Cambridge V8 driver Nick Ross has taken the overall victory at round five of the BNT V8s at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon at Feilding this weekend.
Driving his Total Lubricants Nissan Altima, Ross claimed two pole positions before going on to take a race win, a second place and third placing in the final encounter of the weekend.
“Really great weekend, two poles, a win, a second and a third, you can’t complain about that!” said an ecstatic Ross.
The weather conditions at the Manfeild circuit were challenging for competitors throughout the weekend with long hot spells followed by scattered showers making the track surface greasy and slippery.
“The conditions this weekend were really tricky. Hot conditions, wet conditions, it made it really challenging trying to pick the right set-up for the car. The team has put in a really great effort, I’m pleased how it all panned out.”
Ross won Sunday’s first race of the day, backing up second place on Saturday afternoon. The race on Sunday morning finished under safety car after heavy rain lashed the circuit with a handful of laps remaining. Ross holding onto victory from Australian Jack Smith in a Holden Commodore and series leader Andre Heimgartner in his Toyota Camry.
The last race of the weekend was raced on a ‘damp’ track, with all competitors racing on their dry weather ‘slick’ tyres, in the hope the track conditions would improve throughout the race. Ross held on for third place, despite sliding off the circuit early on, and managing to rejoin.
“That last race was pretty hectic, the conditions were very slippery, and I was lucky to be able to rejoin after going off.”
Ross sits in third place in the championship, 114 points behind leader Andre Heimgartner, and 45 points behind Australian Jason Bargwanna who is in second.
With three races still to run, and 75 points for a win, Ross is still a mathematical chance in claiming the championship title.
“The car is very speedy at the moment, we’re up the front defending positions instead of attacking, which is a good feeling. The car feels like you can hold there in the front and keep the other guys out. It’s good confidence ahead of the final round at Hampton Downs.”
Nick Ross, the TOTAL Lubricants Nissan Altima and Concept Motorsport is supported this season by TOTAL Lubricants, Jim Wright Nissan, RYCO 24•7, C&R Developments, Team Wino, Auto Trail Ltd, 82C, NZ Safety Gear and Tyre Traders.