The
bitter weather at the ITM 400 held in Hamilton at the weekend could not
have brought more trying track conditions for the drivers in the BNT
V8s but for rain specialist Nick Ross there was plenty to celebrate at
the conclusion of the gruelling final round.
A stellar drive in the Total Lubricants Holden Commodore saw Ross once
again steal sixth place overall for the weekend on the temporary street
circuit. The result also pushed the Cambridge driver up the
championship ladder inside the top ten concluding his BNT V8s season
with ninth place overall.
"That's what we have been working for and next it will be top five then
we aim for first." said a very joyous Ross.
The team continue to work their way up the ladder in the nation's
toughest motorsport category doing it all their own way including the
continued development of their inhouse engine built by Dave Mills.
"We have still had a few DNFs this season for various reasons but still
done remarkably well so if we can weed those out we can expect to do
even better next season." said Ross.
The weekend of the Hamilton street race was not without it's trying
moments and Ross fell into some trouble early on when in the qualifying
session he lost power steering having to negotiate the concrete walled
circuit without the much needed assistance on the calendar's most tight
and unforgiving layout.
"We were half to one second off the pace to enter the shoot out and
that was just down to having no power steering so we were very happy
with the car's pace. As it turned out we were one of the faster cars in
the feild over the weekend." he said.
Ross took just the 17th fastest time in the open session but in the
opening race was able to turn that start position into a tenth place
finish by the end of a heart stopping race on a rain soaked track.
"I got a great start and was able to make up a lot of places through
the race although I had to stop on the track at one point when Tim
Edgell was spun around. I also had some trouble when Martin Short had
an incident but was able to finish inside the top 10." said Ross.
Ross was able to improve on that in race two when starting from 10th he
was able to take the chequered flag in ninth position.
"We had to make a choice on a set up and it could have gone either way
but we ended up going out on wet tyres with a dry set up so the car was
a bit of a handful but I was still happy with the result." said Ross.
This proposed an exciting scene for the final race of the day, weekend
and indeed the championship with Ross still needing to push hard if he
was going to make it inside the top 10 by the end of the day.
Still placed outside of the elitist group and with just one more race
remaining he was looking for a very strong result with which to end the
season on a high with the team's major goal acheived.
The weather was again unsettled with the teams unsure of which way to
turn with their choice of set ups and tyres for the grand final.
"We went out on slicks and some drivers went in to the pits for wets
and when the track got wet they started coming up through the field."
"But the track started to dry out and came back to the ones on slicks.
I was making up places and looking to get back past Baird and even past
McLaughlin both on wets and up into fourth place but the race was red
flagged on about the 12th lap of what was supposed to be 16." said Ross.
Ross equalled his excellent performance of last year when once again he
placed sixth overall around the streets of Hamilton over the weekend.
This time of course his finishing place in the championship has
improved immensely finishing in a glorious ninth overall in New
Zealand's toughest motorsport league.
"This time we made the top ten which shows we are getting the work
done. But now we've achieved ten now we want five and then of course
one." he says.
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Nick
Ross' campaign in the 2010-11 BNTV8s is supported by
Total Lubricants, ENZED Waikato & Pukekohe franchises,
Porter Hire, Stingray Marine, Auto Trail Ltd, Teng
Tools
Waikato Car
Rentals, C&R Developments, Classic Cover Insurance, Leamington Auto
Electrical
Hotshot Signs, Strautmann Hopkins, Truck Rentals
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