Richard ‘Danger’ Moore bounced back from a challenging first round in the PORTERGROUP V8 Utes to win the second round at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park after beating championship leader Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell in the final ‘winner takes all’ race on Sunday.
Manuell won the first race on Saturday, then took eighth in the second race, but second behind Moore in the final race just wasn’t enough to win the round. What his weekend did do was strengthen his position at the top of the points table before the Christmas break and the New Year when the championship series heads to the South Island.
A superb weekend of racing for the V8 utes saw Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan take his first win in the series after a faultless drive in the 12 lapper on Sunday morning. A third place in the final race made up for a poor Race 1 and he earned enough points to take an unexpected – but very popular – third place for the round.
RACE 1 – MANUELL FIGHTS HARD FOR RACE 1 WIN
Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell converted his pole position in the ORIX Holden to win the first eight lap encounter of the second round of the PORTERGROUP V8 Utes at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park by just over one second in Saturday’s Race 1.
The drizzle was falling as the cars took the start and Manuell didn’t make the best of getaways, though neither did fellow front row Holden man Richard ‘Danger’ Moore in his Flex Group machine. A smooth start by Jayden ‘Sangy D’ Dodge, however, saw the Stadium Finance Ford aim right through the middle of both as the field surged into Turn 1. He passed Moore and jousted with Manuell round the outside but it was the reigning V8 Utes champ who came out ahead of the young challenger, followed by Moore and a fast-starting Glen ‘Coyote’ Collinson in the DNA Paints Panorama Motorsport Ford FG.
It was pretty congested behind, with Peter ‘Kaos’ Ward surviving a sideways moment through Turn 2 and at the end of the infield section Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan had been hustled down towards the back, after which he executed a notable comeback drive as the race progressed.
Brett ‘The Scud’ Rudd, meanwhile, lost fifth position as he put two wheels on the outside of the infield right hand Turn 5 and spun, dropping to the back of the field and setting off after Simon ‘The Bandit’ Ussher and Goonan. Collinson too needed to make a decent comeback after a heart stopping moment through the dirt on the outside of the very fast Turn 9 that cost him several places. Benefitting from all of this drama were James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart and Nigel ‘Hammered’ Hanley who both moved steadily through the field after relatively low qualifying positions.
Up front Manuell made good his getaway, pressing hard through the first three laps and building a three to four car length lead ahead of Dodge. The young Ford racer though, was having none of that and set about catching the champion, taking half a second a lap off him over laps four five and six. The battle was well and truly on with Dodge looking odds on to mount a race winning attack in only his second full V8 utes race as the race entered its final stages. A couple of small late mistakes, however, pushed him back into the clutches of a hard-charging Moore. Quietly gaining on the lead three was Matt ‘The Stinger’ Spratt but he could do nothing about Moore, who made a great pass on Dodge at Turn 11 on the last lap and was able to hold him off down the main straight to take a hard earned second place.
“Definitely was under a bit of pressure there,” Manuell said after the race. “Those boys behind were quick and they race well. Tomorrow’s races should be awesome.”
The race also featured an entertaining battle midfield with Ward and Geoff ‘SOS’ Spencer battling with James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart and Collinson. Collinson’s recover made it as far as Ward, though Spencer was kicking himself when he had a massive lock up that seemed to last for fifty or more metres heading into Turn 11. Collinson didn’t need an invitation and sneaked through on the inside for sixth, where he stayed for the remainder of the race behind Ward.
With Moore second, Dodge and Spratt took third and fourth less than a second behind him. A little further back were Ward and Collinson in fifth and sixth, with Urquhart taking an impressive seventh from 11th on the grid, ahead of Hanley who took eighth from 12th on the grid. Spencer had to be satisfied with 9th and the chocolate fish for the most spectacular moment of the race, while Jeff ‘Ripples’ Kernohan rounded out the top ten.
PORTERGROUP V8 Utes – Round 2 – Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park – RACE 1
1. Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell – ORIX Holden
2. Richard ‘Danger’ Moore – FLEX Group Holden
3. Jayden ‘Sangy D’ Dodge – Stadium Finance Ford
4. Matt ‘Stinger’ Spratt – KPH Transport Holden
5. Peter ‘Kaos’ Ward – Ward Demolition Holden
6. Glen ‘Coyote’ Collinson – DNA Paints Ford FG
7. James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart – Mitre 10 Trade Holden
8. Nigel ‘Hammered’ Hanley – Placemakers Holden
9. Geoff ‘SOS’ Spencer – Coresteel Buildings Holden
10.Jeff ‘Ripples’ Kernohan – KCL Ford
11. Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan – Hamilton Asphalts Ford
12. Brett ‘The Scud’ Rudd – Pallet Supplies Holden
13. ‘Dirty’ Dave Kernohan – KCL Ford
14. Simon ‘The Bandit’ Ussher – United Fragile Freight Ford
RACE 2 – ELTON TOONED IN FOR FIRST WIN
A great drive in the Hamilton Asphalts Ford netted Hampton Downs circuit manager Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan his first win in the PORTERGROUP v8 Ute series in the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning.
In the full reverse grid race, Goonan made a solid getaway to sit second at the end of the first lap before capitalising on a small mistake by early leader ‘Dirty’ Dave Kernohan in the KCL Ford and nipping through into a lead he wasn’t to lose. Three of the fastest laps of the race gave him an unassailable six second lead into the second half of the 12 lap race and he was able to cruise relatively safely home, though he had to look after tyres late on.
“My plan was to try and break early and it was lucky for me that Dave made a mistake and I got through,” he said afterwards. “After that it was head down and go hard. The tyres were starting to go off at the end a bit and I was struggling for traction, but it’s great to take a win.”
Behind him one of the best V8 Ute racing battles for a long time raged with the top three from the first race on Saturday – Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell, Richard ‘Danger’ Moore and Jayden ‘Sangy D’ Dodge – all struggling to get through a field where the lap times were almost identical. Matt ‘Stinger’ Spratt, fourth on Saturday, looked good to get through but broke a fuel line after contact from team mate Peter ‘Kaos’ Ward and was forced to pit.
At the front of the Goonan-chasing pack, it was Glen ‘Coyote’ Collinson who had the speed and eventually got past Jeff’ Ripples’ Kernohan and Kernohan senior in one move, but only after some tight jostling for the position. Once in second, it was the DNA Paint Ford FG that had the pace and Collinson set off after Goonan. He was ultimately able to reduce the gap from around six seconds to under four, but it wasn’t enough and he had to be satisfied with second place.
Jeff Kernohan was in the thick of the action all of the way through the race, revelling in a fresh engine after his Pukekohe blow-up and making the most of the new-found speed. He was fighting all the way through the race and didn’t have a moment to relax, so third for a Ford 1-2-3 was a great result for the KCL machine.
Brett ‘The Scud’ Rudd salvaged fourth from a frustrating race trying to find his way to the front and Richard ‘Danger’ Moore was best of the top three from the Saturday race with an impressive fifth place, just a head of Dodge, Spencer, race one winner Manuell, Ward (who executed a mighty four-wheels-on-the-grass-pass on Simon Ussher late on) and James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart in the Mitre 10 Trade Holden who rounded out the top ten in an epic race.
PORTERGROUP V8 Utes – Round 2 – Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park – RACE 2
1. Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan – Hamilton Asphalts Ford
2. Glen ‘Coyote’ Collinson – DNA Paints Ford FG
3. Jeff ‘Ripples’ Kernohan – KCL Ford
4. Brett ‘The Scud’ Rudd – Pallet Supplies Holden
5. Richard ‘Danger’ Moore – FLEX Group Holden
6. Jayden ‘Sangy D’ Dodge – Stadium Finance Ford
7. Geoff ‘SOS’ Spencer – Coresteel Buildings Holden
8. Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell – ORIX Holden
9. Peter ‘Kaos’ Ward – Ward Demolition Holden
10.James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart – Mitre 10 Trade Holden
11.’Dirty’ Dave Kernohan – KCL Ford
12. Nigel ‘Hammered’ Hanley – Placemakers Holden
13. Simon ‘The Bandit’ Ussher – United Fragile Freight Ford
14. Matt ‘Stinger’ Spratt – KPH Transport Holden
RACE 3 – A BIT MOORE MAGIC IN EPIC THIRD RACE
An epic finale race at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park saw Richard ‘Danger’ Moore come back from a half-stall on the grid to take a superb race and Round 2 win in the PORTERGROUP V8 Ute Championship.
Sitting on the front row alongside championship leader Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell in the ORIX Holden, Moore made a poor getaway and was swamped by the front of the pack heading into Turn 1. Row two sitter Glen ‘Coyote’ Collinson made a better start and slotted into second behind Manuell. Fourth on the grid Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan was also a bit slow off the line and dropped back, with Peter Ward the main beneficiary and jumping up from the fourth row to fifth place behind Jayden ‘Sangy D’ Dodge in the Stadium Finance Ford as they swarmed into Turn 1.
At the back, Matt ‘Stinger’ Spratt got away nicely too but tagged James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart moving sharp right to try and get around Geoff ‘SOS’ Spencer. This turned Stinger into a spinner and he was lucky not to tag the wall as he came to a halt. He quickly flicked it back around and set off after the pack.
At the front, Manuell was looking strong but outbraked himself at the start of lap two allowing Collinson to nip inside and take the lead, with Jayden Dodge, Moore and Ward all taking advantage of the moment to move through. Moore eventually found a way by Dodge, who then had another epic battle with Manuell as the two traded bravery points with some awesome late braking into the final chicane for lap after lap. Dodge went wide a little later at the fast Turn 9 though and lost a few places, getting sucked into the main pack and having to fight out his race from there.
At the front it was nose to tail stuff but Moore found a way by Collinson on lap 7 with a neat manoeuvre down the inside, taking a narrow lead but unable to make much of a break away. The dog fight continued with the lead pack being joined by first Ward and then later Spencer, with Goonan in there too and passing Ward at Turn 11 in the closing stages of the race.
For Collinson there was heartbreak at the end. After a stellar drive and stellar defence in the DNA Paints Ford, a podium for the race and the round looked odds on until he hit the brakes for the last time heading into the Chase on the 10th lap. A puff of smoke heralded diff housing failure and he lost the wheel, the hub, the half shaft and everything with it – including the brakes – luckily avoiding any contact with the pit wall on the exit of the final chicane. He limped home seventh.
Collinson’s dramas promoted Goonan up to third behind Manuell and that was enough to secure ‘Toon’ his first ever PORTERGROUP V8 Utes round podium with third. Moore’s epic drive meant he edged the round win from Manuell, second on the road and second for the weekend.
Collinson’s dramas promoted Goonan up to third behind Manuell and that was enough to secure ‘Toon’ his first ever PORTERGROUP V8 Utes round podium with third. Moore’s epic drive meant he edged the round win from Manuell, second on the road and second for the weekend.
Fourth in the race was Dodge, followed by Ward, with Geoff Spencer sixth, Collinson seventh, Urquhart eighth, Spratt a decent ninth after his early dramas and Ripples Kernohan rounding out the top ten.
PORTERGROUP V8 Utes – Round 2 – Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park – RACE 3
1. Richard ‘Danger’ Moore – FLEX Group Holden
2. Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell – ORIX Holden
3. Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan – Hamilton Asphalts Ford
4. Jayden ‘Sangy D’ Dodge – Stadium Finance Ford
5. Peter ‘Kaos’ Ward – Ward Demolition Holden
6. Geoff ‘SOS’ Spencer – Coresteel Buildings Holden
7. Glen ‘Coyote’ Collinson – DNA Paints Ford FG
8. James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart – Mitre 10 Trade Holden
9. Matt ‘Stinger’ Spratt – KPH Transport Holden
10.Jeff ‘Ripples’ Kernohan – KCL Ford
11.Brett ‘The Scud’ Rudd – Pallet Supplies Holden
12.Nigel ‘Hammered’ Hanley – Placemakers Holden
13.’Dirty’ Dave Kernohan – KCL Ford
14. Simon ‘The Bandit’ Ussher – United Fragile Freight Ford
PORTERGROUP V8 Utes – Round 2 POINTS
1. Richard ‘Danger’ Moore – FLEX Group Holden – 88
2. Paul ‘Auto’ Manuell – ORIX Holden – 84
3. Elton ‘Toon’ Goonan – Hamilton Asphalts Ford – 77
4. Jayden ‘Sangy D’ Dodge – Stadium Finance Ford – 71
5. Glen ‘Coyote’ Collinson – DNA Paints Ford FG – 70
6. Peter ‘Kaos’ Ward – Ward Demolition Holden – 61
7. Jeff ‘Ripples’ Kernohan – KCL Ford – 59
8. Geoff ‘SOS’ Spencer – Coresteel Buildings Holden – 56
9. Brett ‘The Scud’ Rudd – Pallet Supplies Holden – 53
10. Matt ‘Stinger’ Spratt – KPH Transport Holden – 53
11.James ‘Huggi’ Urquhart – Mitre 10 Trade Holden – 53
12.Nigel ‘Hammered’ Hanley – Placemakers Holden – 46
13.’Dirty’ Dave Kernohan – KCL Ford – 41
14. Simon ‘The Bandit’ Ussher – United Fragile Freight Ford – 37
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