Auckland driver Richard Moore has starred in his debut of the BNT NZ Touring Cars at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over the weekend of November 28–29, by taking the class one–round win in his Holden Commodore. The class one–round podium rounded out with Simon Evans in second and Jason Bargwanna in third.
Moore notched up a third place in Saturday’s opening encounter, in what was a rain-affected race, as series leader Simon Evans speared off the track finishing well down the order.
Moore had actually won the race before a post-race investigation penalized 11 drivers for weaving across the track after the safety-car lights had gone out following the Evans incident.
A 10-second penalty relegated Moore to third place, with Jason Bargwanna in his Toyota Camry promoted to the race win.
Race conditions for Sunday’s two races saw clear skies and hot conditions greet drivers at the north Waikato circuit, where Evans fought back claiming two wins, and Moore was close behind with two second-place finishes.
Moore who worked twice as hard by also competing in the UDC V8 Ute series, taking the round win there, says the weekend result was the perfect way to get his ‘late’ championship campaign started.
“Unbelievable! I haven’t been in a car like this for 12 months. We won in the ute too, it was the perfect weekend really,” says Moore.
“Big thanks to our sponsor group GVI.kiwi, Mike Pero, and DownForce Advanced Driver Training — without them we wouldn’t have been here this weekend.
“It’s all about building the momentum now, keep the ball rolling. We’ll get some more sponsorship support between now and the next round, and hopefully continue the fight up front when the championship heads to the South Island in the new year.”
Simon Evans still leads the championship on 564 points, with Bargwanna in second on 505, and Tim Edgell in third on 445 points.
Class two was won by Wellington’s Brock Cooley, his first round win of the season. Auckland’s Brad Lathrope took second place ahead of Hamilton’s Simon Fleming who took third. The trio capitalizing on the misfortune of class-two championship leader Kevin Williams, who struck trouble in race two of the weekend with a DNF.
Photo credit: Simon Chapman