Hi everyone
Well the final round of the summer series has arrived and we were off to Taupo early Good Friday morning looking for a good meeting and the possibility (all be it mathematically) that we might win the series.
Friday testing: Testing on Friday went pretty well for the Mainline Construction team. The car was handling well and we didn’t have to make any major changes. We were on the pace right from the start. We changed all of our brake pads and front rotors and put a new set of tires on and were now ready for qualifying on Saturday morning.
Saturday Qualifying: I was the first one out the gate and the car was handling really well so I was quietly confident that we could put it on pole. I did three laps before entering the pits all three laps were 7 tenths of a second under lap record and I was the first person in the class to break into the 1.43 second barrier. So after that I thought for sure that that had guaranteed me pole position. But when the times came out Martin Hicks had shocked everyone by beating my time by 2 tenths of a second. This meant I was starting from position 2 on the grid.
Saturday Race 1: I got a good start, but Martin Hicks jumped the start which meant he got in front of me, I was much faster than him but it was still difficult to make it past as the officials gave him a time penalty and not a stop go penalty. On lap 2 I got a good run on him through turn 4 which aloud me to get down the inside of him breaking into turn 5. After I made it past I started to pull a gap on the rest of the field which I managed to hold for the rest of the race to take the chequered flag. It was a good start to the weekend.
Sunday Race 2: Top 10 reverse grid, so I was starting off 10th. I got a good start. Passing a few cars off the start and through turn 1, 2 and 3 by the end of the first lap I was in 4th place, Matt and myself were quite a lot faster than the rest of the field and by lap 5 we were in first and second place still pulling a big gap on the rest of the field, I got past Matt at one point but he managed to take back the top spot which I tried my best but couldn’t take it back off him again, so I had to settle for the second position.
Sunday Race 3: I was starting off position 2; I got a good start and tried to go around the outside of Matt but ended up going out to wide onto the marbles, which let Matt take the lead. He opened up a big gap on the first lap and a half, but then my tires started to come on and I hunted him down getting closer and closer each lap. Once I caught up to him I tried my best to get past him, we ended side by side a couple of times but I just couldn’t complete the passing maneuver and I had to settle for second place. But I did set the fastest lap of the race and broke the lap record with a 1.43.983, so that was a positive.
This was the final round of the Championship and I ended up finishing the series 2nd overall, not really where I wanted to finish this year after finishing second last season but I feel I have improved immensely as the competition was a lot stronger this season with no less that four ex national champions (of different classes) competing. Also the stats show a huge improvement with 4 Pole Positions (out of 7), 6 Race Wins, 2 Round Wins and 1 Lap Record.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my sponsors, without all of you this would not be possible. A special mention is required though for Owen & Garth from Evans European for rebuilding the car after the first round almost right off, Bryan Buck from Any Mazz Spares for supplying us so many parts this season, Warren Overton from Pulse Performance for his never ending desire to make the car faster and Grady Homewood from Hitech Motorsport for constantly trying to improve the handling of the chassis and finally to my new employers Macrennie Construction for allowing me to take the days off required to test and compete in the sport I am so passionate about.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support, I will be in contact with sponsors shortly to advise about our annual sponsors ride day.
Thanks and regards
Chris Hanley
Pro 7 Plus #90
2008/09 Rookie of the Year
2008/09 Team of the Year
2008/09 2nd in Class
2009/10 2nd in Class
Taupo Lap Record Holder
Follow the summer Series at www.mazdapro7racing.co.nz or www.irc.org.nz
Thanks to www.SportProMedia.com for the photos
