; Josh Hill (England) 3; Felix Serralles (Puerto Rico) 4; Hannes van Asseldonk (Netherlands) 5; Lucas Auer (Austria) 6.

Race two, Timaru Herald Trophy: Cassidy 1; Serralles 2; Jordan King (UK) 3; Jono Lester (Auckland) 4; Leitch 5; Auer 6.

Race three (reverse grid): Leitch 1; Dmitry Suranovich (Russia) 2; Cassidy 3; Lester 4; Raffaele Marciello (Switzerland) 5; King 6.

Points: Cassidy 383, Leitch 372, Serralles 295, Hill 261, van Asseldonk 237, Lester 237.

BNT NZ V8s – Race one: Angus Fogg (Auckland) Ford 1; Jason Bargwanna (Australia) Ford 2; Martin Short (Hamilton) Ford 3; Tim Edgell (Auckland) Ford 4; Nick Ross (Cambridge) Holden 5; Simon Evans (Auckland) Ford 6.

Race two (reverse grid): Simon Richards (Hamilton) Ford 1; Fogg 2; Bargwanna 3; Evans 4; Trevor Parmenter (Timaru) Holden 5; Ross 6.

Race three: Fogg 1; Bargwanna 2; Edgell 3; Richards 4; Evans 5; Short 6.

Points: Fogg 834, Bargwanna 758 Short 597, Edgell 583, Richards 578, Ross 557.

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