LYONS DOMINATES HAMPTON DOWNS F5000

England's Michael Lyons (Lola T400) won all four MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series races at the first New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing - celebrating BMW Motorsport meetings at the Hampton Downs circuit south of Auckland over the weekend but series point leader Steve Ross (McRae GM1) added the icing on the cake with a new outright track lap record. Lyons, who with father Frank and mother Judy, has been traveling from the UK to contest rounds of the New Zealand-based MSC series for the past four years, showed an inkling of what he could do at the two New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing meetings last year and took up where he left off this, claiming pole position in the qualifying session on Friday then leading all four races - including the feature 15-lap final - from start to finish. "The weekend has gone pretty well hasn't it" the 20-year-old from Essex north of London said after his meeting clean sweep. "Last year we weren't quite as well prepared and it was all a bit last minute. Also I hadn't really driven the car much that year. This year we did most of the British championship, which we won, so we were better prepared with the car so it's great to be able to come out here and be able to do so well." After winning both races in hot, dry conditions on Saturday, the first from Steve Ross, Ken Smith (Lola T430) and Clark Proctor (March 73A) and the second - after Ross and Proctor tangled at the first corner - from Smith, Mark Dwyer (Lola T400) and Brett Willis (Lola T330), Lyons led home a fired up Smith, Proctor and Ross in the rain-delayed third race just after lunch time and 15-lap feature final later in the afternoon on Sunday. While the third race was very much a non-event because of the intervention for four of the eight laps of the Safety Car (while Kerry McIntosh's bent Begg FM2 was retrieved from the safety barriers on the run up to the start/finish straight) the 15-lap feature saw Lyons, Ross, Smith, Proctor and Dwyer set a cracking early pace, a sign of just how quickly the leading cars were circulating, Steve Ross breaking the new outright track lap record Lyons had set during the first race on Saturday.

YOUNG LYON TAKES F5000 RACE ONE IN NZ

Young British driver Michael Lyons (Lola T400) has made a winning return to New Zealand's MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series, dominating the first day of competition at the third round at Hampton Downs. In front of a large crowd gathered for the first of two New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing - celebrating BMW Motorsport meetings at the 2.8 km circuit south of Auckland the 20-year-old second-generation racer from just outside London topped the time sheets in qualifying on Friday afternoon and won both today's eight lap MSC series races, the first - in the morning - from series points  leader Steve Ross (McRae GM1), defending series champion Ken Smith (Lola T430) and high-profile former NZV8 and now Targa driver Clark Proctor (March 73A), and the second from Smith, regular UK visitor Mark Dwyer (Lola T400) and Rotorua driver Brett Willis (Lola T300).

DWYER TAKES FIRST F5000 WIN AT ALBERT PARK

British driver Mark Dwyer (Lola T400) topped a truly international podium after the first MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival series race at the Formula 1™  Qantas Australian Grand Prix meeting in Melbourne today. Dwyer was untroubled to win today’s 8-lap race, crossing the finish line just over 20 seconds ahead of Australian Aaron Lewis (Chevron B24) and [...]

RAIN RUINS HAMPTON DOWNS AMON CELEBRATION

TORRENTIAL RAIN FORCES EARLY END TO FIRST NZ FESTIVAL OF MOTOR RACING MEETING Torrential rain has forced event officials to postpone Sunday’s programme at the first NZ Festival of Motor Racing - Chris Amon - meeting at Hampton Downs today. Racing yesterday was compromised by the monsoon-like conditions and officials decided this morning to call an early [...]

WILLIAMS WINS LADY WIGRAM TROPHY

Auckland driver Roger Williams (Lola T332) is the latest in a long and distinguished line of Lady Wigram Trophy holders after winning an incident-packed Christchurch Casino Lady Wigram trophy feature race at the second round of the 2009/10 MSC NZ Formula 5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series races at Christchurch's Ruapuna Park. Three-time Lady Wigram Trophy winner Ken Smith (Lola T430) from Auckland and 2007/08 MSC series champion, local man Chris Hyde (McRae GM1), were joint favourites to win this year's 16-lap Lady Wigram Trophy feature race at the 2010 Christchurch Casino Lady Wigram trophy meeting - but both struck problems. Smith - who joined race two winner Hyde on the front row of the grid for the final - was swamped at the start when he missed a gearchange, got caught up in a first lap clash between Lola T332 drivers Sefton Gibb and Tony Richards, and was finally forced out by a broken front right hand balljoint. Hyde meanwhile, was slowed and finally stopped by a battery problem. After two relatively uneventful sprint races on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning the Lady Wigram Trophy feature was real thrill-a-minute stuff with Hyde getting the initial jump on quickest weekend qualifier and race one winner Steve Ross (McRae GM1) with eventual race winner Williams slotting into third place in front of former series champion Ian Clements (Lola T332) then a gap to Australian driver Aaron Lewis (Matich A50), Tony Richards (Lola T332) and Aaron Burson (McRae GM1).

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THE THUNDER ROLLS ON DESPITE V8 ISLAND RAID

It's now been confirmed, the V8 supercars will race at Phillip Island in November, the same weekend as the traditional Historic Sandown, Return of the Thunder. The Island race will feature two sprint races under the banner of the Phillip Island 300. Confirmation of the race has came as a huge blow to the Victorian Historic Racing Register who will clearly lose spectators and possibly trackside officials as a result of the clash. It'll be a big weekend for local marshals with a round of the Victorian Motor Racing Championships also on at Winton that weekend.

FORMULA 5000 RETURNS TO THE AGP

Formula 5000, the category that ran for the Australian Grand Prix from the late 60's throughout the 70's will return to the event with the announcement that Albert Park will host the final round of the MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series. There will be two races for the F5000 Tasman Cup Revival cars with both carrying points for the 2008/09 series which is currently led by veteran New Zealand driver Ken Smith (Lola T430). The long anticipated announcement of the races is reward for many years of hard work by the New Zealand F5000 Association and spokesman David Abbott says that the events confirmation is - quite literally - a dream come true. “Formula 5000 was the premier category across the Tasman for many years and we have several cars running in our series which contested the Australian Grand Prix” said Mr Abbott. “So one of our goals - our ultimate one if you like - was to take them back." Places on the support roster at any Grand Prix are eagerly sought after and Abbott says that the New Zealand Association owes a debt of gratitude to Australian member Bob Harborow for the time and effort he and fellow members of the Victorian Historic Racing Register (VHRR) put into the proposal and process.

RECORD ENTRY FOR HISTORIC SANDOWN

One of the highlights of the Victorian motor racing year  the VACC Historic Sandown on November 7-9 just got even better with the news that almost 360 cars have entered the event potentially equalling the record for the meeting. Despite the current economic crisis that has gripped the globe growth has occurred in all categories, with more than 20 Formula 5000s now confirmed for the VACC Trophy races, along with nearly 60 historic touring cars, and 70 classic and high performance cars spanning the history of the automobile have entered the popular Regularity (average speed) events.