One of the biggest obstacles for new circuit racers to overcome is learning the intricacies of new circuits. How late can you brake here, how wide you allow the car to get there, where the best places to pass are, they’re all things that the seasoned competitors have already mastered.
These however proved to be no obstacle at all for Hamilton Suzuki Swift Sport Cup driver Shaun Lawrence last weekend as he secured his best finish of the season so far, taking a close second place in the third race of the round at the fast Teretonga circuit in the Deep South.
With no track knowledge or (car) set up information to call upon, Lawrence headed south with the goal to steadily improve as the meeting went on. A fault with the cars transponder in practise meant that the team were unable to see their lap times, and more importantly how they were going against their competitors.
Qualifying saw Lawrence sitting in twelfth on the grid for the first race, and on a circuit that is notoriously hard to pass on, finished tenth in race one needing to find a better set up for the car.
“It was definitely frustrating, I pushed the Kea Trailers Swift as hard as I could, maybe even too hard, but I just didn’t feel like we were going as well as we should have been” explained Lawrence. “We made a heap of changes after Saturdays race and really just looked to improve on Sunday” he went on to add.
The changes seemed to work, Sunday’s first race saw the field break into two main groups, with the identical race prepared Suzuki’s literally running nose-to-tail from the start to the finish.
The third and final race had Lawrence start from third on the grid, and the opening lap saw Alan Dunkley have a major accident stopping the race. The race restarted with the field reduced to single file, and on the first corner Lawrence took the race lead and make an impassioned charge to the chequered flag.
“I thought it (the race) was never going to end! I kept willing the chequered flag to come out & was doing everything I could to hold out a hard charging Ben Dallas, but he finally got me coming onto the final straight on the last lap” said a still smiling Lawrence. “It was outstanding racing; I was stoked with the second place and am probably hungrier now for a win than ever. It was just awesome”.
The Suzuki Swift Sport Cup has a one week break before heading to the Levels circuit in Timaru for Round Four of the championship.
