The hosts got their revenge in the 10-lap feature Formula 5000 final at the 2012 Tasman Revival historic motor racing meeting on November 23-25 at Sydney Motorsport Park, with the Lola T332 of Andrew Robson topping an all-Australian podium.
Melbourne man Robson set the fastest lap time in qualifying and won the first of the big biennial event’s four F5000 category races on Friday but was forced out of the second on Saturday morning by a puncture, leaving visiting British driver Greg Thornton to win that race and the next in his newly acquired McRae GM1.
Thornton also led Sunday’s 10-lap final for the first three laps before his McRae’s engine overheated, gifting the lead and eventual victory to Robson from fellow Victorians Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) and Chris Lambden (McRae GM1).
Lambden got an early jump on Robson off the line but Robson was back into second before the end of the first lap and Lambden was relegated to third by Paul Zazryn a lap later.
Category young gun Alan Dunkley (Lola T140) was again in the hunt early on, only to have a ball-joint in his car’s gear change mechanism break. Fellow Kiwi Russell Greer was also out early, in his case becasue of a broken brake caliper.
That left two-time former MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series champion Ian Clements in fourth place ahead of an entertaining battle for fifth eventually settled in favour of David Abbott (Lola T430).
With fellow series stalwart Stan Redmond (Lola T333 CS) Abbott slowly but surely worked his way forward, starting 13th and pipping Redmond – who had been eighth at the end of the first lap and got to fifth by lap six – for fifth on the final lap.
The other big mover in Sunday’s race was US-based Australian Bruce Leeson (McLaren M10B) who was ninth at the end of the first lap but who got as high as fifth mid-race before being reeled in and shuffled back to seventh by Redmond and Abbott.
The focus of the MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series now returns to New Zealand with the next two rounds at the NZ Festival of Motor Racing – Denny Hulme meetings at Hampton Downs in January 2013. The series then heads south for the annual Skope Classic meeting at Christchurch’s Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park in February.
NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival 2012 – Race Four Results (10 Laps)
1. Andrew Robson (Lola T332) 15:39.6796
2. Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) 15:49.9930
3. Chris Lambden (McRae GM1) 15:57.9440
4. Ian Clements (Lola T332) 15:58.3667
5. David Abbott (Lola T430) 15:59.8065
6. Stan Redmond (Lola T333 CS) 16:00.3078
7. Bruce Leeson (McLaren M10B) 16:00.6481
8. Bill Hemming (Elfin MR8)16:00.9047
9. Rod Carroll (Lola T140) 16:16.3586
10. Aaron Lewis (Matich A50) 16:20.2618
11. Jay Bondini (Lola T332) 15:44.6814
12. Eric Haga (Lola T190) 17:03.8045
DNF Greg Thornton, Alan Dunkley, Russell Greer
NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival 2012-13 Calendar
Rnd 1: Aug 31-Sept 02 2012 Muscle Car Masters meeting Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) Sydney (full circuit)
Rnd 2: Oct 26-28 2012 Wigram Revival meeting Powerbuilt Tools Raceway @ Ruapuna Park Christchurch
Rnd 3: Nov 23-25 2012 Tasman Revival meeting Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) Sydney (non-points)
Rnd 4: Jan 18-20 2013 NZ Festival of Motor Racing – Denny Hulme meeting x 1 Hampton Downs Auckland
Rnd 5: Jan 25-27 2013 NZ Festival of Motor Racing – Denny Hulme meeting x 2 Hampton Downs Auckland
Rnd 6: Feb 01-03 2013 Skope Classic meeting Powerbuilt Tools Raceway @ Ruapuna Park Christchurch
[Source: MSC NZ F5000; photo credits: Fast Company/Grant Paterson]
