Neville Stowell of Timaru took his third straight Kumho Sport Saloon Series title when he clinched the 2009/2010 championship at a soggy Timaru International Motor Raceway today. Stowell had missed the opening round of this years series and only gained the points lead at the penultimate round last month. He and fellow Timaru driver Chris Small came into the final round today just 20 points apart. Stowell won the first race in his Nissan Skyline GTR and when he was placed 10th in the second race, five places behind Small, he had done enough to seal his third successive championship.
''It was one of those days today," said Stowell. "Winning the first race was a big plus. That meant I just needed to keep Chris in sight in the second to take the championship." With the title secured Stowell, Small and many others elected not to start in the final race in the wet conditions.
"I'm pretty happy with the championship. I didn't expect to get there. It's good it came down to the last round. Things worked in my favour. Chris had some breakdowns during the season that enabled me to peg him back," said a happy champion.
Small ended the championship as runner-up and also added the Class A Championship title. Small was pleased with second, saying that was the main aim at the beginning of the season. Gary Ridden of Christchurch was third in the overall championship and took the Class B title.
Weather dominated the day and on a streaming wet track Ivan McAuley of Timaru in his Mitsubishi EVO was quickest in qualifying in 1 minute 24.131 seconds ahead of Michael Gallagher of Ashburton in a Mazda RX7. Stan Moore of Temuka was third ahead Small, Nathan McAuley, Ridden and Stowell in seventh position. Small and Nathan McAuley had a coming together after McAuley left the track while Stowell had his windscreen fog up and the session was red flagged before he could improve.
The track was damp but conditions had improved for the opening race. Ivan McAuley got a good start and led away from the rolling start. Small accelerated his EVO into second as they hit the back straight ahead of Gallagher, Ridden, Stowell and Gary Duncan. Stowell passed Small for second place on the third lap while Duncan got past Small at the first corner of the sixth lap for third place. Later on that same lap Stowell made his move past Ivan McAuley and into the lead, taking the chequered flag two laps later. McAuley drove a good race to second ahead of the fast finishing Duncan with Small fourth. Nathan McAuley was fifth ahead of Ridden who had a quick spin on the final lap. Gallagher was seventh, suffering from visibility problems.
Moore was a non-finisher after he went off at John Jones Steel corner and badly damaged his EVO while Grant Waters dropped a couple of cylinders and cruised to the finish after running competitively early on.
The rain set in before the second race, making conditions treacherous for the reverse grid handicap event. Series returnee Matt Dunn led early until Duncan went through to the lead. Ridden did a good job to work his way through to second place ahead of Moore who made a great recovery from his race one mishap. Grant McKissock crossed the line fourth ahead of Gallagher.
Confusion reigned at the finish however. Stowell in tenth place received the chequered flag first in error while penalties were applied to Duncan and Ridden. Duncan had received a drivethrough penalty near the end of the race and without sufficient time to complete it he received a 50 second time penalty. Meanwhile Ridden was handed a 5 second penalty. Those penalties elevated Moore to first in a stunning comeback from his accident in the morning. Ridden retained second ahead of McKissock, Gallagher, Small, Dunn, Waters, Duncan, Raymond Hart and Stowell.
Garreth MacKenzie of Christchurch had aquaplaned and spun on the opening lap, hitting Nathan McAuley as he did so, sending both cars into retirement. The corner onto the front straight caused numerous problems - Ryan Austin in his Toyota spinning and resuming as did Ivan McAuley who slid along the grass before hitting the barrier. Duncan described the corner as "scary in an exciting kind of way. We were aquaplaning through there. I have raced grass karts and they stood me in good stead." Jeremy Grice of Christchurch was another retirement in his Subaru Legacy. Once again several drivers including Grant Waters, Noel Parish and Gallagher struggled with vision problems in the race.
With conditions little better and the championship decided it was a depleted field of just six cars that lined up for the final race.
Moore took the early lead and Duncan of Temuka, revelling in the conditions was quickly up to second. Ivan McAuley had another lurid moment onto the front straight on lap 2 and then another two laps later that brought contact with the wall, forcing him into retirement. Meanwhile Moore and Duncan were battling at the front of the field where Duncan prevailed, snatching the lead on the last lap to win from Moore. Waters held off McKissock for third with Noel Parish of Motueka, who struggled with tyre and visibility problems, fifth.
Moore's second place secured him the handicap championship while other 2009/2010 title winners were Grant McKissock of Timaru in Class C and Mark Elliott of Christchurch, who did not compete today, in Class D.
QUALIFYING
1st - Ivan McAuley (Timaru) Mitsubishi EVO 3 - 1 minute 24.131 seconds
2nd - Michael Gallagher (Ashburton) Mazda RX7 - 1.24.239
3rd - Stan Moore (Temuka) Mitsubishi EVO 1 - 1.24.742
4th - Chris Small (Timaru) Mitsubishi EVO - 1.24.905
5th - Nathan McAuley (Timaru) Mitsubishi EVO - 1.25.122
6th - Gary Ridden (Christchurch) Mitsubishi EVO - 1.26.003
7th - Neville Stowell (Timaru) Nissan Skyline GTR - 1.26.167
8th - Jeremy Grice (Christchurch) Subaru Legacy - 1.26.186
9th - Gary Duncan (Temuka) - Mitsubishi EVO - 1.26.948
10th - Grant McKissock (Timaru) Mitsubishi EVO - 1.27.472
11th - Grant Waters (Timaru) Mitsubishi GSR - 1.28.927
12th - Matt Edgar (Luggate) Toyota Corolla - 1.34.006
13th - Raymond Hart (Timaru) Nissan Skyline GTR - 1.34.878
14th - Matt Dunn (Timaru) Toyota Corolla - 1.36.428
15th - Noel Parish (Motueka) Nissan Fairlady - 1.38.898
16th - Ryan Austin (Timaru) Toyota Corolla - 1.47.316
17th - Garreth MacKenzie (Christchurch) Toyota Corolla - No Time
RACE 1 (8 LAPS ROLLING START)
1st - Neville Stowell
2nd - Ivan McAuley
3rd - Gary Duncan
4th - Chris Small
5th - Nathan McAuley
6th - Gary Ridden
7th - Michael Gallagher
8th - Jeremy Grice
9th - Grant McKissock
10th - Matt Dunn
11th - Raymond Hart
12th - Matt Edgar
13th - Grant Waters
14th - Ryan Austin
15th - Garreth MacKenzie
16th - Noel Parish
DNF - Stan Moore
RACE 2 (8 LAPS - REVERSE GRID HANDICAP START)
1st - Stan Moore
2nd - Gary Ridden
3rd - Grant McKissock
4th - Michael Gallagher
5th - Chris Small
6th - Matt Dunn
7th - Grant Waters
8th - Gary Duncan
9th - Raymond Hart
10th - Neville Stowell
11th - Matt Edgar
12th - Ryan Austin
13th - Noel Parish
DNF - Jeremy Grice, Ivan McAuley, Garreth MacKenzie, Nathan McAuley
RACE 3 (6 LAPS - HANDICAP START)
1st - Gary Duncan
2nd - Stan Moore
3rd - Grant Waters
4th - Grant McKissock
5th - Noel Parish
DNF - Ivan McAuley
DNS - Chris Small, Nathan McAuley, Gary Ridden, Neville Stowell, Jeremy Grice, Matt Edgar, Raymond Hart, Matt Dunn, Michael Gallagher, Ryan Austin, Garreth MacKenzie
