Photo: Mike TurleySuzuki Swift Sporting Cup series leader Mike Turley (Coatsville, Auckland) snatched pole late in today’s qualifying session at Invercargill’s Teretonga circuit for the afternoon 30-lap endurance race.
The third round of six in the 2010/2011 summer race championship season, Turley languished mid-pack for most of the session while Lower Hutt’s Grant Ryan and 15-year-old Tom Barker (Christchurch) shared the front-row potential race start positions.
Managing to get enough of a drafting ‘tow’ from a car in front allowed Turley to set a time of 1min13.195sec around the 2.61 kilometre circuit, 0.035sec faster than Ryan.
“It was all a bit of a surprise. I figured I’d finish up mid-pack but got one good run toward the end that did it, that I got to be that little bit quicker,” said Turley.
Again illustrating how fiercely competitive the 17-car field is, 13 of the 1600cc Suzuki Swift’s set a fastest time within 0.528 second of Turley.
“It’s just amazing,” said series co-ordinator Paul Burborough. “You expect ten cars to maybe spread by a second, but to have more than that at half a second shows how hard everyone is pushing.”
Bumped to start second for the afternoon race, Ryan held the top-spot for most of the 20 minute session. Third fastest, Castrol Scholarship winner Tom Barker was elated at his time, 0.059 second away from Turley in his first drive of the world’s most southern race circuit.
Rangiora’s Chris Cox set 11th fastest time following a harrowing start to his weekend. With both parents hospitalised in a road accident on their way to Teretonga on Thursday, Suzuki New Zealand motorsport manager Darren Stevens praised the 18-year-old’s result.
“Our thoughts are with the Cox family, who have had their weekend plans badly disrupted. Chris is doing remarkably well at coping and we wish his parents a speedy recovery so they can return track-side and see how well their son is going.
The afternoon’s 30-lap endurance race includes a compulsory pit-stop where teams must remove and replace one wheel on the car. Expecting to take 24-30 seconds to complete, the stakes are further raised with double points on offer for the finishers. Sunday’s first race, of 10-laps, starts at 10:45am and is followed by the full-reverse grid 12-lap race beginning at 2:20pm.
Qualifying for Round 3, 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
1, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.195
2, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.230
3, Tom Barker, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.254
4, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.312
5, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.333
6, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.369
7, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.515
8, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.532
9, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1.13.628
10, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.680
11, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.698
12, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.717
13, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:13.723
14, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:14.377
15, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:14.709
16, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:14.716
