MSC
New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series
Final round, Sunday Report
Phillip
Island Classic - 9-11 March 2012
ROSS WRAPS UP TITLE WITH FEATURE WIN IN AUSTRALIA
Kiwi
Steve Ross (McRae GM1) wrapped up the 2011/12 MSC F5000 Tasman Cup
Revival Series title in style with a win in the feature eight lap
final at the Phillip Island Classic motor racing meeting in Australia
on Sunday.
Above:
Series winner Steve Ross (#5)
shares the front row of the rolling start with Andrew Robson as the
MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series field lines up for a rolling start
to the third race of the weekend on Sunday morning.
The series win is the Dunedin contractor's first in three year's contesting
the MSC series and comes after early career success at home in the
Pre 65 and OSCA classes.
Heading into the weekend it looked like 25-year-old US-based professional
James Davison (Lola T332) would have the upper hand, but though the
third-generation Australian racer claimed pole position with a time
a second-and-a-half quicker than Ross, it was Ross who won three of
the four races and set the fastest race lap in the feature final.
With two laps to go it looked like the Kiwi would finish second in
the other race, too, until he mistook the final lap flag for the chequered
one and slowed down, allowing Andrew Robson (Lola T332) to demote
him to third before he realised his mistake.
Above:
2011/12 Series winner Steve
Ross (centre) is flanked by runner-up Aaron Burson (left) and third
placed Brett Willis (right).
Robson, driving the Lola T332 originally owned and raced in the 1970s
with much success by three-time MSC F5000 series champion Ken Smith,
ended up best of the rest of the bumper MSC F5000 field, splitting
race winner Steve Ross and third placeman David Abbott (Lola T430)
in the first race of the weekend on Saturday morning then finishing
second to either Ross or Davison in the other races.
Abbott, in turn, was the best of the other New Zealand-based MSC series
regulars, qualifying fourth then finishing third in the first race,
fifth in the second and fourth in each Sunday race.
Sunday's races were not just close run affairs up front either, Abbott
leading home a tightly-bunched freight train of cars in the 6 lap
morning outing with UK-based MSC series regular Greg Thornton (Chevron
B24) fifth, eventual series runner-up Aaron Burson (McRae GM1) sixth
and former series champion Ian Clements (Lola T332) from Christchurch
sixth.
Above:
David Abbott leads Aaron Burson.
A little further back Kiwi Russell Greer and Australian Darcy Russell
circulated nose-to-tail in their similar Lolas (Greer's the ex Graeme
Lawrence T332, Russell's the ex Max Stewart/Kevin Bartlett T330) with
series newcomer David Arrowsmith again the first of the Class A (for
earlier cars) runners in his recently acquired Ford-powered Lotus
70.
For 2011/12 series runner-up Aaron Burson the fourth and final race
was his best, the Aucklander crossing the line four seconds behind
Abbott in fifth with Brian Sala (Matich A50) and Ian Clements (Lola
T332) on his tail.
Greg Thornton separated Abbott and Burson for much of the race, but
ran low on fuel in the final lap, slipping back to eighth place and
crossing the finish line just in front of Sefton Gibb (Lola T332).
Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) and the trans-Tasman duo of Russell Greer
and Darcy Russell.
That's it for the MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series for another
year but the success of that series has spawned a new one in Australia,
the Australian F5000 Cup for which the Phillip Island Classic meeting
was the openin round.
Above:
Aaron Burson leads Sefton Gibb,
James Davison and Brett Willis. Photo credit: Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.
Subsequent rounds of that series will be held at major historic motor
racing meetings in Australia during the year with the final at one
of the early rounds of the 2012/13 MSC F5000 (New Zealand) series
meaning both series compliment rather than compete against each other.
The MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series is organised and run with
the support of sponsors MSC, NZ Express Transport, Bonney's Specialized
Bulk Transport, Mobil Lubricants, Pacifica, Smith & Davies, Avon
Tyres and Exide.
2011/12 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Rnd 6 (Final)
Phillip Island Classic Victoria Australia Fri-Sun March 09-11
Qualifying
1. James Davison (Lola T332) 1:29.6362
2. Steve Ross (McRae GM1) 1:31.3099
3. Andrew Robson (Lola T332) 1:31.9762
4. David Abbott (Lola T430) 1:33.3947
5. Ian Clements (Lola T332) 1:34.7349
6. Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) 1:34.8189
7. Bryan Sala (Matich A50) 1:35.5243
8. Greg Thornton (Chevron B24) 1:35.9145
9. Aaron Burson (McRae GM1) 1:36.8644
10. Darcy Russell (Lola T330) 1:36.9202
11. Brett Willis (Lola T330) 1:36.9277
12. Sefton Gibb (Lola T332) 1:37.3711
13. Russell Greer (Lola T332) 1:38.4646
14. Chris Hocking (Matich A52) 1:39.2454
15. Dave Arrowsmith (Lotus 70B) 1:39.2682
16. Scott Drnek (Surtees TS8) 1:39.7216
17. Graham Smith (March 73A) 1:40.2400
18. Bill Hemming (Elfin MR8 AC) 1:42.0460
19. Robert Harborow (Elfin MR8) 1:42.5898
20. Philip Lewis (Matich A50) 1:43.4713
21. John Bryant (Lola T140) 1:44.9685
22. Jay Bondini (Lola T332) 1:47.9765
23. Timothy Rush (McLaren M22-3) 1:51.2272
Race 1 (Sat 5 laps)
1. Steve Ross 7:40.812
2. Andrew Robson 7:49.7320
3. David Abbott 7:54.1416
4. Bryan Sala 7:54.3979
5. Ian Clements 7:55.2411
6. Greg Thornton 8:05.1892
7. Aaron Burson 8:05.3072
8. Brett Willis 8:09.8070
9. Darcy Russell 8:10.7555
10. Sefton Gibb 8:15.7387
11. Russell Greer 8:15.7606
12. Dave Arrowsmith 8:18.5075
13. Chris Hocking 8:18.6269
14. Bill Hemming 8:30.9175
15. Scott Drnek 8:30.9728
16. Philip Lewis 8:35.5418
17. Robert Harborow 8:47.2281
18. John Bryant 8:54.4184
19. Jay Bondini 8:58.2834
20. Timothy Rush 9:21.7907
21. Eric Haga (Lola T190) 7:52.5426
DNF Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) Graham Smith (March 73A) James Davison
(Lola T332)
Race 2 (Sat 6 laps)
1. Steve Ross 9:16.3933
2. Andrew Robson 9:22.7601
3. Bryan Sala 9:24.4205
4. James Davison 9:27.0463
5. David Abbott 9:36.2926
6. Greg Thornton 9:41.7281
7. Ian Clements 9:42.0878
8. Aaron Burson 9:42.4318
9. Sefton Gibb 9:42.7369
10. Brett Willis 9:43.0950
11. Darcy Russell 9:47.3020
12. Russell Greer 9:48.3394
13. Dave Arrowsmith 9:56.7463
14. Bill Hemming 10:12.0688
15. Scott Drnek 10:39.1963
16. Robert Harborow 10:39.9125
17. Philip Lewis 10:40.5954
18. Jay Bondini 10:55.2706
19. Eric Haga 9:41.0418
DNF Chris Hocking, John Bryant, Timothy Rush
Race 3 (Sun, 6 Laps)
1. James Davison 9:09.1226
2. Andrew Robson 9:23.6423 3 1:32.2720
3. Steve Ross 9:27.6461 1:31.2826
4. David Abbott 9:31.5410
5. Greg Thornton 9:31.7545
6. Aaron Burson 9:32.3621
7. Ian Clements 9:32.6542
8. Sefton Gibb 9:40.8712
9. Brett Willis 9:41.0821
10. Bryan Sala 9:45.4126
11. Russell Greer 9:50.5603
12. Darcy Russell 9:50.7879
13. Dave Arrowsmith 9:55.1512
14. Bill Hemming 10:05.0179
15. Philip Lewis 10:05.5641
16. Paul Zazryn 10:18.2385
17. Scott Drnek 10:31.1048
18. Jay Bondini 10:33.7391
19. Tim Rush 9:17.0280
20. Robert Harborow 9:17.1950
21. Eric Haga 9:38.7724
New category lap record James Davison (Lola T332) 1:29.3062
Race 4 (Sun 8 laps)
1. Steve Ross 12:21.8589
2. Andrew Robson 12:39.3619
3. James Davison 12:40.2964
4. David Abbott 12:40.8408
5. Aaron Burson 12:46.1548
6. Bryan Sala 12:46.2175
7. Ian Clements 12:46.5693
8. Greg Thornton 12:49.4614 4
9. Sefton Gibb 12:52.7510
10. Paul Zazryn 12:53.2443
11. Russell Greer 12:58.9577
12. Darcy Russell 12:59.1939
13. Brett Willis 13:06.2565
14. Bill Hemming 13:20.6072
15. Dave Arrowsmith 13:21.6203
16. Scott Drnek 13:21.8009
17. Philip Lewis 13:49.0367
18. Jay Bondini 14:08.4909
19. Robert Harborow 12:39.4749
20. Timothy Rush 12:41.3054
21. Eric Haga 13:22.5337
Prepared by FAST COMPANY of behalf of the New Zealand Formula 5000
Association. www.F5000.co.nz
For more information about the 2011/12 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman
Cup Revival Series contact Ross MacKay via e-mail on ross@fastcompany.co.nz
