22 Jan 2017
By Wright Communications
He took the lead on the seventh lap after early leader and the
closest driver to him on the points table, Thomas Randle spun away
his advantage at the tight left hander leading onto the main
straight.
From there Verschoor built up a 10 second advantage over Jehan
Daruvala and won as he pleased. "I quite like the rain," said
Verschoor, who now has a 58 point lead over Randle, who recovered
to finish third as the field strung out in the testing
conditions.
Verschoor said he had done a lot of wet weather driving in his
Karting career. "I could manage the pace today, but I've still got
more to learn, but I think today was quite all right."
Pole sitter Brendon Leitch had a day to forget. In the preliminary
race in the morning he was involved in a three car accident before
the first corner, which amazingly did not involve more cars in the
dense clouds of spray.
"The team did a great job replacing a broken bellhousing and some
suspension," said Leitch. In the main race Randle took the lead and
Verschoor passed Leitch around the outside in the first
corner.
As the race progressed, Leitch slipped back down the field to
finish seventh, as the car's handling deteriorated in the
conditions as the car's chassis began to flex increasingly more,
probably as a result of the morning accident.
Christchurch's Marcus Armstrong finished fourth in both races, to
become the leading Kiwi on the points table, while Pukekohe's
Taylor Cockerton had a fifth and a ninth from a low grid position
after problems during Saturday's qualifying.
Pedro Piquet who won the morning's preliminary race came home
fifth, while Canadian Kami Laliberte finished sixth in his best
result so far this year.
Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg, who had also been involved in the
morning accident and initially held third in the main race, also
spun off and finished 17th.
Results.-
Castrol Toyota Racing Series, Round 2, Spirit of the Nation Cup,
20 laps, Teretonga Park, Christchurch.
1, R Verschoor (Netherlands);
2, J Daruvala (India);
3, T Randle (Australia);
4, M Armstrong (Christchurch);
5, P Piquet (Brazil);
6, K Laliberte (Canada);
7, B Leitch (Invercargill);
8, E Ahmed (England);
9, T Cockerton (Pukekohe);
10, C Hahn (Brazil).
Preliminary race, 15 laps:
1, Piquet;
2, Verschoor;
3, Randle;
4, Armstrong;
5, Cockerton;
6, Laliberte;
7, Daruvala;
8, Andres;
9, Hahn;
10, Leeds.
Series points.-
1, Verschoor, 398;
2, Randle, 340;
3, Piquet, 307;
4, Daruvala, 287;
5, Armstrong, 265;
6, Cockerton, 263;
7, Leitch, 232;
8, Laliberte, 223;
9, Ahmed, 212;
10, Habsburg, 208.
Ends
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