Lightfoot takes debut win at Teretonga

Lightfoot takes debut win at Teretonga

Mike ‘Buzz’ Lightfoot has broken his duck in the UDC finance V8 Ute series, with a race one win setting the BSL Racing driver up for his second consecutive round podium and consolidating his third place in the championship.

After setting the fourth fastest time in testing, Lightfoot suffered in the close-fought qualifying session held in treacherous wet conditions, only able to record the eighth fastest time.

Luckily for Lightfoot, grids are determined from a marble draw for the opening race and his luck returned as he drew grid number one. Conditions were somewhat better by the time the race had begun and Lightfoot took an immediate lead however at the end of the second lap, he ran wide coming onto the main straight at dropped back to second.

Two laps later, he had regained the lead and this time made no mistakes and crossed the line with a comfortable winning margin, taking his first win in the competitive series is only his second full season.

Having started race one from pole, Lightfoot was at the back of the 12-car field for race two. This time the rain returned but racing in hail storms couldn’t stop Lightfoot, who kept the #96 Buckley Systems Ford Falcon Ute on track and worked his way through to third place by race end.

The third and final race again saw treacherous conditions. Lightfoot started second on the grid, but dropped back to third place on the second lap and held the position until the end of the race, also giving the Aucklander third place for the round and further increasing his grip on third place in the championship, 101 points off the series lead.

“I’m absolutely stoked, it’s great to have the monkey of a race win off my back,” said Lightfoot. “I was also really stoked with our speed in the rain in race two and it has given us a good haul of crucial championship points.”

Lightfoot will look to chase down second place in the championship when the series resumes this weekend at Levels raceway in Timaru this weekend. The track has held mixed results for Lightfoot over the years, taking a podium finish when he ran a limited campaign two years ago, although a frustrating electrical problem last year robbed him of a strong result when he again showed good speed.

ENDS

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