Returning
from a successful leg of the BNT V8s Championship in the South Island,
Cambridge driver Nick Ross believes he will be looking to get inside
the top three as the series commences in the North.
"I like all the tracks but in particular Manfeild and we seem to do
pretty well there. We are only a few points adrift of the top three
spot and I believe we can take that third place in the standings." said
Ross.
With Ross on 557 points in the BNT V8s and a mere 40 behind third
placed driver Martin Short, he is well in with a chance in making this
target a reality.
In a couple of weeks the Holdens and Fords battle it out once more at
Manfeild Park in Feilding and along with the Taupo final in March there
are six races remaining and 450 points available.
Currently Auckland driver Angus Fogg leads the series over Australia's
Jason Bargwanna with the two rounds remaining uncontested, this year
Hamilton's ITM 400 with the V8 Supercars in April becomes a
non-championship round once more.
At Timaru International Motor Raceway last weekend Ross in the Total
Lubricants Holden Commodore performed well once more continuing with
his strong season.
Challenging for his first race win of the season in the reverse gridded
race two on Sunday he was chasing down leading driver Simon Richards
while attempting to hold off Martin Short when it turned to near
disaster after a knock from behind put him off the circuit and into the
wall.
"I got into second place after the start and in behind Simon; Martin
got inside me and knocked me once but then later turned me around which
put me off and into the wall. I don't believe it was intentional and
luckily it wasn't a big hit into the walll and I was able to back out
and get out on to the track again and peel off a few cars." said Ross.
Ross then went on to recover remarkably to finish with a sixth place.
After setting the second fastest compulsory pitstop of race three at
the previous meeting in Teretonga the Concept Motorsport team were
eager to do well again this time at Timaru when it came to the third
and final race of the weekend once more.
Becoming involved in a battle which included five drivers Simon
Richards, Tim Edgell, Martin Short, Simon Evans and himself brought
some good action and exciting viewing for the crowd and TV but
unfortunately when entering the pits Ross was slowed by other drivers
losing time and therefore positions before returning to the circuit.
We were having a really good race a bunch of us but I just lost time
coming into the pits which didn't work out too well for us." he said.
Ross' best result of the weekend was from the opening race where he
finished in fifth.
Overall the car was on the pace at the weekend and fastest Holden with
Ross setting the fifth fastest time in the qualification session and
was just 1.081 seconds off the fastest shoot out time set by Angus Fogg.
He remained competitive throughout the weekend's three races placing
fifth, sixth then seventh scoring enough points to keep well within
reach of his targetted third spot in the standings.
"I was happy with the pace of the car and the time we set in the qual
session and should have done better in the shoot out but I hadn't
managed to warm the tyres up enough. Still I think we are in with a
good chance when we hit Manfeild." said Ross.
Currently Nick Ross and the Total Lubricants Holden Commodore are
placed sixth in the BNT V8 Championship standings.
The BNT V8s round five at Manfeild Park takes place over the weekend of
10-12th February 2012 which is followed by the final round at Taupo
Motorsport Park 9-11th March.
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