From pole to chequered flag for Kyan Davie

Relative newcomer Kyan Davie stormed from a hard earned pole to winning Race One of the V8 Utes at Hampton Downs. For the rest of the field, after some promising performances in Qualifying, Race One brought mechanical dramas and frustrations for some of the championship contenders.

Saturday morning’s Qualifying was greeted by warm and dry conditions after rain spoilt the party in Friday’s two practice sessions. In just his second weekend racing in a V8 Ute, Kyan Davie topped the timesheets as the only ute into the 1.16’s, just a whisker ahead of Brad Kroef and Alex Fougere. It was such a close Qualifying session, the first 5 utes were separated by less than a second, while there was barely a 2-second spread between 1st and 9th. Such performances set the scene for a close Race One just after 3pm in the afternoon.

Yet dramas began even before the lights went out. After the highs of winning Round Two at Manfeild, came a low point for Phill Ross losing throttle response on the formation lap. That left him stranded off the side of the track to watch pole sitter Kyan Davie storm away ahead of a hard-charging Alex Fougere. Brad & Greg Kroef were in hot pursuit looking quick and composed.

Then on lap 2, championship leader Brad Kroef lost his clutch coming into the dipper, leaving him a sitting duck unable to change gear. He was clipped first by his father Greg then by Daniel Ludlam as his Ford FG ute limped out of the corner.

There were no such dramas up ahead as Kyan Davie extended his lead, but Alex Fougere wasn’t letting him get too far ahead. Greg Kroef was well in the hunt, while Daniel Ludlam slipped inside Simon Ussher on Turn 8 to snatch 4th place.

As the laps unfolded and despite lapping traffic coming through, Kyan Davie kept a cool head and steady right foot stretching his lead, lap after lap, ahead of a persistent Alex Fougere, with Greg Kroef clinging onto 3rd.

This lead trio ran away with the race all the way to the chequered flag. It was Kyan Davie’s first ever race win in a ‘tin top’ having won in three open wheeler categories previously. Meanwhile it was another great 2nd place for Alex Fougere and a superb 3rd for Greg Kroef.

In the mid-pack, Paul Fougere and Blair Gribble-Bowring crossed the line dead even at +18.635 behind the lead. What are the chances? Paul was awarded 7th for his faster final lap. While further back, Jeremy Hunt blew away the cobwebs after a year away from the series for an incident-free 10th placing.

So as the sun set on the Waikato skyline, the Heron Construction and C & R Construction crews were left thrashing in the pits trying to get their utes ready for Sunday's racing action, with Race Two scheduled for 11.56 am.

Photo Credits: Matt Smith

V8 UTES QUALIFYING
1ST	Kyan Davie	1.16.975
2ND	Brad Kroef	1.17.168
3rd	Alex Fougere	1.17.297
4th	Greg Kroef	1.17.365
5th	Simon Ussher	1.17.920
6th	Daniel Ludlam	1.18.228
7th	Phill Ross	1.18.600
8th	Stuart Monteith	1.18.868
9th	Paul Fougere	1.18.900
10th	Blair Gribble-Bowring	1.19.411
11th	Jeremy Hunt	1.19.890
12th	Bruce McRae	1.20.385

V8 UTES RACE ONE
1ST	Kyan Davie
2ND	Alex Fougere	+3.299
3rd	Greg Kroef	+7.974
4th	Daniel Ludlam	+9.885
5th	Simon Ussher	+13.835
6th	Stuart Monteith	+16.317
7th	Paul Fougere	+18.635
8th	Blair Gribble-Bowring	+18.635
9th	Bruce McRae
10th	Jeremy Hunt
11th	Brad Kroef
DNS	Phill Ross