Wanganui driver and Pro 7 Plus season rookie Matt Gibson has finished second behind last year's champion and past NZV8 competitor Dean McMillan in the 2012/2013 championship.
The Lighting Plus-sponsored team went into last weekend's final round at Taupo Motorsport Park in second place with a chance to win the championship.
All they needed was for McMillan to have one DNF (did not finish) and Gibson would have had a chance to sneak through for the win.
Unfortunately, McMillan had a trouble-free weekend and won the championship for the second year running.
This season was Gibson's first season in the Pro7 Plus car where the Matt Gibson Motorsport team ran their Lighting Plus-backed Mazda Rx7.
"We are extremely happy where we have ended up this season in our rookie year, Matt's competitive and wanted to win but to come second in our first season in the championship, we are extremely happy," team manager Colin Gibson said.
The year for Gibson had not been trouble-free which caused the team to fall a few points behind McMillan in the title chase.
The Manfeild round of the championship, where Gibson was keen to shine in front of his home crowd, was the round that put pressure on the team with clutch problems all weekend.
The team, along with Pulse Performance, tried to find the problem with the clutch and thought they did on the Saturday night. But in the Sunday afternoon after Gibson won the morning's race, the clutch problems came back causing Gibson to run the whole race in third gear.
"It's such a shame that car problems can change your championship hopes and dreams in a second" Gibson said.
The last round at Taupo Motorsport Park was a trouble-free weekend for the team.
Gibson qualified his Lighting Plus Rx7 on the front row in position two right beside McMillan.
Gibson struggled off the start line in race one and was in position five going into the first turn. Gibson soon turned the situation around and was in second place by lap three. Gibson was on the hunt to catch the championship leader.
The car was flying and caught McMillan up fast but with only a few laps to pass and with McMillan having many years experience in these cars the task was going to be tough. Gibson tried but could not pass and settled for second place.
Race two was reverse grid so Gibson started off the back, right next to McMillan. Conditions were greasy and wet but Gibson knew what he had to do.
His start was awesome beating McMillan off the line and soon drove through the traffic to second place. Fellow competitor Brody Scott had a massive lead and crossed the finish line taking the win with Gibson bringing his Rx7 home in second.
The last race of the day saw Gibson starting off grid position three.
Gibson had secured his second place in the championship but was never going to enter a race without trying to win.
Gibson tried to move up the field but the track had become very greasy due to the all the rubber that had been laid down over the weekend. He finished the last race in third place.
"I am really proud of Matt and the team, the season has had its ups and downs but to podium in our rookie season is a great feat on its own," head technician Tom Ditchfield said.
"I look forward to whatever we end up doing next season and I'm sure we as a team will bring in the results," head technician Tom Ditchfield said.
The Matt Gibson Motorsport team would like to thank all their sponsors for the 2012/2013 Mazda Pro7 Championship.