SunLive – clean race win at Nexen Tire NZ Mazda

Young driver Arthur Brogan took victory in the opening round of the Nexen Tire NZ Mazda Racing North Island Series at Chris Amon’s Manfield Circuit in Feilding at the weekend.

Brogan took pole position in qualifying on Saturday, completing a lap of 1 minute 17.604 seconds, short of the circuit’s lap record, and then won the first race of the stage on Saturday afternoon from Paraparaumu’s Stuart Lawton and the only other southern entrant. Islander in the Field Mac Templeton of Prebbleton. Brogan failed to disable his car, but came back to win.

Tauranga’s Rex Edwards, the 2022/2023 series champion, crossed the line third but was given a five-second penalty, dropping him to seventh.

Sunday morning’s 12-lap race was a top-ten race on the reverse grid, with Edwards starting tenth after a penalty from the previous day, with Browen and Lawton ahead of him.

Brogan charged through the field to win again, with Lawton second and Oakland’s Lance Gerlach third. Edwards drove a strong race to take fourth place, followed by Sam Dashfield and Steve Brown.

Templeton and Auckland’s Phil Klemas made contact during the race, with Templeton receiving a penalty for the incident, dropping him from eighth to 16th place.

Auckland’s Sam Dashfield leads the first round of the Nexen Tire NZ Mazda Racing North Island Series at Chris Amon’s Manfield Circuit in Feilding at the weekend. Photo: Matt Smith.

Aucklander Callum Pratt suffered from gearbox problems, while Aucklanders Elton Wichman and Dashfield met at the final turn on lap 7, Wichman retiring with a split oil cooler.

Brogan ended the weekend with another victory in the third race, although it was not without incident as he was pushed off the road after contact during the race in what was ruled a racing incident.

Lawton was again second and Edwards third. Dashfield and fellow Aucklander Steve Brown collided at the final corner, Brown was forced to retire and Dashfield received a 20-second penalty, relegating him to fifteenth place.

Others affected by the problems were Mark Oudney, who limped home with a problem, and Steven Speer, whose car went into limp mode and he had to pit to restart. He finished a lap down.

Mark Oudney leads the pack during the opening round of the Nexen Tire NZ Mazda Racing North Island Series at Chris Amon’s Manfield Circuit in Feilding at the weekend. Photo: Matt Smith.

Brogan won the round from Lawton and Edwards was third, just three points ahead of Gerlach, who finished ninth, third and fourth. Karl Gaines was fifth and Leo Balt sixth after recovering from solenoid problems in qualifying.

Gerlach is the leading Masters driver (for drivers over 50) and Templeton is the leading novice.

Brogan, who finished second in the South Island Series opener last weekend, will now move up to the Toyota GR86 Championship after competing in the opening round of the series on each island.

The next round of the North Island Series will take place from 22-24 November at Taupo International Motorsport Park in Taupo. This event will be the first round of the New Zealand NextGen Championships. Before that, the second round of the South Island Series will take place in Timaru on the weekend of November 2 and 3.

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For points results, go to Season Points / | Mazda Racing Series

NEXEN TIRE 2024/2025 NZ MAZDA RACING SERIES NORTH ISLAND SERIES

18-20 October 2024: Stage 1 – Manfield Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding

22-24 November 2024: Stage 2 – Taupo International Motorsport Park, Taupo

17–19 January 2025: Round three of Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, North Waikato

15–16 March 2025: Round 4 Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, North Waikato

28-30 March 2025: Stage 5 – Taupo International Motorsport Park, Taupo

5/6 April 2025: Stage 6 Manfield Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding

Lindsey Beer / Nexen Tire NZ Mazda Racing Series