Kiwi teens in tense Taupo TRS title confrontation

Two of New Zealand’s best young racing drivers go head-to-head for the 2010 Toyota Racing Series title at the Taupo International circuit next weekend (March 20-21) – and both teenagers believe they have a competitive edge.

The most hard-fought TRS title in six seasons is tantalisingly tight at the top going into the Taupo finale.  After 12 races, honours are almost evenly divided between 15-year-old Mitch Evans from Auckland and 19-year-old Earl Bamber from Wanganui.

Evans will be fighting to maintain a slim points advantage while Bamber – the former A1GP Team New Zealand driver – is determined to seize an unexpected opportunity to revive his promising career in Europe.

Evans, a St Kentigens schoolboy who has never even been to Europe, admits he’s endured an “up and down season” but says he’s learnt what it will take to win the title.

“I’ve shown good pace but there have been a few dramas that have cost me good results. I’ve learnt heaps in TRS but the main lesson is that you can’t win every race. This weekend I need to be ahead or right behind Earl in all three races – and make sure I don’t make any mistakes,” said Evans.

However, Bamber says that after a sluggish start to the season he will be aiming to win all three races. It wasn’t until after winning the last race – the NZGP at Manfeild – his doctor diagnosed that he has been suffering from glandular fever since the opening races at Teretonga.

“Mitch has been doing a good job and has been on pole at every race while my new team has been getting the performance of our car sorted. At Taupo we need to be quick from the outset,” said Bamber.

Both the ambitious teens have won three races during a tense season. Evans clinched the International Trophy title (contested over the four International rounds in January and February) at their most recent confrontation at Manfeild; but Bamber upstaged him in a dramatic late charge to snatch the coveted New Zealand Grand Prix win.

Evans wrapped up the 2010 TRS Rookie title at Manfeild but, for the first time all season; came away without a win during the weekend. In contrast the more experienced Bamber made his debut in New Zealand’s premier single seater series in 2007, finished second in the 2008 series and with his Grand Prix win at Manfeild this season now has his 14 races wins in TRS.

After four previous rounds they are split by just 34pts – less than the points offered for a tenth placing – and both are anxious to take the $10,000 winner’s prize, the coveted TRS title and a valuable European test drive that is being offered to the 2010 Champion.

The October test will be similar to the opportunity grasped by Brendon Hartley in 2005, a one-off European test that launched the Palmerston North driver into a six year Red Bull contract and his 2010 role as Reserve Driver for both the Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso teams in Formula 1.

There are a possible 225pts available if any driver can win all three Taupo races – a feat not achieved by anyone at any previous round in 2010. The racing has been too close for that level of domination and the 2010 title chase is very likely to go all the way to the final ‘reverse six’ Sunday race at Taupo.

After his slow start with a new team, Bamber had a strong midseason as his new Triple X Motorsport team has steadily gained speed and confidence with engineering guidance from Mark Pilcher and more recently Phillip di Fazio.

“I’m feeling a lot more confident because we have developed our setup and have found more pace. I started alongside Mitch on the front row for the first time at Manfeild – before that I think our best qualifying was sixth on the grid,” said Bamber.

“I’ve moved forward 30 places in the races over the season, so I’ve done a lot of passing.”

In contrast, and in spite of setting a stunning pole position in every qualifying to date, Evans has been developing  the race craft needed to compliment his stunning speed.

“We’ve got good pace so I just need to make sure we get good results.”

In what could be a telling factor, Evans has won three out of four Saturday races to date while Bamber has taken each of his well-judged wins in one of the two Sunday races. That fact alone could be ominous this weekend when three consistent race finishes could count for more than outright speed.

“It’s time to break that bad habit…” said Evans.

The title contenders share another statistic – they both won their most recent Championship rounds at Taupo – Evans in Formula Ford last season and Bamber in TRS in 2008. They’ve also suffered the bitter disappointment of losing a Championship title at the final round  – Evans lost out Richie Stanaway in last year’s FF series while Bamber was beaten to the TRS title by Andy Knight two years ago.

The points permutations for Taupo mean Andrew Waite from Auckland is an outside contender after his two wins, while Daniel Jileson from Taumaranui is also within the mathematical prospect. After competing in just two rounds, Tauranga’s Richie Stanaway rounds out the Top Ten after one fine win.

Estonian driver Sten Pentus –who claimed two race wins to be third in the points – and Brazilian Lucas Foresti -who won a single race and lies fifth, are now back in Europe; which means there will be a scramble for third outright. Expect good performances from steady improvers like Jamie McNee, Alastair Wootten and Stefan Webling.

Sam MacNeill is a late addition to the Taupo line-up, the 25-year-old from Palmerston North driving for the ETEC team. The 2007 Formula Ford Champion finished runner-up to Mitch Cunningham in the 2009 TRS season. In his only previous race in 2010 he ran strongly at Manfeild, coming through from tenth to fourth in the wet Saturday race and then finished third in the reverse grid race.

The 2010 Team’s title race reflects the close fight for the driver’s title. Giles Motorsport, the Top Team in 2009, is under threat from Trevor Sheumack’s ETEC team and the emerging Triple X Motorsport team.

With six different race winners from the 12 races to date and some of the best TRS racing yet seen, there is the prospect of three enthralling races at Taupo; and the very real possibility of a ‘come-from-behind’ Champion from the 15^th and final race of the season.

Footnote:

The third and final race at Taupo on Sunday will the 121^st since the Toyota Racing Series began in 2005. There have been 24 different race winners to date

Earl Bamber currently sits third in the all time TRS Winner stakes with his 14 wins. He has competed in TRS since the 2007 season but only contested one race in 2009.

Andy Knight, who pipped Bamber for the 2008 title has scored 15 race wins, so could be overtaken at Taupo. Daniel Gaunt tops the winner’s table with 20 wins

2010 TRS Championship (5 rounds)

TOP TEN points up to Taupo finale

1. Mitch Evans (R)                 Giles Motorsport             721pts
2. Earl Bamber                        Triple X Motorsport        687pts
3. Sten Pentus                       Giles Motorsport 2          660pts
4. Andrew Waite                   ETEC Motorsport              626pts
5. Lucas Foresti                      Giles Motorsport 2          536pts
6. Daniel Jileson                     Giles Motorsport             529pts
7. Alastair Wooten               Dart International            494pts
8. Stefan Webling (R)          Triple X Motorsport        448pts
9. Jamie McNee (R)             Neale Motorsport           369pts
10. Richie Stanaway               ETEC Motorsport              362pts

(R signifies a TRS Rookie driver)

TOP TEN points per race:

1^st =75, 2^nd = 67, 3^rd = 60, 4^th = 54, 5^th= 49, 6^th = 45, 7^th = 42, 8^th = 39, 9^th = 36, 10^th = 33.