Round five of the Prowear NZ Superlap series, held at Ricoh Taupo Motorsport Park, was one of the most challenging to date with weather conditions on Saturday, April 18 bordering on monsoon. However, Sunday, April 19, saw some spectacular weather — just in time for the shootout and some new PBs.
Garth Walden once again dominated Pro Open behind the wheel of the Team RevolutioNZ Hell Racing Evo, with a best time of 1:30.748. Hans Ruiterman’s E&H Motors Nissan Silvia was on form all weekend — the SR20VET propelled the lightweight chassis to a very respectable 1:36.157, which secured him a second-place finish. Leon Scott remains competitive in his Mitsubishi Evo and managed a 1:39.074, enough to get him onto the podium. A notable mention in Pro is Craig Benton, who showed some incredible driving during Saturday’s wet conditions, with times only 10 seconds slower than his dry times.
The top spot in Pro Street was taken out by another Team RevolutioNZ driver, Karl Patterson, in yet another Evo, with a time knocking on the door of the Pro class — 1:40.053. Kat Benson seems to be improving considerably with every outing, this time securing second place in the BurgerFuel Mitsubishi Evo with a best time of 1:43.776 for the weekend. One of the most epic battles of the weekend was for third and fourth place, with both Nick Lowndes and Toma Lucru giving it everything they had. However, somebody had to come out on top, and Nick’s Honda Civic managed a lap of the Taupo circuit in 1:51.394, beating Toma’s time of 1:51.462 — a close one that’s for sure.
The street class is always one to watch, and round five was no different. Shamil Arachchie was on fire all weekend in the RNJ/Outwest Tinting Toyota Supra. Without third gear, Shamil managed a very respectable 1:41.428. Close behind was JTune Engineering driver Colin Abah in his mighty Honda S2000, with a best of 1:44.140. With problems hurting times throughout the street class, it was only fair that Morris Mustchin suffered some sort of issue. With a sticky throttle cable, Morris still managed to keep the Subaru under the two-minute barrier with a 1:57.682.
There is only one more round left of the Prowear NZ Superlap Series, which will be held May 2–3 at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. Check back here for more coverage!
Image credit: Simon Chapman / Velocity NZ
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