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PYE TAKES TIMARU TOYOTA RACING SERIES WIN
Second major trophy for Australian rising star
Cunningham extends overall series lead
British drivers show their speed
Young Australian driver Scott Pye led all the way to take the historic Timaru Herald Trophy in the third Toyota Racing Series race of the second round at Timaru. His winning margin in the feature race was more than five seconds.
Racing for the European Technique team, Pye took victory in two of the three races for the category at Timaru's Levels International Raceway, with young British driver William Buller winning the other race. Pye set fastest lap in the Sunday morning race of 59.59.130 in a lap average speed of 146.999 km/h; he also set fastest lap in the 20-lap feature race of 59.307 with a lap average speed of 145.683 km/h; and won the round outright.
In the feature race for the Timaru Herald Trophy, Pye and Buller were locked in a duel for the lead in the opening laps with the other British driver Will Stevens close behind in third place.
Dictating the race from the front, Pye took Buller with him and established a useful lead over the field. He said once he had a good margin built up he had backed off the pace in the feature race, aiming to preserve tyres, fuel and the car itself.
Buller's win in the 14-lap first race on Saturday was his first in a single-seater, but he was not so fortunate in the feature race, sliding off the track while chasing Pye and rejoining in last place.
Series leader Cunningham said he was baulked in the first corner of the feature race and found himself behind a fast-moving group comprising Pye, Stevens, Buller and Burdett.
"I had a couple of goes at Michael," Cunningham said of eventual third placegetter Michael Burdett, “but he did a good job of protecting his line and until Buller went off it was a carbon copy of the second race."
In the first race, Burdett had claimed a new outright category and series lap record of 58.890 at a lap average speed of 146.714 km/h on the fast 2.4 km Timaru track, where the biofuelled Toyota Racing Series cars can reach 230 km/h or more down the back straight.
With his win in the 20 lap Timaru Herald Trophy race Scott Pye claimed the overall round victory from Cunningham and Buller. It is the second major TRS trophy to go to the 19 year old from South Australia: he won the Wigram Cup at the opening round of the series in December 2008.
In the overall series points race, consistency is paying off for Cunningham, who retains the points lead in the overall series. Building on a narrow four point advantage after the first round, he now has 369 points, 23 more than Pye and 60 more than Palmerston North driver Sam MacNeill who is third.
“To win this series you have to go out focussed on building up points, and that’s how I approached this weekend. There’s still some car speed to be found, so I’m looking forward to Timaru,” he said.
Britain's Will Stevens finished the 20 lap feature race second to round out a strong debut for the two new British entries ahead of the first Kiwi home in third place, Michael Burdett.
While Mitch Cunningham retains his Championship lead, Scott Pye now leads the International Series from Cunningham and Buller heading into the second of three rounds at Invercargill's Teretonga circuit next weekend, the Spirit of a Nation Cup.
The international series concludes the following weekend with the Denny Hulme Memorial Cup at the A1GP race meeting held at Taupo over Auckland anniversary weekend; the Toyota Racing Series continues a month later with the New Zealand Grand Prix.
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