Turley wins first Suzuki round of new season
Monday 8 November 2010, 9:04AM
By Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
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Auckland’s Mike Turley won the opening round of the 2010-11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup racing series at Pukekohe Park Raceway over the weekend of 6 and 7 November. The Coatesville-based driver won two of the weekend’s three races and finished up with a hard-fought fifth place in the final, reverse grid race to take maximum points and the championship lead.
“We couldn’t have hoped for it to be any better,” described Turley of his round victory. “We came here with a plan to lead the championship, so hopefully it’s going to carry on that way.”
Sunday’s two Suzuki races took place in brilliant, sunny conditions in front of one of the best crowds that’s been seen at Pukekohe for motor racing for some time.
In the first ten lap race Turley led from start to finish, fending off a series of determined attacks from Turua’s AJ Lauder. The 16-year-old Lauder used the advantage of slipstreaming Turley’s Suzuki down Pukekohe’s long back straight but was unable to convert this advantage into a successful passing manoeuvre.
Behind the duelling leaders, an intense battle quickly formed between Dane Fisher, Marc Spring and Ryan Bailey, all from Auckland, and Taupo’s Mark Gibson. After some close racing, the chequered flag was waved for Turley and Lauder, followed by Fisher, Bailey, Spring and another teenager tackling the small touring car class for the first time this season, Jamie Gaskin from Upper Hutt.
The final Suzuki race of the weekend sees competitors line up in reverse order based on points they’ve accrued from first two races. This put Rangiora’s Chris Cox on pole for a largely incident-free race filled with passing and re-passing manoeuvres.
Suzuki New Zealand motorsport manager Darren Stevens said: “The entire third race was dicing, duelling, ducking, and diving – it was brilliant! It came down to a lap-after-lap passing duel between Grant Ryan and Mark Gibson. But with the pair running side-by-side in the dying laps, Dane Fisher was able to leapfrog to the front. Gibson and Ryan battled for space to challenge Fisher for the lead, but it came down to a sprint to the finish with Gibson finishing 7/1000s of a second ahead of Ryan while Fisher took his first win of this season.”
Stevens added: “It was great to see we started today with full field after Saturday’s incidents and we were delighted to see Shaun Lawrence, from Hamilton, obtained a replacement car to continue his weekend of racing after rolling heavily yesterday. That’s largely due to the Suzuki team I have around me working tirelessly in to the night to make sure everything works and everyone gets the best opportunity they can to do their best.”
Race three winner Dane Fisher said: “It is always going to be chaos in the reverse grid races because the cars are so evenly matched. We’ve got 13 young guys here this weekend, so it was always going to be interesting. I just had to bide my time and gaps opened up, a few of the guys made some mistakes and it just kept opening up.
“I didn’t expect the win when starting back from 14th, so it was a big fight. Now I’m off to celebrate with my team and sponsors: Trinity Media Group, Placemakers Cook Street, The Edge and Roger Fisher Consulting. It was great fun – I really enjoyed it.”
Fisher’s victory in the weekend’s third race saw him place second for the round, after Turley, with AJ Lauder third.
The second round of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup takes place in Christchurch at the Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park over the weekend of 26-28 November, with Mike Turley holding a ten point series lead.
Results: Round 1, Pukekohe, 6-7 November 2010
Race 2: Suzuki Swift Sport Cup (10 laps)
1, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 12:58.377
2, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +1.191s
3, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +4.930s
4, Ryan Bailey, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +5.065s
5, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +6.027s
6, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +6.027s
7, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +6.030s
8, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.272s
9, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.296s
10, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.381s
11, Tom Barker, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, +11.612s
12, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +11.780s
13, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, +12.615s
14, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, 13.871s
15, Amy Vincent, Papakura, Suzuki Swift Sport, +19.419s
16, Allan Jarvis, Brisbane, Suzuki Swift Sport, +24.195s
17, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +28.739s
DNF, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport
Race 3: Suzuki Swift Sport Cup (12 laps, reverse grid based on points earned in previous two races)
1, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 15:26.455
2, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +0.470s
3, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +0.477s
4, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, +0.950s
5, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +1.108s
6, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.301s
7, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.296s
8, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.693s
9, Ryan Bailey, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +4.483s
10, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, +6.921s
11, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.114s
12, Amy Vincent, Papakura, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.538s
13, Tom Barker, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, +13.456s
14, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, +15.064s
15, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +17.005s
16, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +23.047s
17, Allan Jarvis, Brisbane, Suzuki Swift Sport, +37.977s
DNF, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport
Points: Suzuki Swift Sport Cup 2010/2011 after round one of six
Pos Car No. Name Hometown Total
1 6 Mike Turley Auckland 199
2 91 Dane Fisher Auckland 189
3 87 A.J. Lauder Turua 173
4 11 Grant Ryan Lower Hutt 153
5 35 Mark Gibson Taupo 151
6 7 Ryan Bailey Auckland 135
7 41 Jamie Gaskin Upper Hutt 123
8 89 Marc Spring Auckland 120
9 5 Rex McCutcheon Waiuku 109
10 23 Daniel Liemburg Timaru 96
11 14 Shaun Lawrence Hamilton 91
12 71 Sam Barry Takapau 87
13 12 Chris Cox Rangiora 76
14 22 Amy Vincent Papakura 74
15 4 Tom Barker Christchurch 70
16 27 Allan Jarvis Brisbane 60
17 15 Brad Lauder Turua 58
18 34 Rob Gibson Taupo 56
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