Motorsport: Pentus joins list of the greats

Estonian driver Sten Pentus is the new name on the New Zealand Motor Cup, joining an illustrious list of drivers.

His name is added to a group that includes Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Graham Hill, Keke Rosberg and our own Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.

"It's incredible, I'm amazed and really happy about winning today and I'm really proud to have my name along with them," said Pentus. "In this race [the feature] I managed to get away better and get in front. If you get a clean start and get ahead you can control the race."

Since 2002 the Cup has been contested as part of the International Toyota Racing Series and this year it was held at New Zealand's newest international circuit, Hampton Downs.

As the lights went out in the feature race, pole sitter Mitch Evans and Pentus had a straight line drag to the first corner and despite Evans sticking his nose up the inside, Pentus held his line to lead the field on its first lap.

By lap seven of 20, Pentus had settled down into a comfortable lead from Evans and Richie Stanaway. Soon after, Evans had a problem with his car and slipped back through the field to finish a mediocre fifth.

The race became a bit of a procession towards the end with Pentus winning by over two seconds from Stanaway and Brazilian Lucas Foresti.

Evans turned pole position into a race win in the first race of the weekend on Saturday. He survived a safety car interlude on the first lap and fought off a strong challenge from Foresti and controlled the race from the front.

Race two featured a top six reverse grid with Andrew Waite on pole. Being no slouch, Waite bounced out to lead the field into the first corner and for the first part of the race romped away to a healthy lead. Behind him Pentus, Stanaway and Evans were dicing it out to see who could catch him.

Pentus and Stanaway touched, with Pentus damaging a front wing that had to be replaced, putting him out of the reckoning. Stanaway suffered steering damage and battled on to finish a disappointing sixth, with Halberg Award recipient and veteran racer Kenny close behind in seventh. Earl Bamber ran out of laps to catch Waite, with Evans coming home in a lonely third.

After three TRS rounds Evans has jumped into the lead on 558 points, with Pentus and Bamber equal second on 533 points. Round winner on the day was Evans from Foresti and Bamber.