Fisher wins his first Suzuki Swift race championship

Fisher wins his first Suzuki Swift race championship

Auckland’s Dane Fisher won this year’s Suzuki Swift Sport Cup championship before the final race was run, finishing fourth place in Sunday morning’s penultimate race in Taupo to secure his first championship title.

The 31-year-old Suzuki driver headed into the weekend’s final set of three races with a five point lead over Aucklander Mike Turley. Saturday afternoon’s eight lap race saw Fisher finish third, two places ahead of Turley, and extend his overnight lead to 16 points.

However officials disqualified Turley and Lower Hutt’s Grant Ryan, who had been third overall, from Saturday’s race results having found a technical anomaly with their cars. This benefited Fisher in two ways: Turley lost the 49 points for fifth place and also had to start race two from the back of the grid. Unless Fisher didn’t finish race two, Turley had run out of opportunities to take the championship. The only other contender, Ryan, was unable to contest Sunday’s races due to a health issue, which gave Fisher a clear run to take his first motor racing championship.

Fisher said: “It was an interesting day; we found out my closest competitor was starting from the back of the grid so it seemed I could take it easy in that second race. But the thing with this Suzuki series racing, it’s just not possible to do that, because there is always another car there and you can’t premeditate what they are going do.

“So it was all on in the morning race, getting to the finish safely always has an element of risk. Having said that, wrapping it up was probably easier than I expected at the start of the weekend, but still, it was a massive relief and can only thank my sponsors: Trinity Media Group, Placemakers Cook Street, The Edge, Roger Fisher Consulting and most importantly, Tony Chambers, my engineer, who does an unbelievable job for me.”

Sunday morning’s eight lap race was won by AJ Lauder, with the 16-year-old from Turua celebrating his first Suzuki race win. After winning Saturday’s race, Taupo’s Mark Gibson was on pole for race two which ran in stunning summery conditions weather in front of a large number of spectators.

Gibson got a better start over Lauder than in Saturday’s race, comfortably leading the field through the first tight left-hand turn. But Lauder was right there as the pair established a comfortable break on the rest of the field. In third, Hamilton’s Shaun Lawrence held out Fisher, as Waiuku’s Rex McCutcheon seized an opportunity to squeeze between the pair. An eight-car freight train formed well behind the leading duo until McCutcheon got the jump on Lawrence. Fisher pulled a similar move on Lawrence at turn nine, while Lauder put a move on Gibson for the lead. As the last lap board came out, both Lauder and Gibson tried multiple race lines in a desperate attempt to stymie the other. Lauder had the edge swinging on to the front straight for the final time to take the chequered flag and become the ninth different winner this season. McCutcheon finished third with Fisher fourth, well ahead of Turley in 11th to secure the championship with one race to run.

Race three of each championship round features a reverse grid starting line-up. This put Christchurch’s Ben Erickson on pole with the young driver taking a commanding lead into the opening turn. Meanwhile McCutcheon stalled his Suzuki on the start grid and had to retire. By lap three, Auckland’s Marc Spring had a clear run to sit in third behind Taupo’s Rob Gibson, older brother of Saturday’s race winner Mark, with the rest of the field running bumper-to-bumper behind them. Mark Gibson wasted no time at the back, grabbing as many positions as possible with a series of moves under brakes until he made the error of making contact with another rookie Brad Lauder, older brother of AJ, sending him in to the Armco. Officials issued Mark Gibson with a drive-through penalty. LG Motorsport’s Jamie Gaskin, from Lower Hutt, reeled in Spring to snatch third and very nearly caught Rob Gibson as well. As the race wound down, Turley had a massive moment while running with Spring and Dane Fisher, clipping a curb and nearly rolling the small car. Erickson took his second win of the season from Rob Gibson and Gaskin. Fisher finished the final race in ninth place.

When asked about the future, Fisher said: “To be honest it starts with the champagne I bought at lunchtime! As my Trinity Media Group team-mate Marc Spring and I took out the teams’ category, there are two trophies to celebrate. Tomorrow, I don’t know, I think it’s important to mention that I think the Suzuki racing is one of the best categories in the New Zealand motorsport race scene. Their handling and racing is as good as you can get and that’s what interests and thrills me.”

Darren Stevens, Suzuki New Zealand motorsport manager, noted that it still took the Sunday morning race for one driver to secure the championship title.

“In the end we couldn’t be sure of the winner until Dane Fisher had actually crossed the line,” said Stevens. “Until then the action was still non-stop and everyone was still trying to improve their placing regardless. It was a fantastic conclusion to a great season and we’re thrilled to have so many drivers be part of the winners list. Dane certainly had to work hard to take this year’s Suzuki Swift Sport Cup title and everyone else made sure it wasn’t going to be easy for him, so it was certainly a fitting end to the season for all of us.”

Paul Burborough, the series co-ordinator, added: “We’ve had now nine different winners from the 18 races for this season, so that speaks volumes for how close the racing has been. It was a great sign as the season wrapped up to have Taupo’s three-car Gibson team so prominent given the support they’ve put in to their home event – especially for Mark, with his win yesterday and a very close second today. But to have so many drivers, both experienced and rookies, at the front of the field gives great satisfaction to promoting a class for its competition.

Burborough also noted: “It was also unfortunate to lose Grant Ryan today with a health problem. Sensibly he returned home after being such a title threat right up to this final round.”

This is the fourth season that the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup has run and the one-make, small car class has once again delivered some of the most exciting racing action of the premier summer motorsport series. Details about the 2011/12 series will be announced later in the year via the series website www.swiftcup.co.nz.

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Results - Round 6, 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup, Taupo
Race 1 (revised, 8 laps)
Finishing position, car number, driver, hometown, car, total time/difference
1, 35, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 14m 54.273
2, 87, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +0.226
3, 91, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +1.731
4, 14, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.628
5, 12, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.078
6, 41, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.217
7, 4, Simon Evans, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.677
8, 5, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, +14.242
9, 89, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +14.707
10, 15, Brad Lauder, Thames, Suzuki Swift Sport, +15.952
11, 71, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, +20.013
12, 34, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +21.985
13, 36, Craig McRae, Geraldine, Suzuki Swift Sport, +28.008
14, 22, Amy Vincent, Karaka, Suzuki Swift Sport, +31.292
15, 23, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +32.676
DNF, 10, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, +3laps
DQ, 11, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport
DQ, 6, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport

Race 2 (8 laps)
Finishing position, car number, driver, hometown, car, total time/difference
1, 87, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, 14m 49.576
2, 35, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +0.830
3, 5, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, +4.708
4, 91, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.086
5, 12, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, +7.823
6, 14, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.223
7, 41, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.669
8, 4, Simon Evans, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.000
9, 89, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.589
10, 71, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.768
11, 6, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.842
12, 10, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, +13.579
13, 15, Brad Lauder, Thames, Suzuki Swift Sport, +18.265
14, 23, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +21.513
15, 36, Craig McRae, Geraldine, Suzuki Swift Sport, +26.230
16, 22, Amy Vincent, Karaka, Suzuki Swift Sport, +29.286
17, 34, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +1lap

Race 3 (10 laps, reverse grid)
Finishing position, car number, driver, hometown, car, total time/difference
1, 10, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, 18m 44.976
2, 34, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.482
3, 41, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, +2.733
4, 4, Simon Evans, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +4.993
5, 12, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, +5.420
6, 6, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +8.757
7, 89, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.668
8, 87, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +9.791
9, 91, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, +10.291
10, 14, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, +10.618
11, 71, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, +16.087
12, 36, Craig McRae, Geraldine, Suzuki Swift Sport, +20.067
13, 22, Amy Vincent, Karaka, Suzuki Swift Sport, +21.313
14, 23, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, +21.968
15, 35, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, +39.923
16, 15, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, +53.873
DNF, 5, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport

Provisional Final Points - 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
Position, Driver, Hometown, Points
1, Dane Fisher, Auckland, 978
2, AJ Lauder, Turua, 904
3, Mike Turley, Auckland, 898
4, Mark Gibson, Taupo, 884
5, Chris Cox, Rangiora, 832
6, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, 824
7, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, 797
8, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, 755
9, Marc Spring, Auckland, 704
10, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, 654
11, Rob Gibson, Taupo, 563
12, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, 527
13, Amy Vincent, Karaka, 486
14, Sam Barry, Takapau, 476
15, Brad Lauder, Turua, 439
16, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, 391
17, Tom Barker, Christchurch, 313
18, Simon Evans, Auckland, 272
19, Allan Jarvis, Brisbane, 151
20, Ryan Bailey, Auckland, 135
21, Patrick Cronin, Marton, 88
22, Craig McRae, Geraldine, 74

2010/11Suzuki Swift Sport Cup Calendar
Round, Date, Venue, Inviting Club
1, 5-7 November 2010, Pukekohe, NZIGP Inc
2, 26-28 November 2010, Ruapuna, Canterbury Car Club Inc
3, 14-16 January 2011, Teretonga, Southland Sports Car Club Inc
4, 20-23 January 2011, Timaru, South Canterbury Car Club Inc
5, 11-13 February 2011, Manfeild, Manawatu Car Club Inc
6, 11-13 March 2011, Taupo, Taupo Car Club Inc

Suzuki Swift Sport Cup calendar 2010/2011
Round Date Venue Inviting Club
1 5-7 November 2010 Pukekohe NZIGP Inc
2 26-28 November 2010 Ruapuna Canterbury Car Club Inc
3 14-16 January 2011 Teretonga Southland Sports Car Club Inc
4 20-23 January 2011 Timaru South Canterbury Car Club Inc
5 11-13 February 2011 Manfeild Manawatu Car Club Inc
6 11-13 March 2011 Taupo Taupo Car Club Inc

About the cars:
Road legal, the identical Suzuki Swift cars in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup are fitted with additional safety equipment (roll-cage, seats, belts, fire extinguisher), performance suspension, brake pads and front differential. Utilising the standard engine computer, they produce 92kW power at 6800rpm with 148Nm torque at 4800rpm from the 1600cc engine (1586cc).
With a minimum weight of 1125kg, the cars have no other modifications, with teams only able to make minor adjustments to suspension alignment to optimise handling and performance for the track and/or conditions. Each team is allocated the use of four Dunlop Direzza 03G (R spec) 215 / 45 – 17”road tyres for each race weekend.

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