Broughan wins as Crowther extends championship lead

Arthur Broughan of Tuamarina near Blenheim scored his debut race car win and Auckland driver Warren Crowther (main photo) extended his championship lead as the final round of the Nexen Tyre NZ Mazda Racing Series North Island Championship began at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in North Waikato today.

Broughan, a former karting star in his debut season in the series, qualified second fastest for the race just .146 of a second behind Tom Alexander of Christchurch making a cameo appearance, with Crowther and his main rival for the North Island title, Chris White of Prebbleton in Canterbury, sharing the second row of the grid.

Broughan was quickly into the lead in the race and steadily extended his margin over Crowther to take his first win after only coming into the series and having his first ever race in a car late in January. At the chequered flag he was 3.727 seconds ahead of Crowther having also set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1 minute 14.719 seconds.

Chris White of Prebbleton (left) and Warren Crowther of Auckland (right), the main championship rivals at the final round of the Nexen Tyre NZ Mazda Racing Series North Island Championship

Ex-pat South African, Stiaan Kriel, was third after slipping past Alexander on lap 2 with White coming through into fourth place ahead of Alexander late in the race. White is racing a borrowed car with a second-hand engine this weekend.

Stu Lawton of Wellington was sixth which has elevated him to third in the championship. Leo Bult who held the spot prior to the round is not racing this weekend.

Karl Gaines of Auckland, Nigel Edger of Hamilton and Aucklanders Mark Oudney and Callum Pratt completed the top ten.

Second place today meant that Crowther has extended his North Island Championship lead over White with just two races remaining tomorrow, the first over 12 laps with the top ten on the grid in the reverse order of today’s race finish order, and the last race of an exciting season tomorrow afternoon, a 10-lap contest with a grid based on weekend points.

The championship points have Crowther on 489, with White on 470 and Lawton on 375. Bult has dropped to fourth with 373 with Kriel and Edger tied on 365.

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