It was a fighting finish at today’s opening race of the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival series, with the Talon MR1A of Grant Martin taking the chequered flag 0.6sec ahead of the Lola T332 of Kevin Ingram. The afternoon six-lap race opens .
In February this year, storm damage to his Piha, Auckland property, forced popular Kiwi F5000 category pace setter Grant Martin (Talon MR1/A) to sit out the much-anticipated penultimate round of the 2022/23 SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series .
Press Release – New Zealand Formula 5000 Association
Michael Collins leads the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series field out of the hairpin at the 31st annual Skope Classic historic motor racing meeting at Mike Pero Motorsport Park – Ruapuna
Local ace Michael Collins (Leda GM1) got within 0.168 of a second of claiming a qualifying/race win/quickest race lap clean sweep at the latest round of New Zealand’s SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series in Christchurch over the weekend.
However, rather than rue the difference between himself in second place and the winner of the category’s new ‘rolling-start-handicap’ race on Sunday morning, Shayne Windelburn (Lola T400), defending category holder and current class pacesetter Collins said that he would simply have to work even harder next time.
Press Release – NZ Formula 5000 Assn
Defending series title-holder Michael Collins (Leda LT27/GM1) might have qualified on pole and gone on to lead the first SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series race of the weekend at the second round at the big Taupo Historic GP meetingat Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park this afternoon from start to finish.
Current SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series title-holder Michael Collins (Leda GM1) led the first race of the weekend at Taupo today from start to finish. Photo credit: Fast Company/Geoff Ridder.
But with fellow category young Codie Banks (Lola T332) joining him on the front row of the grid for the first time after a stand-out performance in the category qualifying session earlier in the day, then stalking him relentlessly for the first half of the eight lap race Collins admitted afterwards that he had his work cut out to stay in front.