Tauranga’s Chris Cowling delivered an unbeaten Friday night performance at Baypark Speedway in the 2023 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship. Photo / Supplied
Tauranga’s Chris Cowling delivered an unbeaten Friday night performance at Baypark Speedway in the 2023 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship. Photo / Supplied
Early on Friday morning the new car of defending national Saloon Car champion Chris Cowling (Tauranga) was sitting in the team workshop waiting for a rebuilt engine to arrive and be fitted.
At the end of Friday evening the car hadn’t missed a beat as Cowling raced through the firstthree rounds of qualifying heats in the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship at Mount Maunganui’s Baypark Speedway with an unbeaten performance.
Cowling went three from three to have a perfect 60-point scorecard and lead the 51-car field into the Saturday decider.
Former champion Ethan Cook (Gisborne) was in spectacular form and sits second with 54 points after a fifth and two second placings with North Island champ Jarred Fletcher (Cambridge) one point further back in third. Fletcher posted two wins early in the night but had a spin in his third outing before recovering to eighth.
Tied in fourth on 51 points are Tauranga’s Trent Amrein, Southlanders George Phillips and Campbell McManaway and Christchurch teenager Ashton Osborne. All three of the southerners have shown title-contending pace and Phillips’ effort as notable for two wins, a tenth place with a front right puncture, and the fastest lap time of the night.
The race to the 2023 New Zealand title continues Saturday night with two more rounds of heats for all drivers from which the top-16 transfer to the 25-lap final. Two last chance repechages will determine the final four spots the 20-car grid.
The Open Wheel racing was impressive on the smooth track with Rotorua’s Boyd Westbury holding off Tauranga’s Luke McClymont to win the 15-lap 6-Shooter feature race. And Carlos Stone claimed the first feature race win of his Speedway career by racing clear to win the Formula 2 Midget 20-lapper ahead of Sam Cometti and Leighton Kendall.
Racing for the NZ Saloon Car Championship resumes at 6.30pm tonight.
