It was a roller-coaster second round of the 2010/11 New Zealand Production Racing championship for defending series champion Simon Sceats and Audi of New Zealand's S3 Sportback at Christchurch's Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park over the weekend.
After showing well during testing at the track on Friday the team had to sit out qualifying on Saturday when they ran out of time to complete a software upgrade.
After starting the first race from the back of the grid Sceats was forging his way forward when cars in front of him collided. With nowhere to go he ended up involved and out of the race with a broken front suspension strut.
Fortunately the damage was easily fixed but come the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning an issue later traced to the S3 Sportback's engine management system saw the engine default to limp-home mode with Sceats crossing the finish line back in 16th position.
Not quite what he and the team had in mind heading into the meeting but justice was not long coming. In the 10 lap reverse grid final the S3 Sportback didn't miss a beat, Sceats crossing the line in a competitive seventh place.
With on-going development since the first round of the series at Pukekohe earlier in the month everyone involved in the S3 Sportback programme had high hopes heading into the second round.
However as Simon Sceats said, with cars so sophisticated today it is no longer just a matter of stripping out the interior, installing the necessary safety equipment and taking to the track.
"We had similar issues with my previous race car, though in that case they were easier to overcome because there were already plenty of them being rallied and raced around the world and we had a lot of people locally who had good knowledge of them down here in the Southern Hemisphere.
"As far as we are aware we're the first people to attempt something like this with the S3 Sportback anywhere in the world so when it comes to maximizing the potential of the car for the track we really are out on our own."
Audi of New Zealand General Manager Dane Fisher understands this and says that under the circumstances Sceats and the team running the car, International Motorsport, did a fantastic job over the weekend.
"It's certainly a pressure-cooker environment when you put a car on the track but we definitely made progress over the weekend and as we work through the various issues the car is only going to get better. And of course as it does Simon will be able to take the battle to the other turbocharged four-wheel-drive cars which remains our long-term goal."
There is now a short break in the summer motor racing season calendar with the 2010/11 New Zealand Production Racing class championship resuming at Invercargill's Teretonga Park early in the New Year.
After two of the six rounds Simon Sceats and the Audi of New Zealand S3 Sportback lie 12th overall in the series points with standings currently being led by John Liston from Grant Aitken and John Rongen.
