A hard contact in the final race at Taupo's Ricoh Motorsport Park proved costly for Wanganui expat racer Matt Gibson and his Lightingplus racing team in the opening round of the TR86 Championship on Sunday.
Gibson had a strong weekend until Sunday's third race, having won the Saturday race andcoming third on Sunday morning.
However, after Waiuku rookie Cory Holmes crashed, the field became bunched and Gibson's push for the lead saw him make contact with defending champion Jamie McNee. Gibson eventually retired 10 laps into the 12-lap race.
Marcus Armstrong, only 14, took advantage of the carnage and went on to win his first TR86 race.
Gibson will be disappointed because the DNF dropped him to sixth place overall at the conclusion of the round with 135 points.
Meanwhile, McNee managed to nurse his car around to finish sixth on Sunday afternoon, which combined with his second place in Race 1 and victory in Race 2 left him at the top of the table on 187 points.
Auckland's Ash Blewett had a consistent weekend with a third, fourth and second placing to finish just behind McNee on 181 points.
However, Gibson will feel he should be ahead of all of them, especially after his flawless drive to win the opening race.
Gibson and McNee shared the front row, with the Wanganui racer holding the lead through the early laps as they made a break on the field.
McNee lost touch with Gibson and although he came back in the final lap, finished 0.56s behind.
There was a marble draw for the second race, and Gibson had to come through the field after starting at P6 to take a hard-fought third behind McNee and Auckland's Callum Quin.
The next round of the series will be at Pukekohe Park Raceway, November 29-30.
