Kitching seals South Island Mazda Racing Series with a perfect weekend

Will Kitching of Timaru dominated the latest round of racing in the Nexen Tyre NZ Mazda Racing Series at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell at the weekend. The round was the second in the category’s four round New Zealand Series and the fourth and final of the South Island Series.

Kitching took the Racetech Pole Position Award in qualifying, won all three races and the round, sealed the South Island title and extended his lead in the New Zealand Series in a perfect weekend for the Timaru teenager.

James Black of Dunedin was second for the round in just his second weekend in the series with Matt Dodd of Christchurch third.

Kitching also secured the South Island Series from Dodd with Mac Berkett of Nelson third. Berkett also took the Rookie title while Anthony Tork of Auckland was the Top Masters Driver (Over 50). The Tork Engineering Team of Tork and Dalan Price of Swannanoa in Canterbury took the South Island Teams title. All results are provisional until technical checks are completed.

Kitching headed off Mac Templeton of Prebbleton by just .135 of a second in qualifying before racing away on Saturday afternoon to build a lead of over seven seconds before a safety car period at the end of the race. Templeton was second after fighting back after a slow start with Stuart Lawton of Paraparaumu third.

The top ten from Saturday’s race was in reverse order on the grid for Sunday morning’s race and Kitching from tenth was in the lead by lap 8, going on to win by 10.824 seconds from Price who had only put the finishing touches to his car on Thursday night with Dodd third, Jesse Gould of Raumati Beach fourth and Black fifth.

Anthony Tork tangled with another competitor in the early stages while Rex Edwards of Tauranga and Templeton were retirements, Templeton due to an oil pressure issue.

Kitching then led all the way in the finale to win by 9.330 seconds from Black after Lawton crossed the line second only to receive a penalty which dropped him to seventh and also cost him second overall for the round. Dodd was elevated to third with Anthony Tork fourth ahead of Aucklanders Callum Pratt and Alex Canty. Lawton’s penalty came after Price was turned around early in the race, an incident that also affected Gould, Andrew French and Pratt. Templeton had stopped out on the circuit early in the race, this time with a diff problem.

The next round of the New Zealand Series takes place at Taupō International Motorsport Park, Taupō over the weekend of 28-30 March. Before that the category will contest Round 4 of their North Island Series at Hampton Downs over the weekend of 15/16 March.

In the New Zealand Series the South Island hold the lead in the Founders Trophy with 821 points to the North’s 727.

The series raced this weekend as part of Round 6 of the Repco NextGen NZ Championship.