Stanaway takes first TRS pole…

On his first ever Toyota Racing Series drive, 2009 Formula Ford champion Richie Stanaway has taken pole position for the first and second Toyota Racing Series race at the Hamilton 400.

 Tauranga driver Stanaway was the only driver to dip under 1:24 sec on the fast and bumpy street circuit in his first street race outing.

 Stanaway, 2009 TRS Champion Mitch Cunningham and Hamilton driver Michael Burdett swapped times in the opening laps of the session until Cunningham crashed on lap six, bringing the session to an early end under a red flag.

 Cunningham turned his car around and hit the wall exiting turn one, tearing the left front corner off his car.  His lap time on the previous lap was enough to secure him a place alongside pole man Stanaway on the front of the grid.

 Alastair Wootten overshot the same corner at the same time but rejoined without damage. 

When the second session began moments later, both Cunningham and Stefan Webling were missing, and Andrew Waite’s car posted one of the first fastest laps of the session with a broken rear wing. 

Stanaway posted fastest lap of 1:23.3028 on lap five as Webling made his first appearance on the track.   

Australian Nathan Antunes, making a return to the series, was the other driver to break into the 1:23 bracket.  Antunes stepped up to second with a 1:23.6923, and was locked in a duel with Michael Burdett who promptly set a 1:23.6609 to take second then capped that with a 1:23.4676, with Alastair Wootten deposed to fourth on 1:23.8527.  

Stanaway then pared his pole time to 1:23.0007 as the session ended.  He lines up on pole for Sunday’s race with Burdett alongside him.

Daniel Jilesen hit the wall with the chequered flag on display, limping back to the pits with the rear of the car damaged. 

Posting lap average speeds of 146 km/h, the biofuel-powered Toyota cars are the fastest category at the Hamilton 400.