Production Car Series Round 1 Report

Hi everyone

I will be doing a quick newsletter after each round of the Production Race Championship that I am competing in this season to let you all know how the team is going.

Round1 was at Pukekohe on the 2nd – 4th of November. We went to Pukekohe knowing we were going to be in for a tough weekend due the long straights that the track has, favoring the more powerful cars in my class.

On Friday you get two test sessions for 15min each. On the first test session we only got in 4 laps due to the inner cv joint collapsing during a half spin on the entry to castrol. Fortunately we had a spare axle shaft which we were able to fit and have the car back up and running for the second test session. We got in a good amount of laps in the next run and also putting in the fastest time we have achieved on the track to date. 1.14.8 was the time and 1 second faster than in testing two weeks earlier.

Saturday was Qualifying and Race 1. We decided to go out do a fast lap then come in and save the car for the race in Qualifying. So we went out and did a 1.14.6 on lap 4 that put us on 15th for the race. I got of to a great start in the race passing two cars on the first lap. I was unable to hold of one of the Hondas down the straight he just had to much power so I finished race 1 in 14th. Not bad for a first Tier 1 Race meeting.

Two Races on Sunday, One top 10 reverse and one full reverse with a 35 second head start for the swifts. Race 2 on Sunday was dry and we had another good start going 3 wide into turn 1, wedged between two Hondas but I won that battle, and managed to hold them off for about 3 laps until I had a small brake lock up at the hairpin and turned the car around. A not so good end to race 2 but we were still their unlike some cars.

Race 3 was absolutely terrible with hail at one point down the back straight. This was the full reverse grid s I was near the front and got a blinder of a start leaving the cars next to me in my spray. We were very slow only lapping 1.23 in the wet, but had a lot of fun with some big sideways moments. We only managed 21st in this race, due to it being called off 4 laps early when a swift hit the wall on the mountain.

Next round is at Ruapuna on the 23rd – 25th of November.

Thank you all for your support and see you at the track.

Pictures and more information on the production race Championship can br found on the New Zealand Production racing website.  http://www.productionracingnz.co.nz

Blair Thomson
Fiat Punto HGT Abath
Car # 30