Race One - Taupo       

If Rubbing is Racing, then welcome to the ENZED V8 Utes!

It wasn't bad form but bad luck that struck the extremely fast Ginja Ninja to put him out of race one, and again, out of the running for championship points.

Ginja (Cain Lobb) was the man on a mission when he took out both the qualifying and the top ten shootout today, before disaster struck in race one and he had to return to the garage for repairs. A damaged radiator - which they have speculated may have happened during his spin on Friday's practice - was the reason for his early demise. One of the quickest drivers in the fleet is having no end to his series nightmares and he certainly wants to see the chequered flag more often.

Junior Burner (Simon Beirne) had a real scorcher when he came from a mid-field grid placement to finish in 2nd. The man who lost that spot was Mack ‘Bomba' Peach who had to settle for 3rd after a valiant fight.

 Bomba - Mack Peach

The race however went to Phantom (Matthew Lockwood) who stormed out to a huge lead of 2 seconds, which was reduced dramatically by Junior Burner. Junior had stamped an authority on the track and he chased Phantom down to be on his rear bumper for the last two laps but was unable to make a passing manoeuvre. The pressure applied by Junior had Phantom locking the brakes and desperately searching for ways to protect his racing line - and it worked because Junior simply ran out of laps and was unable to pass.

 Phantom - Matt Lockwood

There was more vehicle damage than any previous race as drivers were unwilling to give up their precious spots on the track and many of the teams will be working hard overnight in preparation for two more races of the same calibre tomorrow.

Kaos (Peter Ward) who started 8th on the grid was off after the first corner as he went into the side of Worza (Miles Worsley) and came off second best, his Ute is in need of a new steering arm and a few other important front end components. The Chairman (Ash Cairns) was in 3rd at one stage, but he had to relinquish his spots to finish in 6th - but still a big improvement for him and his Ford team.

Sunday will see the teams line-up for two more races amongst the tight technical turns that is Taupo Motorsport Park.

Race 1 Results:

1. Phantom Matthew Lockwood
2. Junior Burner Simon Beirne
3. Bomba Mack Peach
4. Subby Gene Rollinson
5. Dash Dayne Running
6. Chairman Ash Cairns
7. Worza Miles Worsley
8. Sly Bob Grove
9. Grunta Grant Taylor
10. Paddy Craig Paterson
11. The Muss Temuera Morrison
12. Senior Burner Graham Beirne
13. Huggi James Urquhart
14. Rocketman Peter Robb
15. Ginja Ninja Cain Lobb (DNF)
16. Spence Geoff Spencer (DNF)
17. Kaos Peter Ward (DNF)