Motorsport: Esterer gets Lady Wigram Trophy bid off to a good start

Canadian driver Jay Esterer got his bid to add his name to the Lady Wigram Trophy off to a good start at Christchurch's Ruapuna Park this afternoon, leading home defending trophy holder Ken Smith in the weekend's first race.

Dunedin driver Steve Ross (McRae GM1) qualified quickest and led the 17-strong field off the first of what turned out to be two rolling starts only to spin and let Esterer and Smith past.

Smith, 70, was never more than two or three car lengths back in second in his Lola T332 but never got quite close enough to put in a serious challenge for the lead, eventually crossing the finish line after eight laps just under half a second behind Esterer. Ross finished third and Tony Richards fourth.

"I had to drive flat out," Esterer said, "as fast as the car would go."

Proof of that came when the Canadian set the fastest race lap - at 1.19.174 just 0.018 of a second slower than his best qualifying lap - on the fourth lap with Smith stuck resolutely to his car's tail.

Today's race was the first of three for drivers contesting the 2011/12 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series with a second eight lap race on Sunday morning and the 15 lap New Zealand Express Lady Wigram Trophy race later in the afternoon.