Determined young Palmerston North driver Ryan Bailey has made a strong start to the 2010/11 New Zealand motor racing season - finishing sixth overall after three bruising Suzuki Swift Cup series encounters.
After only finally deciding to enter the opening Suzuki Swift Cup round late last week the 21-year-old set the second quickest practice time in Friday before being shuffled back to eighth in qualifying on Saturday then working his way forward in each race - to sixth in the first, fourth in the second and ninth (it was a reverse grid start) in the third.
Afterwards his borrowed car was looking a little worse for wear, with a headlight missing and the rear bumper hanging off, and though Bailey protested the actions of one of the other drivers after being forced off the track down the Pukekohe circuit's long back straight he reckoned there was a definite silver lining to the damage cloud.
"One of my sponsors rang me up after the second race," he said," and said the TV coverage was the best he had ever seen. Every time something happened in a Suzuki race I was in it and all he could see was his logo!"
Not surprisingly perhaps the round was won by drifter-turned-racing driver Mike Turley from fellow Aucklander Dane Fisher and Turua driver A.J.Lauder.
Originally Bailey was only thinking about entering the opening round of the Suzuki Swift Cup but having developed a taste this weekend he hopes to convince the companies who backed the bid, Auckland-based New Zealand Roadside Assistance, and Palmerston North companies Wright Metals, Warren Anderson Motors, Dittmer Collision Repairs and Simpson Suit & Bridal Hire to stay with him for the rest of the season.
Race 1 (Sat) 10 laps
1. Mike Turley 9.14.757
2. A.J Lauder +1.551
3. Grant Ryan +1.583
4. Dane Fisher +1.974
5. Marc Sprint +2.053
6. Ryan Bailey +2.070
7. Mark Gibson +2.848
8. Shaun Lawrence +2.870
9. Rob Gibson +3.323
10. Jamie Gaskin +3.481
Race red flagged
Race 2 (Sun) 10 laps
1. Mike Turley 12.58.377
2. A.J. Lauder +0.191
3. Dane Fisher +4.930
4. Ryan Bailey +5.065
5. Marc Spring +5.534
6. Jamie Gaskin +6.030
7. Mark Gibson +6.030
8. Rob Gibson +7.272
9. Rex McCutcheon +7.296
10. Daniel Liemburg +8.831
Race 3 (12 laps reverse grid of meeting points)
1. Dane Fisher 15.26.455
2. Mark Gibson +0.470
3. Grant Ryan +0477
4. Chris Cox +0.950
5. Mike Turley +1.108
6. Jamie Gaskin +2.301
7. Rex McCutcheon +2.419
8. A.J.Lauder +2.693
9. Ryan Bailey +4.483
10. Sam Barry +6.921
Series points after Rnd 1
1. Mike Turley 199
2. Dane Fisher 189
3. A.J.Lauder 173
4. Grant Ryan 153
5. Mark Gibson 151
6. Ryan Bailey 135
7. Jamie Gaskin 123
8. Marc Spring 120
9. Rex McCutcheon 109
10. Daniel Liemburg 96.
