Rangiora's Cox wins Suzuki round; Coatesville's Turley again leads series
Monday 24 January 2011, 8:51AM
By Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
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Eighteen-year-old race driver Chris Cox, from Rangiora, delivered a comprehensive performance in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup races in Timaru this weekend, winning two races and taking the round win.
Despite Cox’s great performance, Mike Turley, from Coatesville, Auckland, again leads the championship after securing fourth, fifth and third places in the three races at the Timaru International Motor Raceway. The tightly-fought, one-make Suzuki series – round four – was part of the New Zealand MotorSport premier summer motorsport event, the Juiced Up 200, with Sunday’s sunshine and warm temperatures contrasting the damp and cool early in the weekend.
After winning his first Suzuki race on Saturday, Cox was on pole to start the weekend’s second 10-lap race with LG Motorsport’s Jamie Gaskin, from Lower Hutt on the front row beside him. Gaskin made the most of the slight advantage that grid position two affords going into Timaru’s opening sharp right-sharp left-sweeping left complex of corners. Also getting a better start, Turley split the front pack and put together a solid move to slingshot past Gaskin for the early race lead. Gaskin repeated a similar move on Turley with Cox following him through past Turley. Gaskin and Cox then made a break on the field and continued to swap places with Cox eventually getting the advantage and prevent Gaskin from taking the lead again as they went down the back straight for the last time. This gave Cox his second race victory, with Gaskin, Turley, Auckland’s Dane Fisher and Taupo’s Mark Gibson following him over the line.
The third race of each Suzuki round features a reverse grid with positions decided on points earned in the first two races. In sunny conditions, 18-year-old Amy Vincent, from Karaka, was on pole with Christchurch’s Ben Erickson alongside. The pair ran side-by-side through the opening turns as the field settled behind them. Erickson took the lead briefly before Hamilton driver Shaun Lawrence pushed through to the front. But then Lawrence ran wide, giving Erickson the lead again. Gibson worked his way up from sixth to slot in behind Erickson and then challenge the Christchurch driver for the lead. Having started eighth, Turley tagged onto the chasing pack just behind Lower Hutt’s Grant Ryan, while Cox – who started near the rear of the field – had made continual passing moves to hit fourth place with two laps to go. Gibson established a gap that Erickson was unable to reel in, and they crossed the line in that order with Lawrence third and Cox fourth.
Mark Gibson, 18 years of age and racing in the Suzuki series alongside 20-year-old brother Rob, said: “It’s good to have that race win; I’ve had a fair few seconds by now and a couple of thirds, so it’s good to finally get on to the top step of the podium.
“It was a good race, Ben and I had a good battle, swapping positions a couple of times. The tyres started to go off a bit at the end but overall I’m very happy – big ups to the team! Overall, a great effort.”
Suzuki series coordinator Paul Burborough commented that he and other series organisers were delighted with another weekend of fantastic racing from Suzuki competitors.
“Not only have we seen Chris Cox rewarded with some fine results after a tough time personally, but to finally see Mark Gibson’s persistence pay off in the final race today was awesome,” says the Hamilton-based Suzuki dealer principal.
“The final race again showed how close the racing in the series can be, but the mixing of results really makes the drivers think carefully about the bigger picture – the championship – and we look forward to more exciting, close-fought racing at Manfeild near Palmerston North in February.”
Cox took the round win; his 204 points boosting the Rangiora teenager up the standings from ninth to sixth. Gaskin was second for the weekend, with Turley third, which was enough to take the championship lead back from Aucklander Dane Fisher. Turley’s 699 points puts him just ten points up on Fisher who’s second overall, while Ryan, AJ Lauder and Gaskin round out the top five championship places.
Round five of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup takes place from 11 to 13 February, followed by the series finale in Taupo in March.
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Race 2 (10 laps), Round 4, 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
1, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, 13:02.211
2, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +0.140
3, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +5.223
4, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +5.421
5, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +5.889
6, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +6.185
7, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.238
8, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.514
9, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +13.654
10, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +15.974
11, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +16.035
12, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +16.297
13, Amy Vincent, Papakura, Suzuki Swift Sport, +20.383
14, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1 lap
DNF, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport
DNF, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport
Race 3 (reverse grid, 12 laps), Round 4, 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
1, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 15:46.362
2, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, +0.283
3, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.085
4, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, +4.642
5, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +6.403
6, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.856
7, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.998
8, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.373
9, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.545
10, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.915
11, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +17.860
12, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +18.415
13, Amy Vincent, Papakura, Suzuki Swift Sport, +40.390
DNF, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport
2010/2011 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup championship points after round four (of six)
Pos,Car No.,Name,Hometown,Total
1,6,Mike Turley,Auckland,699
2,91,Dane Fisher,Auckland,689
3,11,Grant Ryan,Lower Hutt,631
4,87,A.J. Lauder,Turua,599
5,41,Jamie Gaskin,Upper Hutt,560
6,12,Chris Cox,Rangiora,554
7,35,Mark Gibson,Taupo,546
8,14,Shaun Lawrence,Hamilton,536
9,89,Marc Spring,Auckland,493
10,5,Rex McCutcheon,Waiuku,403
11,34,Rob Gibson,Taupo,384
12,22,Amy Vincent,Papakura,346
13,71,Sam Barry,Takapau,319
14,4,Tom Barker,Christchurch,313
15,10,Ben Erickson,Christchurch,313
16,15,Brad Lauder,Turua,312
17,23,Daniel Liemburg,Timaru,273
18,27,Allan Jarvis,Brisbane,151
19,7,Ryan Bailey,Auckland,135
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