Peter Stewart of Te Puke won the opening race of the first round of the 2007/2008 Schaeffer Oil N.Z. Super Sedan Series at the Taupo Motorsport Centre this afternoon.
The race was a handicap event and Stewart started from the middle of the field in his MKV Cortina Chev and in a sterling effort drove hard to seal victory in a very well handicapped race. Stewart led across the line in the 6 litre Chev V8 powered Cortina from Justin McIlroy of Silverdale near Auckland. McIlroy, in a VT Holden Clubsport V8, was followed home by Drury driver Dayne Running in a Chev Camaro.
Earlier in the day Australian V8 Supercar driver Luke Youlden had qualified five seconds faster than the rest of the field in his Ford Mustang Cobra. Glen Brazier, who has made the long journey from Invercargill to compete, was second fastest in his Chev Corvette while defending Schaeffer Oil N.Z. Super Sedan Series Champion, Grant Brennan of Tauranga, was next in his Brennan Corvette SB2.
That trio, plus another Tauranga driver Andy Greenslade in yet another Chev Corvette, started almost one and three quarter laps behind the scratch cars in the race and had a great battle as they carved their way back through the field. Youlden made it back to fifth place at the chequered flag but unfortunately Brennan and Greenslade had a minor coming together resulting in an off course excursion for both.
The handicap format meant there was plenty of action right throughout the field. Auckland driver Roger Williams debuted his new Oldsmobile Aurora, a former GT1 car from
America, and finished in a fine ninth placing first time out.
Conditions at the Taupo Motorsport Centre were dry but track temperatures were extremely cold today resulting in many of the drivers having spins during both the warm-up and qualifying sessions.
The Schaeffer Oil N.Z. Super Sedan Series competitors contest two more races tomorrow. The first, tomorrow morning, is a rolling start race while the third and final race in the
afternoon is another handicap event.
Major sponsor of the series, Schaeffer Oil, has primary markets in the fields of earthmoving, trucking and agriculture and they view this series as the perfect test environment for their high performance racing products.
RACE 1 - HANDICAP
1st - Peter Stewart (Te Puke) - Cortina Chev V8
2nd - Justin McIlroy (Silverdale) - VT Holden Clubsport V8
3rd - Dayne Running (Drury) - Chev Camaro
CALENDAR - 2007/08 SCHAEFFER OIL N.Z SUPER SEDAN SERIES
Round 1: 20/21 October 2007 - Taupo Motorsport Centre, Taupo
Round 2: 10/11 November 2007 - Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding
Round 3: 1/2 December 2007 - Pukekohe Park, Pukekohe
Round 4: 2/3 February 2008 - Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding
Round 5: 2 March 2008 - Pukekohe Park, Pukekohe
Round 6: 29/30 March 2008 - Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding
Round 7: 10/11 May 2008 - Taupo Motorsport Centre, Taupo
