Zeltwanger poised for title – but all to play for in double points finale

A great start from the outside of the front row netted Lee Zeltwanger another race victory in the Toyota 86 Trophy Series earlier on Sunday – leaving him with one hand on the inaugural title and just one race to go.

Zeltwanger edged away from pole sitter Ajay Giddy in the drag race to the first corner and managed to hold off the young charger to take the lead through the infield section of the first lap. He built up a decent lead in the first couple of laps too, before Giddy fought back and loomed large in the Skunkworks Motorsport TR86’s mirrors for the final two laps.

Giddy’s pace though, wasn’t enough to halt the ice cool Zeltwanger’s charge to the chequered flag and another maximum points score.

“The start was great but Ajay is always quick around here and it was pretty hard to stay in front,” he said afterwards. “But as always I just focussed on being consistent and not making any mistakes.”

There was plenty of action behind the two leaders in a very decent race. Third across the line was Toby Elmiger, while fourth was Nathan Grammer who put in one of his best performances in the series to challenge Elmiger throughout the second half of the race for the final step on the podium.  

A post-race investigation into contact between Harry Townshend and Elmiger that left Harry in sixth resulted in a 10 second penalty for Toby, which dropped him down to sixth and gave Grammer his second podium in the series.

Just behind these two, Matthew Day bounced back from a gearbox change to put in a strong drive to an eventual fourth.

Harry Townshend had a spin after contact with Elmiger at the final chicane which dropped him to fifth at the flag, while another victim of the final chicane was Corban Sprague, the CareVets racer dropping to the tail of the field at the end of the first lap (see picture above).

A long recovery drive saw him eventually pass series debutant Mitch Vye to take an eventual seventh.

Toyota 86 Trophy Series – Round 4 Taupo – Race 1