Great racing at Manfeild

Three races at Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon provided three different winners at the third round of the Toyota 86 Trophy Series over the weekend.

Nieko Scoles and Nathan Grammer scored their second wins around the iconic Manawatu circuit, and Josh Hill enjoyed a fantastic day to become the sixth winner with victory in the final race.

The first face-off was all about Scoles, who led from start to finish in a polished display from pole. He eventually came home a relatively comfortable two seconds ahead of second-placed Grammer.

Grammer started well and enjoyed a good race with a resurgent Hill, passing him for second on the fourth lap.

There was nothing Hill could do and he trailed Grammer by a second-and-a-half at the flag to comfortably secure his first podium. Marcel Bartley enjoyed his best result in the series with fourth place.

After a quick turnaround by the teams, Grammer went one better in the second race after jumping into the lead from third on the grid on the first lap. 

He held on to win ahead of a charging Scoles, who carved his way through the field from fourth at the end of the first lap. 

Race three produced a long duel between Hill and the Toby Elmiger, the winter-series points leader going into Manfeild, with both starting on row one.

Elmiger led for much of the way, but Hill made a crucial pass on lap nine to take the lead and edge out the former by just under one second at the flag.

Bartley took his second podium finish of the weekend but later lost it after a penalty for contact with Taylor Mitchell, who then inherited third. That was his best result of the round after a relatively tough day at the office.

It all meant an even tighter points table at the end of the day, with just one round to go in two weeks’ time – again at Manfeild.

That third place for Mitchell helped him secure the overall lead in the points table for the rookie’s series ahead of Scoles, while he slipped to 19 points behind Elmiger in the overall winter-series points.