Ryan takes pole for penultimate Suzuki round

Ryan takes pole for penultimate Suzuki round

Lower Hutt driver Grant Ryan is on pole for the first of three Suzuki Swift Sport Cup championship races this weekend at the Manfeild motor racing circuit in Feilding.

Setting his best time early in the 20-minute qualifying session, Ryan held a narrow 0.1 second advantage over the top-runners in the 18-strong field to secure the coveted pole position. The top eleven qualifiers set times separated by less than a second, illustrating the ultra competitive nature of this one-make, small car series.

Currently third in the championship and poised to strike for the lead in this penultimate round, Ryan set a lap time of 1:25.224 compared to Waiuku driver Rex McCutcheon who was second fastest with a time of 1:25.331. Aucklander Dane Fisher, second in the series at present, was third quickest with a time of 1:25.395.

Ryan said: “We were just working to our own plan – sticking with what we were doing and it worked this time. The guys worked on the car pretty well and we managed to pop out that quick lap, which is the best way to do it. It is a lot easier when you are at the front and hopefully we can stay up there this weekend.”

The top five qualifiers are rounded out by Lower Hutt’s Jamie Gaskin and Rangiora’s Chris Cox, while current series leader Mike Turley, from Auckland, could only manage the eleventh-quickest time.

Replacing the #4 Castrol Suzuki scholarship entry of Christchurch’s Tom Barker is Auckland’s Simon Evans – in a car previously campaigned by Sam Robinson. Barker’s car sustained significant damage at the series previous round near Timaru and has been unable to prepare a car in time for the weekend’s racing. Evans also races in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge series.

Suzuki Swift Sport Cup championship co-ordinator Paul Burborough said today’s qualifying results again showed how close and competitive the cars are: “There are a few different names up there; Marc Spring came up early to lead the times and was then swallowed up by Dane Fisher, who finished up third quickest. It’s also great to see Rex McCutcheon in second place on the grid.

“I think Grant Ryan might be a dark horse moving through the rest of the championship from here. He’s third in the points and can probably pick up the difference to the top guys with a good run here this weekend and move forward to a challenge for the championship title at the last round at Taupo in March.

“They always say the weekend’s success comes from the qualifying and for series leader, Mike Turley to be in eleventh, so he’s really up amongst it. Hopefully he can get through some traffic, but I think he’s got some work to do this weekend.”

The 1600cc Suzukis contest their first ten-lap race at 5:15 on Saturday evening before two more races on Sunday, another ten-lapper at 10:10am and a reverse grid 12-lapper at 1:40pm.

# # #

Qualifying, Round 5, 2010/11 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup
1, Grant Ryan, Lower Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:25.224
2, Rex McCutcheon, Waiuku, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:25.331
3, Dane Fisher, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:25.395
4, Jamie Gaskin, Upper Hutt, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:25.491
5, Chris Cox, Rangiora, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:25.509
6, AJ Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:25.742
7, Patrick Cronin, Marton, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:25.968
8, Rob Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.074
9, Marc Spring, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.148
10, Shaun Lawrence, Hamilton, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.148
11, Mike Turley, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.173
12, Ben Erickson, Christchurch, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.228
13, Brad Lauder, Turua, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.239
14, Mark Gibson, Taupo, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.465
15, Simon Evans, Auckland, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.608
16, Daniel Liemburg, Timaru, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:26.985
17, Amy Vincent, Papakura, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:27.836
18, Sam Barry, Takapau, Suzuki Swift Sport, 1:28.279

Suzuki Swift Sport Cup calendar 2010/2011
Round Date Venue Inviting Club
1 5-7 November 2010 Pukekohe NZIGP Inc
2 26-28 November 2010 Ruapuna Canterbury Car Club Inc
3 14-16 January 2011 Teretonga Southland Sports Car Club Inc
4 20-23 January 2011 Timaru South Canterbury Car Club Inc
5 11-13 February 2011 Manfeild Manawatu Car Club Inc
6 11-13 March 2011 Taupo Taupo Car Club Inc

About the cars:
Road legal, the identical Suzuki Swift cars in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup are fitted with additional safety equipment (roll-cage, seats, belts, fire extinguisher), performance suspension, brake pads and front differential. Utilising the standard engine computer, they produce 92kW power at 6800rpm with 148Nm torque at 4800rpm from the 1600cc engine (1586cc).
With a minimum weight of 1125kg, the cars have no other modifications, with teams only able to make minor adjustments to suspension alignment to optimise handling and performance for the track and/or conditions. Each team is allocated the use of four Dunlop Direzza 03G (R spec) 215 / 45 – 17”road tyres for each race weekend.

© Scoop Media