Adam bounces back with mega Manfeild pole position lap
Post Haste Toyota 86 racer Connor Adam put himself back on the Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship map with a fabulous pole position performance in Saturday morning qualifying.
His best lap - set early in the session - was enough to hold off the challenge of the major championship contenders and set him up for a solid weekend at the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting - the fourth round of the 2019-2020 championship.
Adam reckoned tyre management was crucial to his run in the hot Manfeild conditions. “You had to get them right at the start when they are cold, because the blocks move around a lot when they are hot. Towards the end of the session it showed that when everyone’s tyres started heating up. It’s all about nailing that perfect lap at the start which we managed to do.
“We’ve changed our engineering group a little bit, we have Aaron Harris working with us now, which has helped a lot. It only takes little bits to get there as the class is so tight, we think we have found that tenth that we need."
Championship leader Jaylyn Robotham in the Eastern Performance Centre car was first to show some pace in the 20 minute session before Peter Vodanovich for NEXEN DTM, Adam and Miles Toyota's Jaden Ransley all bettered his initial mark by dipping into the 1 minute 20 second bracket. Local boy Justin Allen got himself into the leading runners in the Battery Town car and Australian Richard Peasey jumped into contention with the third fastest time in the Gazoo Racing car as the session approached the halfway mark.
Connor Adam then found the form he hit in the Friday practice sessions to pip Vodanovich's best by half a tenth of a second as the leading eight runners traded times separated by just over half a second. At the halfway point through the session, Adam sat at the top of the timesheets, from championship contenders Vodanovich, Ransley and Robotham, with Allen and Peasey not far behind in fifth and sixth spots. That's how it stayed for the remainder of the session with Brock Gilchrist for NEXUS Logistics, Campbell Stewart for Total Oil, Connor Davison for Highlands Motorsport Park and Andrew Jackson for Northshore Toyota rounding out the top ten.
The first race takes place this afternoon at the Grand Prix meeting, with two further races on Sunday.
Best Bars Toyota 86 Championship - Round 4 - New Zealand Grand Prix - Manfeild
1. Connor Adam, Poste Haste
2. Peter Vodanovich, NEXEN DTM
3. Jaden Ransley, Miles Toyota
4. Jaylyn Robotham, Eastern Performance Centre
5. Justin Allen, Battery Town
6. Richard Peasey, Toyota GAZOO Racing New Zealand
7. Brock Gilchrist, NEXUS Logistics
8. Campbell Stewart, Total Oil
9. Connor Davison, Highlands Motorsport Park
10. Andrew Jackson, Northshore Toyota
11. James Wilkins, Kaizen Racing/That English Bloke
12 Leo Bult, North Western Toyota
13 Tayler Bryant, Brian Roberts Paint/CareVets
14 Todd Foster, Post Haste
15 Brayden Phillips, Carters Tyre Service
16 Ryan Wood, CareVets
