The season comes down to the wire at Hampton Downs

A season that has seen close finishes, the rise of some exciting talents and intense doorhandle-to-doorhandle racing is coming to a head at Hampton Downs. This will be the grand finale of a spirited 6-round series for the V8 Utes, fuelled this weekend by Waitomo as part of NZIGP’s Season Finale May 16-17th.

The closeness of competition is reflected in the top four drivers being separated by just 37 points. And with 35 points for a win and 3 races on the card, the final result could hinge on a single missed gear change or off-track excursion. Glen Collinson of Hamilton won the One Hour Enduro late April at Taupo, while Daniel Ludlam, Mitch Sparrow and Brad Kroef have each claimed race victories and won a round  this season.

Ford driver Brad Kroef currently leads the series and has two previous V8 Utes titles in his resume. He comes into the weekend with a slim 19 point lead over rival Mitch Sparrow in a Holden ute. Daniel Ludlam sits just 13 points back in 3^rd, with reigning title-holder Glen Collinson a mere 5 points behind him. Don’t discount Greg Kroef in 5^th just 19 points behind Glen, while Phill Ross - who has dueled with Greg all season - is just 7 points in arrears. The midfield battle is just as close with Paul Fougere and Stu Monteith having battled hammer and tongs all season.

The prospect of all this close racing has inspired Jeremy Hunt to return after a short hiatus. Tuning gremlins look to be all sorted for Blair Gribble-Bowring in the JWB Ford FG, so we could see this talented driver – who set the lap record at Timaru last season - mix it up with the front runners. The weekend sees ten utes line up on the grid racing once again ahead of the NZ Sixes, making for some classic Holden vs Ford encounters across two categories.

Qualifying for the Waitomo V8 Utes is the 4^th event on Saturday morning, with Race One scheduled for early afternoon. Sunday morning’s reverse-grid race will see some spirited overtaking as the previous race’s front-runners start at the back. Then Race Three and the title decider is the first race after lunch.

V8 UTES SERIES POINTS AFTER 5 ROUNDS
	DRIVER	UTE	POINTS
1.	Brad Kroef	#06 Ford	344
2.	Mitch Sparrow	#71 Holden	325
3.	Daniel Ludlam	#24 Holden	312
4.	Glen Collinson	#1 Ford	307
5.	Greg Kroef	#23 Ford	288
6.	Phill Ross	#700 Holden	281
7.	Blair Gr.-Bowring	#14 Ford	233
8.	Paul Fougere	#57 Holden	209
9.	Geoff Spencer	#22 Holden	207
9.	Paul Fougere	#57 Holden	190
10.	Stu Monteith	#99 Holden	152
11.	Tyler Ward	#117 Holden	122
12.	Cam Vernon	#21  Ford	95
13.	Jeremy Hunt	#226  Holden	77
14.	Peter Ward	#69 Holden	75
15.	David Lowe	#82 Ford	51