Sunday, 14 February 2021, 6:11 pm
A huge weekend for Rowan Shepherd brought two
more wins on Sunday at the third round of the Best Bars
Toyota 86 Championship and propelled him into the points
lead ahead of Simon Evans and Ryan Wood.
Rowan
Shepherd (leading) now heads the Best Bars Toyota 86
Championship after three race wins at Manfeild Circuit Chris
Amon.
Picture Bruce
Jenkins
Sunday started well for
Wood as he got his own title challenge in the championship
back on track with a crucial win on the road. Unfortunately
a post-race penalty of two seconds for exceeding track
limits in the battle for the lead dropped him to second in
Picture Bruce
Jenkins
Shepherd and pole
position holder Ryan Wood fought for the lead away from the
lights, but contact on the infield sent Wood into a spin and
to the back of the field. Shepherd carried on with some
minor rear bodywork wounds but couldn’t hold off wily
championship leader Simon Evans, who avoided the drama and
took the lead at the end of the first lap, with Shepherd and
Ronan Murphy in hot pursuit.
The race developed
quickly into three distinct battles. The battle for the lead
with Evans, Shepherd and Murphy, the battle for fourth,
fifth and sixth involving a fast-starting Christina
Championship leader Simon Evans and up and coming star Ryan Wood have had it all their own way so far in the first two rounds of the Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship, but it could all change this weekend at Manfeild for round three. <img src='https://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/2102/75722bd57e5cac83fcd4.jpeg' .
.
Picture Bruce
Jenkins.
Ryan Wood took his
first victory in the first race of the 2021 Best Bars Toyota
86 Championship after a faultless lights-to-flag victory at
Hampton Downs.
Wood made the most of pole position and
executed the perfect getaway to lead into the first turn.
The young gun, starting his second season in the
championship, had to resist early pressure from series
debutant Rowan Shepherd before gaining an advantage of a few
car lengths and cruising home to win.
“It was a hard
race,” he said afterwards. “I knew Simon had lots of
experience but I managed to hold my own in the changing
Thursday, 21 January 2021, 6:08 am
Fifteen cars will be on the grid for the first
round of the 2021 Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship and it s
a field brimmed with both proven and up and coming
talent.
A
great line up of talent and experience will grace the Best
Bars Toyota 86 Championship for the 2021 season.
Picture
Bruce Jenkins
The championship
has for some time been one of the toughest to win in New
Zealand motorsport and it s no surprise that most of the
winners have used it as a stepping stone to other categories
in their careers. This season promises even more on the