Turley tops Christchurch race for Suzuki Swift Sport Cup

Aucklander Mike Turley qualified on pole and won the first of three races in the second round of the 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup running this weekend at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway outside Christchurch.

Having won the opening round three weeks ago at Pukekohe, the 23-year-old Coatesville-based driver again threw down a serious challenge to fellow Suzuki competitors when he pipped Turua’s AJ Lauder to take the coveted pole position with a time of 1:44.428 during the 20-minute qualifying session. Lauder, age 16, was the early pacesetter, but his best time of 1:44.636 wasn’t enough to stop Turley claiming the top spot.

With minor respite from a light breeze, sweltering conditions tested the drivers even more during today’s qualifying. LG Motorsport’s Jamie Gaskin, from Upper Hutt, leapt up the standings from his debut at Pukekohe to take grid position three with Rangiora’s Chris Cox and Taupo’s Mark Gibson rounding out the top five. Tom Barker, from Christchurch, and Daniel Liemburg, from Timaru, were other local drivers who improved their relative qualifying position being on a circuit more familiar to them.

Saturday afternoon saw the 18-strong Suzuki field contest an eight-lap race in hotter conditions. Turley got a great start, as those following him had to merge from running two-wide through the first three lefthanders, pushing into single-file for the hairpin and next series of turns. Drivers took different lines through the turns, and opportunities for overtaking constantly came and went.

As drivers settled into the race rhythm, Turley was reeled in by the chasing pack with Gibson, Lauder and Gaskin all bumper-to-bumper by mid-race. Each driver tried to defend their position allowing Cox to mix it up with the front-running group before a series of mistakes from the front pack fanned the cars out and allowed Turley to edge ahead and take the chequered flag.

Turley’s win was his third of the four races run so far this season, giving last season’s sixth place-getter a 75% win rate. He was followed home by Lauder, Gibson, Gaskin and Cox.

“It was definitely hard work out there,” says Turley. “The track temperature was apparently 45 degrees and it just goes up in the car, so it is really hot work out there.”

“My mirrors were full of Swifts of all colours, so I had to keep my wits about me. I made a few early mistakes and the tyres started to go off about halfway through so we need to think about our strategy for race two tomorrow. But we still managed to hold them off and a win’s a win, so we’re rapt.”

Suzuki New Zealand motorsport manager Darren Stevens commented: “It’s really illustrated how competitive the series already with just the first race here at Powerbuilt Raceway. Mike Turley has reinforced his true ability along with young AJ Lauder – of all the drivers they are the only ones to shine consistently.”

Series co-ordinator Paul Burborough says today’s results emphasise how mixed and exciting the series is shaping up to be.

“Here at a different track we’ve seen a big shift in the drivers who are in the top-ten. With Mike and AJ emerging as the front-runners, it’s a very different mix to that of the first round at Pukekohe. LG scholarship winner Jamie Gaskin for example, Rangiora’s Chris Cox and, of course, the overall Castrol Suzuki scholarship winner Tom Barker were way up the field. In fact the majority of the top-ten from the race were scholarship entrants.”

The Suzuki Swift Sport Cup competitors have two races on Sunday; another eight-lap race at 11:10am and then a ten-lap race at 2:40pm with the starting order established by reversing the whole field based on points earned in the first two races.

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Qualifying for Round 2, 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
1, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:44.428
2, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:44.636
3, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:44.676
4, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:44.763
5, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:44.819
6, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.026
7, Tom Barker, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.060
8, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.229
9, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.243
10, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.287
11, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.387
12, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.408
13, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1.45.464
14, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.507
15, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.652
16, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:45.860
17, Allan Jarvis, Brisbane, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:46.770
18, Amy Vincent, Papakura, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:49.379

Race 1 of Round 2, 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup (8 laps)
1, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 14:13.745
2, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +1.304
3, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.053
4, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.499
5, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.759
6, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +4.477
7, Tom Barker, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.097
8, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.603
9, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, +10.107
10, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, +10.403
11, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +12.276
12, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +12.863
13, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +13.296
14, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, +13.998
15, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, +17.152
16, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +19.510
17, Allan Jarvis, Brisbane, Suzuki Swift Sport, +27.610
18, Amy Vincent, Papakura, Suzuki Swift Sport, +32.185

Suzuki Swift Sport Cup calendar 2010/2011
Round Date Venue Inviting Club
1 5-7 November 2010 Pukekohe NZIGP Inc
2 26-28 November 2010 Ruapuna Canterbury Car Club Inc
3 14-16 January 2011 Teretonga Southland Sports Car Club Inc
4 20-23 January 2011 Timaru South Canterbury Car Club Inc
5 11-13 February 2011 Manfeild Manawatu Car Club Inc
6 11-13 March 2011 Taupo Taupo Car Club Inc