The fifth and penultimate round of the 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup took place recently on an extremely hot Manfield circuit, and for the Hamilton based Liquorland Racing Team, it turned into a weekend they’d rather forget.
With the first round of the Championship coming to a rapid and premature end with one of the biggest rollovers in the classes NZ history, there’s no denying that it’s been a season of highs and lows for the team, in particular driver Shaun Lawrence.
With simply no option other than to purchase a replacement car following the accident, focus turned to simply getting back into the Championship proper. Thanks largely to a mammoth effort by the entire team, Lawrence soon found himself back on the podium and just a few weeks later, the team were rewarded with their first ever race win. All of a sudden the fight for the title was back on.
Round Four, the final in the South Island, was somewhat of a mixed bag but again the teams “never say die” attitude was rewarded with another podium finish in the final race. So it was a quietly confident team that headed to Manfield in their quest to continue the climb up the points table.
An average qualifying effort was capitulated by a broken clutch cable in the first race of the weekend. This was quickly replaced for Race Two, and with Lawrence charging his way up through the field they unbelievably suffered exactly the same problem, ultimately dropping to the rear of the field.
“I was just gutted” explains Lawrence. “It’s really hard not to let yourself get too dejected when that sort of thing happens. Once was bad enough, but twice? By the time we lined up for the last race I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen next!” he added.
The final race for the weekend got under way and all focus was on finishing positively. Early indications were good as Lawrence threaded his way through the field, however a combination of high track temperatures, rapidly deteriorating tyres, and pushing hard saw the cars handling go away. As the chequered flag dropped to signal the end of the race, Lawrence’s perseverance was rewarded with a hard fought 8th placing.
“We’re not making any excuses, let’s just say that it could’ve gone better!” said a smiling Lawrence.
The final round of the 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup takes place on the popular Taupo circuit on March 11-13, and the Liquorland Racing Team will be there giving it their all as they look to finish the Championship on a high.
