The past season has been an exciting one for the Super Mini Challenge, being the first season running as a part of the IRC seeing a return to a festival atmosphere at each meeting, with crowds flocking to the tracks to see the close racing the Super Mini Challenge put on. Every class in the series put on a great spectacle throughout the season, with the intense battles between the leaders of each respective class drawing the crowd’s attention. After a strong season of consistent wins, Kevin Townsend came away with the overall series win, heading Brian McMahon and Bill Robson. The fact that the top three finishers were all from different classes is a testament to how electrifying the racing has been throughout the year.
Round 1: Taupo “Thunder at the Lake”
The opening round of the series was held at Taupo Motorsport Park in the middle of the North Island, with the courses tight and twisty makeup providing the perfect shakedown to get the season underway. A full 21 car field faced the starter, with Townsend starting off the season with a win. Through the weekend he took a clean sweep in the Super class to take the round win over Warren Heron. The Miglia class was more closely contested, with the season long battle between Robson and Steven Lovett over the front running. Robson took two wins to take the round win from Lovett and Trent Dixon in third. The Mini Seven action was red hot through the weekend, with class rookie Elliott Heron winning on debut and carrying on to take the round win. Merlin Motorsport team mates McMahon and Leigh Bucksey battled hard over both days, with McMahon taking both class wins on Sunday. Ian Silver took a clean sweep in the Open class to start the season on maximum points for the round.
Round 2: Taupo “New Year Thunder”
After a lengthy break due to the Pre 65 Challenge taking the place of the Pukekohe championship round, the series headed back to Taupo for the second round of the series over the New Year break. Townsend continued from where he left off, taking another clean sweep of wins over W Heron to further extend his series lead. The racing was exciting in the Miglia class through the weekend, with Lovett and Robson being contested by newcomer Mark Van Swet for the front running. Lovett took a clean sweep of wins closely followed by Van Swet and Robson to give Lovett the class points lead. The Merlin Motorsport team took hold of the Mini Seven class over the weekend, sharing the wins between them with McMahon taking two and Bucksey the other to jump ahead of E Heron to first and second respectively in the points. Richard Wagstaff took his first win of the season in the Open class, with Silver taking the spoils on Sunday to maintain his class lead.
Round 3: Manfeild “Thunder in the Dark”
The series was met with a rain sodden Manfeild circuit for its first trip south for the season. The weather did little to dampen the on track action through the weekend, making the racing extremely close across all classes and with double points up for grabs in the opening race for the Northern competitors there was plenty to play for. Van Swet took his first win in the Miglia class in the double points opener, but with a DNF in the last race could not take his maiden round win. The round honours went to Lovett with a trifecta of seconds to further extend his class lead. Robson was forced to wait until Hampton Downs to race for his double points bonus but still collected second for the round. The Mini Seven action was the closest it had been all season, with the top six competitors all fighting for the lead. The Merlin Motorsport pair continued to dominate the class, with McMahon taking two wins to Bucksey’s one. E Heron’s front running pace at Taupo was absent in the wet, causing him to bleed points to the lead pair. Tim Pipes and Chris Parkinson entered into the fold through the weekend, both finishing on the podium consistently through the weekend and taking third and fourth respectively for the round. Townsend continued on his unbeaten streak through the round, aided by W Heron suffering an engine failure in the opening race, effectively ending his season. Wagstaff took a further two wins in the Open class to claw back some ground on Silver who took the final race win.
Round 4: Hampton Downs “NZ Motor Cup”
The fourth round of the Super Mini Challenge was the first trip north to the newly constructed Hampton Downs race track. The circuit is a masterpiece in design, providing a layout complete with challenges unlike any other circuit in the country. The circuit brought with it some of the best racing all season long, providing a great spectacle for the crowds at the circuit’s first international meeting. The meeting was a successful one for Robson who, aided by the double points opening race for the southern drivers, took a convincing round win with the remaining title contenders falling around him. Robson took two class wins with the other going to Lovett, who had a DNF in the final race with engine issues. Van Swet suffered through electrical problems all weekend long to lose huge ground in the points. Great consistency from Steve Kerr handed him second for the round ahead of Lovett. The Mini Seven action was close across the weekend, with three different winners from the three races. Parkinson took his first win for the season, with E Heron and McMahon adding to their tallies. Heron took his second round win for the series to gain back some of the margin to the Merlin Motorsport team who still held the top two spots in the series. Parkinson took second for the round after showing good pace all weekend long. Rick Van Swet contested his first round for the season at Hampton Downs, ending Townsend’s winning streak in the first race. Townsend rallied to take the following two wins with W Heron struggling to third with a replacement power plant for the weekend. Silver took maximum points for the weekend in the Open class, shrugging off Friday’s issues for a great result.
Round 5: Pukekohe “Mid Summer Thunder”
The only championship round at Pukekohe was the fifth round on the calendar, with the track not only favouring horsepower but providing close racing on the wide sweeping corners. The attrition rose with the fast layout, claiming Pipes in qualifying with a big off at the Sweeper which would eventually put him out for the remainder of the season. The Mini Seven action was again extremely close, with slipstreaming battles giving the crowd a viewing spectacle. Parkinson continued in his pace from Hampton Downs to take the opening win but retired in the second race with engine problems to end his weekend. McMahon took the remaining race wins to take the round win. Scott Thompson had been on the lead bunch for the majority of the season but stepped it up a gear at his home track to take a host of podium positions and get second for the round. E Heron was behind on power and suffered for it through the round, but managed to take third for the round, capitalising on a bad weekend for Bucksey to jump into second in the class standings. Lovett had his best round of the season at Pukekohe, storming to take a clean sweep of wins over Robson to take the round win. M Van Swet’s electrical issues continued in race one causing him to retire although he had a strong pair of second position finishes to round out the weekend. Kerr’s strong results continued on the Northern leg of the series, taking a pair of podiums to finish third for the round. The Super class provided some of the closest action through the weekend, with Townsend and R Van Swet battling hard for the wins with W Heron in tow. Townsend took out race one from Heron after Van Swet retired with an engine problem. Contact between the pair in the second race caused them both to retire while in the final race Van Swet’s win could not gain him the round win, with Townsend continuing his unbeaten streak.
Round 6: Manfeild “Thunder in the Dark 2”
The final trip south for the penultimate round of the series doubled as the opening round of the New Zealand Mini Seven Championship covered in previous reports. The opening race also counted for double points for northern competitors, making this round make or break for title contention. The Mini Seven racing was additionally exciting due to the South Island contingent, and E Heron took out the round win after a double points victory in the opening race to regain some lost ground from Pukekohe. McMahon and Bucksey rounded out the podium for the weekend’s results, minimising points lost. The round changed the entire makeup of the Miglia points, with Lovett having a shocking weekend for reliability racking up only one finish to haemorrhage points and relinquish the series lead to Robson. M Van Swet took his maiden round win to begin his late season run. The tide also turned in the Super class with R Van Swet taking a clean sweep of wins to end Townsend’s round winning streak. Townsend continued to defend his already insurmountable series lead with W Heron not competing. Silver’s strong run in the Open class came to an end with a crash in qualifying putting him out for the remainder of the season. Wagstaff was unable to pick up any points after an engine failure in the opening race put him out for the weekend.
Round 7: Taupo “Easter Thunder”
The final round of the season was held at Taupo and provided a fitting finish to the exciting series. The Mini Seven series champion was decided in the opening race, with McMahon claiming the title. Second place was undecided until the final race of the weekend, after reliability issues from both E Heron and Bucksey. Heron retired from the first race after engine issues handing the advantage to Bucksey leading into Sunday. Following engine issues Bucksey was forced to retire from the final race helping Heron to second in his rookie Mini Seven season. Bucksey took third for the series ahead of S Thompson and Parkinson. The Miglia class win was undecided leading into the final round, with Robson taking into the weekend a slender advantage over Lovett. The round win went to M Van Swet after taking all three wins to gain maximum points for the weekend. Robson finished runner up for the round, and took the round win after Lovett had a poor run with several offs. Lovett took second in the class points followed by M Van Swet after his late season charge. Dixon took out fourth ahead of Kerr rounding out the top five. W Heron returned to the series with a modified spare engine to take out the opening race win. Townsend was back on top to take the win in the second race but R Van Swet got by to take the win in the final race and also took the round win. This did little to change the series points, with Townsend streaking out to a strong win ahead of Heron and Van Swet. Wagstaff’s improved reliability handed him the round win, scoring maximum points ahead of Peter Amies who returned to the series for the final round.
Overall Results: |
1. Kevin Townsend 2. Brian McMahon 3. Bill Robson 4. Steven Lovett 5. Elliott Heron |
Class Results: | |||
| Mini Seven | Mini Miglia | Super Mini | Open Class |
1. Brian McMahon 2. Elliott Heron 3. Leigh Bucksey 4. Scott Thompson 5. Chris Parkinson | 1. Bill Robson 2. Steven Lovett 3. Mark Van Swet 4. Trent Dixon 5. Steve Kerr | 1. Kevin Townsend 2. Warren Heron 3. Rick Van Swet 4. Tom Ryan | 1. Ian Silver 2. Richard Wagstaff 3. Toby Annabell 4. Peter Amies 5. Jason White |
