Euan Cameron/Supplied
Nick Ross has finished second overall at Ruapuna in his Total Lubricants Nissan Altima.
Waikato driver Nick Ross has come away from the third round of the BNT V8s at Ruapuna near Christchurch second for the weekend.
Qualifying third on Saturday, the Cambridge man went on to race in the searing heat taking his Total Lubricants Nissan Altima to two second placings and a third in the weekend’s three races.
In the weekend’s first encounter, Ross crossed the finish line in third place, however post race, the officials deemed that the winner Andre Heimgartner jumped the start and thus was handed a 10-second penalty.
This then handed the race win to Jason Bargwanna and elevated Nick Ross into second place.
“The car had really good pace in the first race,” said Ross.
“We made a change on Saturday night to the car to try find a bit more rear end grip, but ended up going too far with the set-up and it wasn’t as good.
“We dialled it back for the last race and the car was mint, even on old old tyres we were still keeping the pace up at the front.
“Unfortunately the engine got a bit hot during that last race and went into limp mode just as I was trying to pass Jason Bargwanna and that allowed Andre Heimgartner to get past too.
“For the rest of the race it was just about trying to survive and get to the finish.”
With action aplenty on track throughout the weekend, a number of times Ross found himself in the box seat to capitalise on other people’s mistakes.
“The races were really exciting and there was lots of stuff happening. A couple of times we were able to capitalise on the mistakes of others and get ourselves further up the field, every point will count in this championship.”
At the halfway mark in the championship Ross still maintains third place with 547 points and with three rounds still to go is still well within striking distance of championship leader Andre Heimgartner (605 points) and Jason Bargwanna who is in second (561 points).
“We want to start winning races now, we’re nearly there and we’ve got a handful of second placings, but it’s time to get us up to the top step.”
The championship now heads to Teretonga near Invercargill, one of Ross’ favourite circuits.
“Teretonga is an awesome circuit. Turn one there is the best corner in the country, if you can get that right it sets up your lap.
“We had a good run there last season with a first a second and a third, so looking forward to see if we can go better.”
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.
-Freddy Foote
– Stuff
Source :Stuff.co.nz
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