Defending SsangYong Racing Series Champion Daniel Connor (#1 Carters Tyres SsangYong) from Auckland, topped the round points at the end of another very competitive and exciting round of the 2015/2016 SsangYong Yong Racing Series Powered By The BNZ Bank, at Hampton Downs over the weekend (Nov. 28/29).
Another impressive lineup of twenty-eight drivers competed in front of an appreciative crowd at Hampton Downs, with four very close races providing lots of action right through the weekend.
Christchurch’s Jayden Dodge was the fastest qualifier in his Stadium Finance sponsored #91 Actyon ute, ahead of Wanganui’s Matt Gibson in the Wrights Tanks #88 SsangYong, with Australia’s Alexandra Whitley qualifying third in her Waikato SsangYong #6 SsangYong Actyon. To highlight how competitive the Series is, the top 15 in qualifying were covered by just one second!
Championship leader Dodge won a wet race one from the pole, with the damp Hampton Downs layout providing different challenges to the previous two rounds at Taupo and Pukekohe. Whitley finished a close second, followed by Palmerston North’s Rowan Shepherd, Daniel Connor, Todd Prujean, and Christina Orr-West. Orr-West had charged all the way from grid sixteen.
The second race on Sunday morning lined up in much better conditions than the previous day, with the top ten reversed from their finishing positions from Race 1. Joel Herbert and Kieron Rollinson started from the front row, with Dodge and Whitley starting from row five. Herbert drove a brilliant race to score his first ever SsangYong Racing Series win, holding off a charging Daniel Connor who had raced through from row four. Reece Clements scored his first ever Series podium with a fine third place finish, ahead of Shepherd, Dodge, and Whitley.
Connor then won race 3 from the front row, making it three different winners from the first three races. Whitley finished second, ahead of Christina Orr-West, Rowan Shepherd, Kieron Rollinson, and Championship leader Jayden Dodge.
Jayden Dodge then scored his second victory of the weekend in the final race, gaining two spots on the last lap when Connor and Whitley got together at turn one while disputing the lead. Connor ended up second, followed by Shepherd, with the top six completed by Whitley, Orr-West, and Joel Herbert.
So after four exciting and action packed SsangYong Racing Series races at Hampton Downs, Daniel Connor won the round, ahead of Dodge, and Whitley. After three rounds of the Championship, Dodge (2101 points), leads from Shepherd (1697 points), with Kieron Rollinson (1560 points) third overall.
Next up for the SsangYong Racing Series is Round four, back at Hampton Downs on January 17/18 2016, featuring as one of many classes for the Porsche Festival , where another full field of SsangYong Actyon Utes are expected.
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