Brad Kroef wins his third title. Two more race wins for Mitch Sparrow.
- Glenn Churches
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
In the final event of the V8 Utes season where the series was in the balance, Brad Kroef put in a huge effort clinching enough points in the weekend’s Waitomo V8 Utes races to secure his third series title. Yet it all came down to the final race on Sunday with potentially four drivers in contention to claim the title. Mitch Sparrow and Glen Collinson battled for the full 10 laps of Race Three with Mitch securing the win; Glen finished just 0.4 secs in arrears in second. Brad Kroef was a slim 0.7 secs back from the lead in third. A fitting finish to a fantastic summer series.
Sunday began with the reverse-grid Waitomo V8 Utes Race Two, which put the series front runners deep in the grid. Title hopeful Glen Collinson started back in 10th, but by the third lap was up to fourth. Mitch Sparrow was less hard done by his start position in fourth, but he had work to do.
At the chequered flag, Mitch Sparrow secured yet another race win, series leader Brad Kroef finished second with Glen Collinson third. We saw some superb driving from Daniel Ludlam who started second on the grid and remained two seconds ahead of Glen throughout the later laps to finish third. Glen Collinson was just two seconds back in fourth.
The race was eventful but rather less successful for Phill Ross. Despite hassling Greg Kroef the whole race fighting for fifth, his tyre delaminated on the 8th lap. After the race, Phill reflected, “Down the straight it just went sideways,” as the tyre tread unravelled. A rare occurrence.
As the four series front-runners finished top four, it meant the series title was to be settled in the afternoon’s Race Three. With so much on the line, it was action-packed right from the start. Glen stole the lead from Brad midway through the first lap, from there Mitch was on his tail. After coming into the weekend a series hopeful, sadly Daniel Ludlam stalled on the line and slumped back to 10th.
Further back, positions four to six were a closely-fought battle. Greg Kroef was running fourth early in the race with Blair Gribble-Bowring and Phill Ross in pursuit. Phill got ahead, then Phill and Blair swapped positions – twice – before Phill prevailed. He then mounted a challenge on Greg, ultimately claiming fourth on the eighth lap. Behind them, Paul Fougere, Stu Monteith and Jeremy Hunt waged their own war, with Stu keeping ahead for 7th.
After ten hard-fought laps, Mitch Sparrow added another race win to his resume, Glen finished second, with Brad Kroef’s third place bagging enough points to clinch the title - his third V8 Utes series win.
With the Kroef family now pulling back from V8 Utes racing, it was a fitting way for Brad to leave the category - a well-deserved series winner, while father Greg finished the season with a pole and several podiums.
As for the 6-round season just gone, the V8 Utes saw some of the closest race finishes ever with every team upping their game. Mitch Sparrow proved and improved his talents throughout the season, suggesting an exciting motor racing career ahead for the 20-year old. What a series.
V8 UTES RACE TWO SUNDAY | |||
| DRIVER | UTE | MARGIN |
1ST | Mitch Sparrow | #71 Holden |
|
2nd | Brad Kroef | #06 Ford | +1.213 |
3rd | Daniel Ludlam | #24 Holden | +2.901 |
4th | Glen Collinson | #1 Ford | +4.237 |
5th | Greg Kroef | #23 Ford | +11.646 |
6th | Blair Gribble-Bowring | #14 Ford | +13.316 |
7TH | Stu Monteith | #99 Holden | +15.548 |
8TH | Paul Fougere | #57 Holden | +16.059 |
9th | Jeremy Hunt | #226 Holden | +16.762 |
10TH | Phill Ross | #700 Holden | +46.494 |
V8 UTES RACE THREE SUNDAY | |||
| DRIVER | UTE | MARGIN |
1ST | Mitch Sparrow | #71 Holden |
|
2ND | Glen Collinson | #1 Ford | +0.440 |
3rd | Brad Kroef | #06 Ford | +0.755 |
4th | Phill Ross | #700 Holden | +7.944 |
5th | Greg Kroef | #23 Ford | +8.960 |
6th | Blair Gribble-Bowring | #14 Ford | +11.471 |
7TH | Stu Monteith | #99 Holden | +16.099 |
8TH | Jeremy Hunt | #226 Holden | +19.411 |
9TH | Paul Fougere | #57 Holden | +19.711 |
10TH | Daniel Ludlam | #24 Holden | +21.908 |
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