| Fri, Jul 30 5:42AM (NZ) |
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This website is now dedicated to covering the Black Bullets. Current Black Bullets news is now provided on iSportz » with past news archived here for your continued reference.
Christchurch driver Simon Beirne retained second place in the point standings of the ENZED V8 Utes Series when Round 4 of the championship was held at his home circuit, Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna near Christchurch this weekend. Ford's top man in the series secured a fourth placing in the first race of the round on Saturday afternoon, despite being forced to come from the back of the grid, and then added a win and a third placing in today's two races.
Simon took the Team McDonald's Falcon to a convincing win in this morning's race over 15 laps of the 3.3 kilometre circuit. Starting from pole position 'Jnr Burner' led all the way to cross the line four and a half seconds ahead of his main championship rival, Mathew Lockwood of Palmerston North, with Whangarei driver Caine Lobb third.
Simon was third on the grid for the third and final race this afternoon behind Lobb and Lockwood. Another of his trademark lightning fast starts saw him battling nose to nose with Lockwood through the first few corners before he got the better of his opponent and settled into second place behind Lobb. Simon opened a good gap on Lockwood but all his hard work was undone when an incident involving James Urquhart brought out the red flag, resulting in a twenty minute delay. At the restart Simon retained second place and held the position for three more laps until he was t-boned by Lockwood as he turned into the tight hairpin corner at the end of the back straight. The incident allowed Lockwood to steal second place in the confusion while 'Jnr Burner' regained the track to cross the line third behind race winner Lobb and Lockwood.
The coming together also ended 'Jnr Burner's' chances of taking the Allied Petroleum Trophy for the most points scored at the South Island rounds of series.
Meanwhile Simon's father and Simon Beirne Limited "Integrity In Vehicle Brokering" Racing team-mate, Graham 'Snr Burner' Beirne, had a clean, tidy day on the track today after being on the receiving end of plenty of bad luck earlier in the series. He steered his John Jones Steel Falcon to a good fifth place in this morning's race, picking off several competitors along the way and then ended his weekend with a seventh place this afternoon.
Both Jnr and Snr Burner had been on the pace since the initial practice sessions on Friday. Simon set a hot pace on Friday to be the fastest man on the circuit while Graham was also lapping quickly. Unfortunately when qualifying rolled around on Saturday 'Jnr Burner' had a failure in the transponder unit on the Team McDonalds Falcon making it necessary for
officials to assess his time. The time Simon was given was slower than those recorded by the team during the session and although the Simon Beirne Limited "Integrity In Vehicle Brokering" Race Team contested the decision they were unsuccessful. Points are awarded for the qualifying times in the category making the decision a costly one for 'Jnr Burner', although he still managed to pull a few points back on Lockwood who was slower than Simon's assessed time. 'Snr Burner' also did a good job in qualifying, posting the fifth fastest time in the John Jones Steel Falcon.
Grid positions in the ENZED V8 Utes Series are decided by marble draw and 'Jnr Burner' drew the sixteenth and last starting position for yesterday afternoon's race. Another of his superb starts soon had Simon and the Team McDonalds Falcon on the move although he was forced to take evasive action when confronted by the ute of Craig Paterson which had blown a diff. A spectacular four-wheel drift saved the day and Simon was soon working his way back to the front of the field, eventually crossing the line in fourth position behind
Lobb, Lockwood and Dayne Running.
Meanwhile 'Snr Burner' brought the John Jones Steel Falcon home in ninth place in Saturday's race despite being black flagged without warning due to a minor infringement. He made the required pitstop in response to the flag and still managed a very strong finish.
The next round of the series takes place at Manfeild Park in Feilding over the weekend of 13-15 June.
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