MEETING 11 1 MARCH

Local Super Saloon driver, Mark Osborne continued his purple patch of form when winning the fourth round of the Elf Super Cup Series at Mag and Turbo Ruapuna Speedway on Friday evening, with Invercargills Mike Verdona second from Kane Lawson. Osborne, who won the New Zealand title two weeks ago finished in third place in the opening heat, behind series leader, Ian Burson (Nelson) and Verdona. Osborne who started near the back of the 18 strong field in heat two quickly charged passed his rivals to be in fourth place by the end of the second lap and by lap five held third place behind Dennis Bolt and Burson. Osborne got by Burson two laps later and four laps from the chequered flag blasted around Bolt on the Town bend to take the lead, with Bolt then having to hold out the fast finishing Verdona on the last lap. The 25 lap Feature saw Osborne lead from the start, from Burson, Verdona and Richie Taylor with these four quickly opening up a big lead on the rest of the field. With half the race to run Burson and Osborne raced side by side for two laps with Burson making the most of some lapped cars to take the lead on lap 14. Three laps later the race went under caution when Taylor was forced to retire when his fourth position. Before the race retuned to green Burson retired to the infield with a flat right rear allow Osborne to inherit the lead with the national champion untroubled to hold until the end from Verdona and Lawson who set the fastest saloon lap time of the night 16.08 seconds during heat 1. Darryl Harris won the Canterbury Modified Sprint title when winning two of the three heats and finishing in second place behind Tom Lumsden in the other. Nigel Jackson finished second overall in the title race, six points behind Harris with Lumsden claiming third place despite only finishing in two of the heats. Nelsons Nevil Basalaj was unbeaten in the Midget section back was made to work hard in two of the races by Dave Kerr. The TQ section again produced close racing with three different winners, Blair Warren, Jeremy Webb and Gareth Bindon, with the racing producing several spectacular rolls. Marty Kennett walked away in the opening race after his car rolled and flipped down the front straight and on to the infield.

Race Results (Competitors from Christchurch unless stated)

Super Saloons Elf Super Cup Round 4 Ht 1. Ian Burson (Nelson) 1, Mike Verdona (Inv) Mark Osborne 3. Ht 2. Osborne 1, Dennis Bolt 2, Verdona 3.

Pole Shuffle: Osborne 1, Burson 2, Verdona 3, Richie Taylor 4, Bolt 5, Kane Lawson 6, Mark Carey 7, Roger Nees 8. Feature: Osborne 1, Verdona 2, Lawson 3, Shane Carey (Nelson) 4, Nees 5, Gavin Hill 6, Dion McMurdo (Inv) 7, Bruce Bolton 8. Round Points: Osborne 282, Verdona 268.5, Lawson 221.5, Burson 220.5, Bolt 192.5, Carey 182.5, Nees 177.5, Hill 164.5, Bolton 151.5, Taylor 149.5, Paddy North 139.5, Barry Redpath (Inv) 139.5, Mark Carey (Nelson) 121, Dion McMurdo (Inv) 119.5, Trevor Elliot 91.5, Paul Wright (Cromwell) 87, Neil Robertson 56.5, Mark Vincent (Cromwell) 20. Midgets Ht 1. Nevil Basalaj (Nelson) 1, Scott Millar 2, Michael Moulin 3. Ht 2. Basalaj 1, Dave Kerr 2, Ben Gilmore 3. Feature: Basalaj 1, Kerr 3, Gavin Wilkie (Dunedin ) 3. Three-Quarter Midgets Ht 1. Blair Warren 1, Jeremy Webb 2, Kate Warren 3. Ht 2. Webb 1, B Warren 2, Gareth Bindon 3. Feature: Bindon 1, Ben Gilmore 2, Webb 3. Modified Sprints Canterbury Championships Ht 1. Darryl Harris 1, Raymond Phillips (Inv) 2, Nigel Jackson 3. Ht 2. Tom Lumsden 1, Harris 2, Phillips 3. Ht 3. Harris 1, Lumsden 2, Jackson 3 Final Points: Harris 59, Jackson 53, Lumsden 44, Phillips 37, Craig Phillips (Inv) 37, Brendon Daly 37, Hogan Jeffs 22, Caleb Baughan 10, Charlie Jackson 5. Quarter Midgets Canterbury Championships Ht 1. Brad Shearman 1, Jack Low 2, Jay Basalaj (Nelson) 3. Ht 2. Montana Jamieson 1, Low 2, Hunter Rowland 3. Final. Jamieson 1, Basalaj 2, Low 3.