Upset wins in BMW race series

Upset wins in BMW race series

Press release: Castrol BMW Race Driver Series - round 3, 15-16 November.
For immediate release: Tuesday 18 November 2014.

Championship contention is now on the mind of Matakana’s Andre Mortimer, Auckland’s Graham Ball and Richard Oxton after class wins at the third round of the Castrol BMW Race Driver Series held during squally spring weather at Manawatu’s Manfeild race circuit.

The southernmost circuit on the six round series calendar hosted 70 BMW racing driver teams – and will be remembered for the guard changing results. Comprising three races for each of the three competition categories (E30, Open 2.0L and Open A + B) the Manfeild circuit has a unique characteristic. Comprising heavily cambered and banked the 3.03km course it offers multiple overtaking opportunities – and rewards the skilled driver.

BMW E30 category: The upset of the weekend came from the 38-strong field with #1 Marty Irvine failing to fire against racy opposition. First to signal alpha male intention was Papakura’s Reid Harker with a fastest time in practise – over a second clear of Royce Rollinson and the rest of the field, in wet conditions.
The early afternoon opening eight lap race offered a dry track and with it came the cementing of a new winner. Auckland youngster Richard Oxton got hold of the lead by the third lap – leading home Matt Griffen and John Thomson. Down but not out, Irvine finished fourth – despite starting from the front.
The Sunday morning reverse-grid handicap race was a stunning display of BMW brand appreciation – with all drivers finishing and on the lead lap.
Ensuring a competitive outcome, Bruce Miller took the win while Royce Rollinson worked his way up from 25th to finish second – ahead of Matthew Seddon, Richard Oxton and Marty Irvine.
Making the most of a handed opportunity; Harker turned his pole position start in to victory during the afternoon finale. Attempting a return to the top, Irvine worked his way through from fourth to finish behind Harker while Matt Griffen finished in third. The consistent performance elevated Oxton to the round win – the first time Irvine hasn’t been atop the podium for over a year.

BMW Open category (A+B): Second fastest in practise of the Open Class group, Robbie Berggren snatched victory from the jaws of fierce rivals Aaron Harris (Paraparaumu, M3) and Dan Slater (Taupo, 535i) in the opening race. Their tussling on the final lap opened the door for the GTR driver to storm past and on to his first win of the season.
Starting from the back of the grid for the Sunday morning handicap race Berggren climbed to eighth on the final lap - while Andre Mortimer got through the field for the chequered flag. Starting from ninth, Mortimer’s 2007 M3 GT4 proved to be the perfect performer in the dry yet blustry conditions – finishing a handy six seconds clear of the field.
Sunday afternoon’s final race saw Mortimer zip past pole sitter Ian Davidson by the second lap and outclass the rest of the chasing pack – leaving Davidson 16 seconds behind by the time the chequered flag came out for the last time.
Third and with his second podium result for the weekend, was Auckland’s Michael Delmont.

BMW Open 2L category: Following a similar trend, the Manfeild round up-ended past favourites – spreading the rivalry further through the 20-strong field.
Three drivers started the weekend as front-runners: Auckland’s Peter Ball, his son Graham and Andrew Walker. Taking pole for the Saturday afternoon race, Ball junior comfortably held the advantage – finishing ahead of Marty Seddon while Ball senior placed third. Fourth, by the narrowest of margins was Walker.
In the Sunday morning handicap race it was Seddon who weaved through the field from 17th to take the chequered flag. Starting from 19th Graham Ball finished second with Ball senior placing third, having started 16th.
Starting from the front for the weekend final, Seddon’s reign was short lived when his gearbox wouldn’t select past neutral on the second lap. Elevating Ball to the front he held position to the chequered flag – comfortably ahead of Andrew Walker and Peter Ball.

Seddon’s turn of form has been assisted by the M42 4-cylinder engine fitted to his E30 310i. Replacing his earlier 6-cylinder model the new specification power plant revs easily to 9000 revolutions per minute (RPM) and produces an enviable horsepower edge.

The series now breaks for the Christmas/New Year season, returning to Hampton Downs for the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing (NZFMR) event – spread across the two weekends encompassing17-25 January 2015.

ENDS.

For full results of the weekend visit the MyLaps timing page: http://www.mylaps.com/en/events/1083435

The 2014/2015 BMW Race Driver Series will be made up of the following rounds:

Round Event Location Dates
1 Icebreaker Hampton Downs 13-14/09/2014
2 V8 SuperTourer Taupo 27-28/09/2014
3 Sound MG Manfeild 14-16/11/2014
4 NZFMR Hampton Downs 17-25/01/2015*
5 Tasman Revival Pukekohe 21-22/02/2015
6 Legends of Speed Hampton Downs 28-29/03/2015
*Open Classes 17-18th Feb & E30 Series 24-25th Feb

About the Castrol BMW Race Driver Series:
For owners of BMW race cars the series caters to all types of competitor and provides competition across four categories to encompass a variety of production and modified models. Loosely based on the UK and US formula the series objective is to provide close racing bounded by the spirit of competition and camaraderie.

The six round series starts mid-September at Hampton Downs, concluding just over six months later, having travelled to each of the North Island’s major motor race circuits.
Cars vary in model from competition born M3 models to classic touring car variants well used to New Zealand circuits.

Events are held at major motorsport meetings and include a televised component.

Typically 70 cars compete at each meeting with numbers swelling beyond 90 for some of the more prominent meetings.

Further information can be found on the www.bmwraceseries.co.nz website.

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