The New Zealand Modified Championship winners have their moment of glory on the podium. pictured from left - Shaun Bloeman (3rd) Jamie Fox (1st) and Richard Pierce (2nd).
The New Zealand Modified Championship winners have their moment of glory on the podium. pictured from left - Shaun Bloeman (3rd) Jamie Fox (1st) and Richard Pierce (2nd).
Auckland modified racer Jamie Fox took out the National Modified Championship in front of a packed crowd at the Stratford Speedway on Saturday night.
Jaime worked hard to take the win, moving up two places on the podium to be ranked first during the McDonalds New Plymouth and Hey Harvesting-sponsored event.
The sportsman did not have the best start however, and was towed off the field after a first-lap incident during the first qualifying race on Friday night.
Jamie Fox won the Modified Championship at the Stratford Speedway last weekend.
He quickly regained his composure to place third in the second qualifying heat and sixth in the third to make it through to Saturday night's finals.
The finals were held over three gruelling 20-lap races and Jamie made the most of a front row start in race one to come home in first place before finishing fourth in race two from grid 12.
Heading into the final heat, Jamie was positioned at the top of the leader board with a three-point buffer from Farron Lowry and Shaun Bloeman. Starting at the rear of the field in grid 18, Jamie earned some free points and this, along with his drive to ninth place had him finish equal on top points with defending champion Richard Pierce.
The pair faced off in a four-lap run off to determine who would come first. The pair drag-raced to the first corner and entered side by side and after a bit of rubbing and wheel banging, Jamie came out of turn two first and Pierce spun out.
Jamie cruised the remaining distance to collect the chequered flag and the New Zealand Championship. Shaun Bloeman drove well all weekend to come home third overall. The action-packed weekend had many highs and lows, with Brad Lane experiencing a few of the latter.
Brad drove fast all weekend and placed ninth during the finals of race one (from grid 20) and won race three (from grid one). It was race two that was the undoing of his championship bid. Starting in grid 10, Lane moved up to position five within the first few laps, dropped back to the rear of the field and then came back to position seven before his drive shaft broke with just six laps remaining in the race.
Stratford competitors filled five of the top 10 placings. Joining Pierce and Bloeman in the top 10 were Farron Lowry who finished fourth, Carl Hinton in sixth and Jason Kalin in ninth place.
