It may have been a battle of the two Phil’s but the order was reversed.
Qualifying on an overcast but fine day prevented ideal tyre temperatures and maybe Phil Kerr liked that as he immediately went about serving notice to Phil Blythe that this is a new year and he had been busy making resolutions.

It took seven laps for Kerr to record his pole time of 1.50.550 and in spite of trying one more time Blythe’s best came on his 8th lap to give him P2
Bob Smith was trying to squeeze just a bit more from the # 53 car but something was just not quite right, that last ounce of juice seemed not to be there, P3 was however not so bad.

Meanwhile all eyes were on Paul Savage who was creaming the time charts in his S4 Plus car. Chris Hanley was desperately trying to fend off the ever-quickening pace of Dean McMillan both recording their starting positions, in that order on their 7th lap. Savage had done the damage by lap 6 and returned to his pit buoyed that once again the Taupo Gods had done him proud.

Race one in slightly higher temperatures would have been a little nerve racking for some as memories of the opening round were ones they hoped would not repeat. From the start it was obvious that those 1st round rusty reactions had now been replaced with a more tempered race face. No incidents of note and some very good racing in both categories wound down the 6 laps. Pro7’s saw the pack shuffled after Bob Smith discovered that his slightly tardy car was getting even slower, a flattening battery proved to be his handicap. Brad Lathrope moved to 3rd place and Ian McDonald managed to overcome Merv Casey. Matt Brader in his 1st ever outing in Pro7’s was held to account race long by the master Terry Carkeek who was certainly struggling with their new car which needed just a bit more testing to be race ready. Brader however was the beneficiary here, as not often do you get to have all the experience of someone like Carkeek to show you the way around. Interestingly and absurdly you may think, Terry had to attend the new driver briefing, why you may ask. After all his years serving the Taupo club well including those as a COTC, as a driver trainer to some fellow Pro7 people and all the events he has done there over the years, Terry has never raced the new extended circuit. Most in his position would not have thought to own up to being a novice in this situation.

He Won race One
Phil Kerr was the most excited I’ve seen him in a long time. Pole and a race win with arch rival and long time target Phil Blythe safely behind him in second. A flawless drive a deserved result.

Pro7 Plus provided some good entertainment. The spectator bank was unusually occupied for a Saturday with 400 people watching this opening day of the weekends racing. Savage who is known to lay down the gauntlet at Taupo is also known to get distracted mid race and lose places. Not so today, he had Pole and he wanted the win not just for himself but also for the S4 cars that failed to show. One could say that a 2 second winning margin is fairly emphatic and Dean McMillan will probably agree, for that was the deficit to McMillan’s second place. Chris Hanley had at times looked very menacing in his attempt to pass McMillan but the ex Pro7 charger was having none of that. Lockwood meanwhile showed that his recent lack of form had been corrected and he was on the job. Parity seems genuine when corner exit speed is the difference between gain/no gain and it showed at Taupo, you needed to be the lead car to get the exacting line to maximise speed at the end of the straight. Watching McMillan, Hanley and Lockwood under brakes at the end of the long Taupo straight as they hunted down Savage was enthralling. Trying both outside and inside dives did nothing, Hanley had lost his place to McMillan and he was not to regain it and this cost Lockwood any chance without being over zealous and risking taking them all out. This race was truly a definition of how controlled aggression should be.
Bruce Gay and Myles Fothergill are both known not back down. Neither will wish the other bad fortune but conversely a gap is a gap and several attempts to swap places dropped them both off the pace of the leaders. Onlookers witnessed good racing, drivers enjoyed a good work out.

Race two, reverse top 10.
It may invite disaster but it is guaranteed to entertain, unfortunately there is always an innocent victim.
Gay and Fothergill have no personal relationship difficulties but for some reason their cars have a magnetic attraction to each other. Race two will always bring out this trait and indeed it did. John Jackson has the same attention to presentation as did David Steel with this car and guess what, he suffered the same injustice, wrong place, wrong time. Naturally both Gay and Fothergill were innocent of blame but also naturally one less than the other. If we apply the alphabet theory, F comes before G so Myles has to wear the 1st defendant tag and Gay the second. Changes nothing really, Jackson still wore the consequence and this is the shame of these occurrences but happily was able to front the last race of the weekend.
Threading the field was the order of the day and the earlier incident provided a distraction from what was some very tantalising driving from the back of the grid. Lockwood had got a good start and used his position to best advantage but McMillan had the bit between his teeth and chased the Manawatu driver all the way. Hanley had his work cut out with Savage keen to get to a podium position but as the laps counted down it became obvious that the finishing order was set.
Lockwood a skin of the teeth win from McMillan, Hanley successful in claiming the 3rd step and Savage possibly just one lap short of challenging that place.

Pro7’s were set for a show down. Kerr with the biggest penalty having won the 1st encounter had Blythe to contend with as well as a couple of very quick young guys ahead. Lathrope and McDonald junior are not easy targets and the 300m sprint to turn one can get messy. That it didn’t and all safely through, the task of picking off 7 cars became a game of skill for both Kerr and Blythe. Smith had a recharged battery but no real guarantee that the problem was fixed so he had to make the most of every lap from the get go.

He Won race Two
His was history in the making, a bit like those American little league movies where the game is won by the little guy wearing spectacles who fumbles the ball, is always encouraged but can’t quite get there. Phil Kerr has now reached a new height. Pole and two race wins only bettered by those select few who have managed a clean sweep. Blythe is dumbfounded his best attempt is bringing runner up points and time is running out. McDonald jnr is desperate to get a podium, Smith as well. Well, by race end a dream had come true, Kerr had filled a dream, Blythe was second, McDonald preserved his ambition with 3rd and Smith followed closely in 4th. Matt Brader had the indignity of joining fellow rookie Brad Lathrope on the list of infringement penalties. Not at all intentional but never the less contact with Carkeek was to incur a 40sec time penalty in lieu of a drive through which could not be taken. What a debut, lessons in everything motor racing.

Race three was to be the most anxious of Kerr’s career. Maximum points equals pole for the last race so could he do what those select few had done, the perfect score?
No way was that chance going begging and in spite of an expectation that the in field would beckon, Kerr was again flawless in his performance putting together a set of 6 perfect laps which Blythe could only witness with admiration that his nemesis had made good, second place was assured so long as he didn’t do anything silly in an attempt to unsettle the driver ahead who had by now self belief and confidence that he could do it.
By race end an ecstatic Kerr triumphed for his first time ever, Blythe had to watch as Kerr claimed not just the set of wins but robbed him of the consolation prize of 3 fastest race laps, Kerr added that little number to his bag of points also. Blythe could however return to Wanganui with his series lead intact but in the knowledge that it is now game on. Kerr will be a different driver from here forward, wins inspire performance from newfound confidence and the analyst (Kerr who analysis’s everything) will certainly have worked out exactly how and why.
Bob Smith had sorted the # 53 car for race three and third was his reward matched I guess by his ambition to have spectators not just following the green car but checking also which car number it carries.

Three races three different winners.
Pro7 Plus provided good entertainment right through the weekend. This could not have been demonstrated better than having three different winners for each stanza. This time it was McMillan who took the glory but Lockwood showed the form was there and a mere 500ths separated these two at race end. Hanley made it a perfect set of three 3rds not that he would be satisfied with that and Manfeild no doubt will see him apply pressure to move up the steps.
Savage did well to keep the podiums in view but just missed the mark once again. 4th will have given him hope that the S4 cars are still to be taken seriously and the idle ones should get out and back him up. Bruce Gay would have been pleased to dispose of Fothergill and James Parker will have returned home buzzing now that he has finally given his own built Bat its debut.

Manfeild becomes the all-important meeting to set the scene for the descent to the final round. Points are contestable, places are by no means secure and with the level of competition having taken a new intensity at Taupo I would not be sitting the next round out for life or money.



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