Form driver Simon Evans has claimed wins in all three races in the second round of the BNT NZ Touring Car Championship at Taupo’s Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park.
Continuing his purple patch, Evans sealed the clean sweep by holding off a hard-charging Jason Bargwanna in the final heat who had been hampered by mechanical problems in his Toyota Camry previously across the weekend.
Evans’ pit stop saw him leap up the order from fifth and into the lead after Bargwanna encountered a hiccup following a tardy stop
“Big thanks to my guys on the team, they did an awesome job in that pit stop and got me into the lead,” Evans said.
“The conditions were very changeable and everyone was pitting at different stages. I really didn’t know where we were going to come out once everyone had done their stop.”
“Bargs was chasing me pretty hard at the end there, I had to manage the car in the final few laps as it developed an issue with the gearbox and cost me some time. I think if it had been another lap or two he would have got me.”
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Evans has now bagged the opening two rounds of the Championship as he continues to be the benchmark in the new unified category.
Class Two was won by Liam MacDonald of Invercargill thanks to two wins and a third placing across the weekend’s three races.
MacDonald spent most of the weekend battling fellow Southlander Jamie Conroy who took his first win of the championship in Race 2.
But for MacDonald, it was an opportunity to extend his championship lead, having also won at Pukekohe last month.
The championship now heads to Ruapuna for Round 3 from January 14-15.
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