After
a successful weekend of racing at Manfeild Circuit in Feilding Nick
Ross has leaped into a promising position in the standings where has
just two drivers and a mere 20 points between himself and the elite
group of best 10 drivers in this season's BNT V8s Championship.
The Cambridge driver is poised a mere hair breadth away from
accomplishing the team target to finish the 2010-11 season within the
top 10 in the championship standings.
A strong follow up at Manfeild after achieving his first podium of the
season at Timaru last month has drawn the team to where they are well
within reach of their target with two rounds left remaining in the
series.
At Timaru last month Ross placed second in the final race of the
weekend just narrowly missing out on the win and was eagerly awaiting
the Manfeild round where he was looking to go one better and grasp that
elusive number one spot this time around.
It was not to be but his consistent driving in the Total Lubricants
Commodore earned Ross some very welcome points.
Not all was smooth sailing however and right from the outset an early
crash by William Bamber halfway through qualifying brought out the red
flag and then a premature end to the session catching Ross out before
he could play his best hand only having completed 4 laps and left him
with just the 17th fastest time.
With Bamber penalised and moved back six places to the rear of the grid
Ross was promoted to start from 16th from where he was able to make a
fabulous leap through the pack to finish in a worthy and valuable 11th
place.
"We had a really good car in the first race even faster than it was in
qualifying. In the next race we started in 11th but after about four
laps the car started to go off." said Ross.
Ross was able to hold it together despite the handling issues passing
the chequered flag in 16th for race two.
Starting the final race of the weekend in ninth Ross made huge gains
claiming four positions by turn three moving into fifth place where he
sat for the majority of the race.
"We got a great start and had a really good car again but in lap 13 I
locked up the rear end and heated up the rear tyres which made the car
oversteer so in the last third of the race I was caught by a few of the
guys." said Ross.
Finally finishing the race in a well defended seventh place earned him
much welcomed points with which to head home with taking 92 points and
leap frogging a number of other drivers in the standings. The points
haul moved him up from 17th to 12th place where he now sits equal with
brother-in-law and Ford driver Simon Richards.
Ross sits just 20 points away from knocking Scott McLaughlin out of
tenth position and being the third highest Holden in the standings
behind Andy Booth in fifth and Paul Manuell eighth. Angus Fogg remains
in the lead of the series before the field head to Taupo next month.
"I'm looking forward to Taupo, we had a good test there the other day
so we should have a good run there." said Ross.
Round six of seven takes place at the Taupo Motorsport Park on 12-13th
March. Taupo was the venue for last year's final and became a fast and
furious affair with many a rampaging battle. This season an extra
championship round has been added to the BNT V8s calendar by including
this year's ITM 400 meeting 15-17th April into the points system.
With that in mind the penultimate round in Taupo may be a little more
subdued than this time last year but no doubt the BNT V8s boys will
have plenty of excitement in store for us.
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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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