Burdett and Knight top testing timesheets at Teretonga

Toyota Racing Series Rookie Michael Burdett continued his late-series solid form when he topped the timesheets for the first testing session.


In cold but dry conditions he posted a 55.452. Second fastest was another rookie, Dominic Storey, who posted a fastest lap of 55.654.


The race lap record for the Toyota Racing Series cars is 55.190, set by Daniel Gaunt in 2007.


Lower Hutt’s Ben Harford was third fastest on 55.809 with series points leader Earl Bamber close behind on 55.853.


Series returnee Mark Munro posted sixth fastest time on 55.906 while Christchurch’s Andy Knight was grappling with engine problems and managed seventh on 56.183.


In the afternoon session, after rain swept the track, Andy Knight put in a progressively faster series of laps to eventually go fastest on a drying track at 1:03.413.


Behind him, Australian Nathan Antunes was testing the limits of adhesion and posted a 1:03.484.


Several drivers had narrow escapes in the unpredictable conditions.


The sole female driver in the series, Christina Orr, spun in the infield “complex of corners, finishing up on the grass but managing to stay out of the tyre wall.


No sooner had she regained the track than team-mates Earl Bamber and Mitch Cunningham had their own moment at the same corner. Bamber spun his car right around, finishing up on the track sliding backwards, while Cunningham in the team’s other car found himself hard on the brakes and sliding toward his team-mate.


The potential collision was avoided when Cunningham was able to regain enough grip to steer around Bamber, who then turned his car back around without incident and continued the session.


Three laps later, Hamish Cross also spun at the same place.


Ben Crighton left the track at turn seven, the fast left hander that leads the cars back onto Teretonga’s long front straight. The session was halted while his car was extricated and brought back to the pits.


The closest Toyota Racing Series finish in the history of the series is playing out this weekend at Teretonga.


At the penultimate round of the championship, raced at Timaru last weekend, Wanganui driver Earl Bamber wrested a narrow lead away from Christchurch’s Andy Knight, who has made the pace throughout the series. Bamber was unstoppable at Timaru, winning all three TRS races to surge into the Toyota Racing Series points lead.


His dominant form ensures the series will be decided at the final round on the 2.61 km Teretonga track west of Invercargill. The title could even go all the way to the final race of the series, the 20-lap Spirit of a Nation Cup, on Sunday. The gap between Bamber and Knight is just 11 points; every race win is worth 75.


Andy Knight hasn’t let go. The Christchurch driver fought Bamber through each race, never giving up and scored three second places, enough to keep his title hopes alive.


“It’s all on this weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing who can get to grips with Teretonga. The championship is not over yet!”


Bamber has never won at Teretonga; Knight has won on the track when the New Zealand Grand Prix was held there, but was disqualified for a tail-light infringement.


After a nightmare round at Timaru where he crashed in qualifying and started all three races from the back of the grid, Lower Hutt driver Ben Harford arrives in Invercargill third on points going into this weekend. His gap to series leader Bamber is 193 points, meaning Harford has only an outside chance of taking the title and would have to see both front-runners score zero points in order to do so.


Teretonga is the world’s southernmost race track, and its location near the coast means weather can be a factor in race weekend results. The TRS lap record is 55.190, set in 2007 by Daniel Gaunt. It is the fastest lap by any current tier one or tier two race category entrant.


The 2008 Toyota Racing Series uses an E85 ethanol-petrol biofuel blend, meaning this year marks the first such use of biofuels at Teretonga.



Toyota Racing Series race programme

Teretonga


Saturday March 8

12:16 pm TRS qualifying 1

12:36 pm TRS qualifying 2

4:29 pm TRS Race 1


Sunday March 9

11:20 am TRS Race 2

3:25 pm TRS Race 3, Spirit of a Nation 


Toyota Racing Series points

After 6 rounds of 7

Key statistics

Earl Bamber has scored eight wins, two seconds and three thirds in the 2007-2008 TRS.
Andy Knight has scored six wins, four seconds and four thirds.
Bamber has had one DNF (Ruapuna) and 13 podium finishes.
Knight has also had one DNF (Manfeild race 2) and 14 podium finishes.
Both Bamber and Knight have scored 15 top six finishes.
From the 18 races to date, the only other winners have been Harford (one win at Ruapuna and two at Manfeild) and Gaunt (one win at Manfeild)
Earl Bamber has not finished outside the top three in the last nine races.
Earl Bamber was born 9th July, 1990 (currently aged 17). He is the youngest TRS competitor currently and would be youngest ever winner of NZ’s premier single seater title.
Bamber has done three Rookie sessions for A1 Team New Zealand this season and has recognition in TRS as a member of the A1 Junior Development Team.
Knight’s Teretonga results in 2005 were seventh/second/tenth. In 2006 Knight was first/fifth and disqualified after winning NZGP on the road (tail light infringement)
Andy Knight was second in TRS points overall in 2005, third in 2006 and fourth in 2007.
Bamber has only previously competed at Teretonga in 2007, finishing ninth/fifth/DNF.
Bamber’s fifth place at Teretonga in 2006/2007 was followed by two fourth places at the Pukekohe finale - these were his only top six results during his first season.
Bamber finished seventh overall in the 2007 Series. His team, International Motorsport, has won the two previous TRS titles with Daniel Gaunt.
Teretonga 2007 TRS results for Bamber and Knight: Race 1 ninth/fifth; Race 2 fifth/fifteenth; Race 3 DNF/thirteenth (NZGP)
Daniel Gaunt has won 18 TRS races in four seasons; Andy Knight currently has 13 wins, Ben Harford has 10 wins and Bamber is fourth overall in TRS history with 8 wins.