Forza3 Racing driver Simon Sceats won his second New Zealand Production Racing Series title over the weekend, taking two victories at the Taupo Motorsport Park ‘Grand Finale’ to seal victory from Scott McKelvie.
Sceats, driving the Forza3 Subaru Impreza WRX, had trailed the Mitsubishi Evo pairing of McKelvie and Grant Aitken for the entire season after a troublesome opening round at Pukekohe Park in November.
But, in an act of dominance ever since, Sceats took overall round honours at every round of the championship thereafter and trailed McKelvie by just four points heading into the Taupo Final.
Sceats made the best possible start at Taupo, working hard with the Forza3 Racing Team on the car setup in Friday testing and reaping the rewards by claiming pole position by close to 3/10ths of a second from Aitken’s Mitsubishi Evo.
The pair were seemingly in a class of their own, over a second clear of the chasing pack.
In the three races that followed, though, a blanket could be thrown over the Sceats, Aitken and McKelvie trio as they provided thrilling battles throughout the weekend.
In the opening race, Sceats made a strong start and controlled the cars behind for the duration, taking a comfortable victory from Aitken.
Again in the second race, Sceats was the victor, and again it was Aitken who followed from McKelvie in third. As with the opening race the Forza3 Subaru Impreza looked in total control at the head of the Class E field, around the technical 3.5km Taupo circuit.
Such was the close competition between the three title hopefuls; the reverse-grid final was always going to be scintillating.
With Sceats starting at the rear of the field, he chopped through the slower cars in front, with both Aitken and McKelvie just ahead, but rather than mount a challenge for class victory, he chose to conserve his position in third and take enough points to win the championship.
With ten wins to his name from the eighteen race season, there was little doubt that Sceats was a deserved champion, following up from his maiden PRS title in the 2007/08 season.
In doing so, Sceats also reassured the competitiveness of the Subaru package in the Production Racing Series, with the brand dropping significantly in numbers over recent seasons and being largely dominated by the rival Mitsubishi Evo model car.
“It’s just such a wonderful feeling to be on top again and win the title!” Sceats said of his success.
“The Subaru didn’t miss a beat. Putting Pukekohe behind us, it really has been a top season. We won two of the three races at every round remaining, had no DNFs and put the pressure on the Evos by closing that gap right up until the final round.
“It certainly went down to the wire though. There was only four points difference going into Taupo, so I had to ensure I was competitive at Taupo and continue applying that pressure. It came off perfectly, and I just can’t thank the team and sponsors enough for their efforts!”
The consistency of Sceats’ results was a testament to the entire Forza3 Racing Team, whose preparation, professionalism and results shone through at season’s end.
Sceats and the Forza3 Racing Team are now preparing for the Altherm 1000 Endurance races in June, where they aim to pick up where they left off with a 500km Endurance race around Hampton Downs.
