Sprint Car racer Daniel Thomas joined a new team and debuted a new car in winning style at Baypark Speedway on Saturday night. Photo / The Write Angle
Sprint Car racer Daniel Thomas joined a new team and debuted a new car in winning style at Baypark Speedway on Saturday night. Photo / The Write Angle
Two new cars on debut and a combination perfected during last summer claimed feature race honours at a fast-paced Baypark Speedway season opener on Saturday night.
Joining forces with the Harper Leonard Racing squad to pilot a new Maxim sprint car, current NZ number three Daniel Thomas was the class of a quality sprint car field and led the 20-lap feature from start to finish.
Thomas was able to grab the advantage at the green light and also when racing resumed following three cautions.
"I had a bit of pressure from Stephen Taylor and Rodney Wood at the restarts, but I held my lines because I knew I had the best lines," said Thomas.
"My crew chief Jason [McIndoe] and the team did a great job on the car set-up. It was the best car I've driven. I have never felt so comfortable in a car, and it felt amazing to drive."
Thomas said he enjoyed Baypark's freshly laid track surface and reshaped turn 3-4 profile.
"The track was really good. They've done a great job with the track preparation," he said.
It was a 1-2 finish for the HLR team. As Wood's pace faltered in the closing laps with a broken shock absorber, Ryan O'Connor made the move into second place on the final lap to shuffle Wood back to third.
Aucklander Craig Cardwell debuted a new four-bar rear suspension Super Saloon built in Tauranga by Cowling Motorsport and won the first heat race.
Craig Cardwell gave his new Super Saloon a debut win at Baypark Speedway on Saturday night. Photo / The Write Angle
In the 20-lap South Pacific Championship, Cardwell gained the second spot after an early battle with Sam Waddell and Scott Hayward and was gaining on race leader Steve Cowling when Cowling clipped a spinning lapped car and was forced out with damaged front suspension.
Running a mid-track line, Cardwell was able to hold off Waddell in the second half of the race while Hayward was third.
Cardwell's car had only completed a handful of laps at a pre-season Waikaraka Park practice.
"This car feels a bit different and it's also a different style of driving," said Cardwell. "The track was good, and it definitely feels a bit faster."
Former NZ champ Brad Mosen was the opening night pace-setter in the Midget Car competition. Photo / The Write Angle
Making a perfect start to the season was former NZ midget car champion Brad Mosen (Auckland).
His Greenway team has also built a new car over the winter, but Mosen has elected to stick with a combination that was fine-tuned last summer.
He won both of his heat races and in the 25-lap Midas Midget Series feature, he took the lead on a lap eight restart from early front-runner Mitch Osborne.
"I started from the back in my first heat, was up to second by lap two," said Mosen. "Then I won the second heat from the front and, with the first three rows inverted, I started sixth."
Along with Osborne, Mosen passed former national champs Michael Pickens and Peter Hunnibel on his run to the front.
