Robotham back on top
Australian ace Jaylyn Robotham has come away from Teretonga Park leading the Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship series after claiming two wins from three races and sealing the round win.
Robotham battled with front-running rivals Campbell Stewart, Jaden Ransley and Peter Vodanovich, who won the third race, over a thrilling weekend of track action in Invercargill.
In the opening race, Robotham prevailed in his Eastern Performance Centre car ahead of Vodanovich, while Stewart claimed third for his first podium in the championship.
Robotham, pictured, made it two from two after leading from the lights in the second race, again finishing ahead of Vodanovich and Stewart respectively.
The final race of the weekend went to Vodanovich, who made the most of a blistering start to lead Robotham out of the first turn. Robotham settled for second spot, but his performances over the two days propelled him to the top of the points after three rounds of the championship.
“We found the problem with the car and tuned it up a bit after Highlands,” Robotham says. “It was definitely handling better here. I just couldn’t stay with them down the straights and that’s where Peter was quicker. I was glad in that last race to pull away from Jaden in the last couple of laps.”
The championship is next in action at the Circuit Chris Amon, Manfeild, on February 15-16.
Lawson leads standings
New Zealand’s Liam Lawson completed a solid weekend that hadn’t got off to the greatest of starts with a lights-to-flag victory in the feature race at the second round of the Castrol Toyota Racing Series at Teretonga Park.
Second on the grid, Lawson timed the start in his Toyota FT-60 to perfection and simply drove away from pole position holder Jackson Walls and maintained his lead throughout the 25 laps.
“We made a great start but we did have a clutch issue from the first race so we had to be careful,” Lawson says. “It was nice until about halfway through the race when we had a moment where the power dropped, I was freaking out but it came back. We have no idea what the problem was but thankfully it sorted itself out.”
The win lifts Lawson’s points advantage in the championship to 14 points over Igor Fraga, with Gregoire Saucy third in the standings.
Sunday morning’s race was won by Emilien Denner while Saturday’s battle saw Caio Collet prevail.
The series now moves to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, where the prestigious Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy will be contested. The championship will be without its only female racer – Chelsea Herbert – who had to withdraw after injuring her back at the start of Saturday morning qualifying.
