Smith and Lyons Battle as Willis Takes Title
Reigning FIA Historic F1 Pre-78 class champion Michael Lyons (Hesketh 308E) won a combined 12-lap NZ Express International F5000/Historic F1 feature race at the Skope Classic motor racing meeting in Christchurch this afternoon, after catching and eventually finding a way past Formula 5000 class pace-setter and pole man Ken Smith (Lola T332).
Earlier in the day Smith won the first combined field race with Lyons - who with the other Historic F1 class drivers had started behind the F5000 field - unable to close the gap in the 8-laps available. However, by starting alongside Smith on the front row of the grid Lyons didn’t have to work his way past the other F5000s in the feature, and though 75-year-old super veteran Smith was able to hold the young Brit out for the first half of the race, a persistent Lyons eventually found a gap.
"I thought I could do it, you know, keep him behind me, " said Smith, "I drove really hard on that first lap to get a gap, but I can’t take anything away from Michael, he was fantastic to drive with and when I saw the nose in there I thought it is now his. He is fantastic to drive with, you could drive wheel to wheel with the kid all day."
Smith stayed within striking distance and at the flag the gap was only three seconds with former series champ Steve Ross (McRae GM1) a lonely third 34.970 seconds back and another gap to the first of the visiting Australian drivers, Paul Zazryn (Lola T332), then Brett Willis (Lola T330), Sefton Gibb (Lola T330), and Aaron Burson (McRae GM1). Fifth place was more than enough to ensure Willis retained his lead in the series' points standings and claimed the 2016/17 SAS Autoparts/ MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series title - from Zazryn with Glenn Richards (Lola T400) third.
"It’s taken awhile but I'm rapt," Rotorua man Willis said afterwards."It’s not easy and we’ve had some hard knocks along the way but we have committed every year, and done all the rounds. and this time we pulled it off. Big thanks to everyone who has helped us and to the series sponsors, we couldn’t have done it without them."
The other trophy awarded on the day, the Stan Redmond Memorial Trophy, went to series' Class A (for earlier model F5000 cars) winner Frank Karl (McLaren M10B) The trophy is awarded to the driver who best exemplifies the spirit of sportsmanship and persistence in the face of adversity that series' original Redmond exhibited and friend and former crew chief Steve Weeber said that Karl was the obvious choice.
"Stan was a good sport, always helping people, and if he had an incident he would always be back at the next round. Frank has had that this year and it's great to see that sort of enthusiasm in a class like F5000 which is very strong at the moment."
"I knew I was in line to win the Class A award but I wasn't expecting this at all," said Aucklander Karl. "It has made all the effort that I have had to go to after Australia (where an engine fire meant a lot of work to get the car back to race-ready condition) was worth it."
Because he did not cross the Tasman this year to od the two Australian rounds of the 2016/17 SAS Autoparts MSC series Ken Smith was not in contention for the title this weekend. He was by far the quickest of the 16-strong SAS Autoparts MSC F5000 competitor though, claiming pole position in qualifying and winning two of the three category races, including the first of the two combined F5000/Historic F1 ones on Sunday morning.
With two of the five Formula 1 cars scratched thanks to engine issues the decision was made to combine the Historic F1 and SAS Autoparts MSC F5000 class fields. And as happened in the final 12-lap feature, Smith sprinted away from the rolling start and pulled out a lead which Michael Lyons - who started from P13 on the seventh row of the combined grid - was able to eat into but ultimately not bridge in the eight laps available.
Taking full advantage of the clear road in front of him Smith dropped into the 1.18.0s, his Lola T332 remaining the fastest car on track (with a best lap of 1.18.951) until Michael Lyons got clear of Steve Ross and dipped into the low 1.18s himself, with a best time of 1.18.521. Behind Smith, Steve Ross held a lonely second place until being relieved of it by Michael Lyons on the fourth lap but retained third place to the flag as Brett Willis, Paul Zazryn, Sefton Gibb and Ian Clements ran line astern in fourth-through-seventh places.
Usually David Banks would be part of that group but he too was forced to sit out Sunday's two races thanks to an oil pressure issue with his Talon MR1). Greg Thornton was also a non-starter, thanks to fuelling issues with his Chevron B24. Local driver David Arrowsmith managed to hold out Aaron Burson for most of the race only to have Burson finally get past on the final lap, with Glenn Richards tenth, Frank Lyons in the McLaren M26 F1 car 11th, Chris Atkinson 12th and Bill Hemming, Mike Sidgewick and Frank Karl engaged in their own private battle for 13th-through-15th place.
Smith also won the first category race on Saturday, leading from start to finish to cross the finish line almost 18 seconds in front of Steve Ross, David Banks and Brett Willis..
The 2016/17 SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series is organised and run with the support of sponsors SAS Autoparts, MSC, NZ Express Transport, Bonney's Specialised Bulk Transport, Mobil Lubricants, Pacifica, Avon Tyres, Webdesign and Exide Batteries.
2016/17 SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series
Qualifying
1. Ken Smith (Lola T332) 1.18.698
2. Glenn Richards (Lola T400) 1.21.091
3. Steve Ross (McRae GM1) 1.21.436
4. Brett Willis (Lola T330) 1.21.938
5. David Banks (Talon MR1) 1.22.039
6. Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) 1.22.148
7. Ian Clements (Lola T332) 1.22.453
8. Sefton Gibb (Lola T332) 1.22.966
9. Aaron Burson (McRae GM1) 1.23.013
10. David Arrowsmith (Lotus 70) 1.23.344
11. Russell Greer (Lola T332) 1. 24.577
12. Greg Thornton (Chevron B24) 1.25.050
13. Chris Atkinson (Surtees TS8) 1.26.941
14. Bill Hemming (Elfin MR8) 1.29.470
15. Mike Sidgewick (Trojan T101) 1.32.915
16. Frank Karl (McLaren M10B) 1.33.015
Race 1 (Sat) 8 laps
1. Ken Smith 10:58.100
2. Steve Ross +17.945
3. David Banks +21.193
4. Brett Willis +24.086
5. Sefton Gibb +24.834
6. Paul Zazryn +25.347
7. Ian Clements +25.865
8. Aaron Burson + 27.730
9. David Arrowsmith +29.765
10. Russell Greer +38.986
11. Greg Thornton +40.412
12. Bill Hemming +1 lap
13. Mike Sidgewick +1 lap
14. Frank Karl +1 lap
dnf Glenn Richards, Chris Atkinson.
Race 2 (Sun) 8 laps
1. Ken Smith 10.40.743
2. Michael Lyons +9.878
3. Steve Ross +21.562
4. Brett Willis +28.526
5. Paul Zazryn +29.085
6. Sefton Gibb +29.860
7. Ian Clements +30.161
8. Aaron Burson +38.228
9. David Arrowsmith +40.155
10. Glenn Richards +40.792
11. Frank Lyons +41.273
12. Chris Atkinson +1.12.522
13. Bill Hemming +1 lap
14. Mike Sidgewick +1 lap
15. Frank Karl +1 lap
dns David Banks, Greg Thornton, Judy Lyons.
Race 3 (Sun)
NZ Express International F5000 Feature race 12 laps
1. Michael Lyons 15.57.39
2. Ken Smith +3.182
3. Steve Ross +34.970
4. Paul Zazryn +47.277
5. Brett Willis +51.636
6. Sefton Gibb +52.473
7. Aaron Burson +53.166
8. David Arrowsmith +55.441
9. Glenn Richards +1.03.489
10. Frank Lyons + 1 lap
11. Bill Hemming +1 lap
12. Chris Atkinson +1 lap
13. Mike Sidgewick +1 lap
14. Frank Karl +1 lap
dnf Ian Clements, Judy Lyons
Final series points
Overall
1. Brett Willis 438 points
2. Paul Zazryn 414
3. Glenn Richards 384
4. Bryan Sala 382
5. Aaron Burson 378
6. Grant Martin 373
Class A
1. Frank Karl (McLaren M10B) 171 points
2,. Dave Arrowsmith (Lotus 70) 137
Stan Redmond Memorial Trophy
Frank Karl
Historic Formula 1
Qualifying
1. Michael Lyons (Hesketh 308E) 1.18.528
2. Tommy Dreelan (March 761) 1.21.510
3. Frank Lyons (McLaren M26) 1.24.829
4. James Hagan (Hesketh 308E) 1.29.579
5. Judy Lyons (Surtees TS9) 2.10.740
Race 1 (Sat 8 laps)
1. Michael Lyons
2. Tommy Dreelan
3. Frank Lyons
4. Judy Lyons
dns James Hagan
