Auckland's Bruce Gay and Wanganui's Phil Blythe served notice of their respective class championship intentions at the opening round of the 2007/08 Toyo Tyres Pro 7 Racing North Island championship at Taupo's Taupo Motorsport Park over the weekend.
Gay was the Pro 7 Plus category round winner with a win, a second and a third, while Blythe topped the Pro 7 class-within-a-class with three wins from three starts.
Defending Pro 7 Plus champion Andy Duffin from Pukekohe claimed pole position in qualifying and line honours in the first two races but a coming together with Gay in the third race saw him slip back down the field and cross the finishing line in sixth place.
Blythe had no such problems in the Pro 7 class for original Series 1 Mazda RX7s, beating closest rival Matthew Lockwood to the line in all three races.
Lockwood and Phil Kerr actually bettered Blythe's lap times in the final race but Blythe got the better of his rivals off the start line and particularly in the first two races was able to pull out a gap on the other Series 1 Pro 7s as they lost time trying to get past some of the slower Pro 7 Plus cars.
Also impressing in the Pro 7 ranks was 2006/07 rookie Brodie Scott from Auckland. He took the battle to Matthew Lockwood and Stuart Hewer and looks set for a good season in his Series 1 RX7.
Good news for the Pro 7 Plus category was the impact of the new 'spec' Series 6 engine which allowed drivers of Series 4 RX7 models like Bob Smith and Paul Savage to mix it with the newer Series 6 cars.
Since its inception back in 1990 the Pro 7 category has produced some of the country's top tin-top drivers with the likes of early pace-setter Wade Henshaw and fellow front-runners Rob Lewis, Aaron Harris and Dean McMillan moving on to NZV8s, Rick Arnstrong and Paul Kelly
to the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship, Hamish Cross to the Toyota Racing Series, Eddie Bell to the MINI Challenge and Dale Williams to the Production Car class.
RESULTS
2007/08 Toyo Tyres Pro 7 Racing North Island & New Zealand Championships Rnd 1 North Island Championship Taupo Motorsport Park Taupo Sat/Sun Oct 20-21 2007
Race 1
Pro 7 Plus
1. Andy Duffin 6 laps
2. Bruce Gay +1.363
3. Paul Savage +0.495
4. Bob Smith +8.597
5. Myles Fothergill +12.286
6. Shane Paget +17.638
Pro 7
1. Phil Blythe +47.158
2. Matthew Lockwood +49.766
3. Brodie Scott +52.158
4. Stuart Hewer +56.187
5. Nicholas Puttick +56.661
6. Phil Kerr +1.00.606
Race 2
Pro 7 Plus
1. Andy Duffin 6 laps
2. Elton Wichman +3.400
3. Bruce Gay +3.619
4. Shane Paget +5.139
5. Aaron Prosser +7.187
6. Paul Savage +7.599
Pro 7
1. Phil Blythe +51.465
2. Matthew Lockwood +51.844
3. Phil Kerr +52.691
4. Terry Loving +1.03.097
5. Ian Burkill +1.05.613
6. Brodie Scott +1.05.838
Race 3
Pro 7 Plus
1. Bruce Gay 6 laps
2. Elton Wichman +6.807
3. Bob Smith +7.599
4. Shane Paget +8.073
5. Paul Savage +8.290
6. Andy Duffin +8.517
Pro 7
1. Phil Blythe +41.655
2. Phil Kerr +45.503
3. Matthew Lockwood +51.050
4. Brodie Scott +53.808
5. Nicholas Puttick +1.00.930
6. Tim Forster +1.06.287
2007/08 Toyo Tyres Pro 7 Championship Series
Rnd 1: October 20-21 2007 Taupo Motorsport Park Taupo
Rnd 2: November 24-25 2007 Manfeild Feilding
Rnd 3: December 1-2 2007 Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe
Rnd 4: January 5-6 2008 Powerbuilt Tools Raceway Christchurch (NZ Champs Rnd 1)
Rnd 5: January 12-13 2008 Timaru Int Motor Raceway Timaru (NZ Champs Rnd 2)
Rnd 6: February 2-3 2008 Manfeild Feilding
Rnd 7: March 1-2 2008 Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe (NZ Champs Rnd 3)
Rnd 8: March 29-30 2008 Manfeild Feilding (NZ Champs Rnd 4)
