BELL CONTINUES GOOD FORM

Christchurch driver Eddie Bell continued to shine at the third round of the BNT V8s Championship at Teretonga Park in Invercargill last weekend.

Bell, the winner of the opening round at Pukekohe in November, was on the pace from the beginning of proceedings at Teretonga. He comfortably made it through each segment of qualifying to stake his place in the top ten shootout where he recorded the fifth fastest lap, just .299 off pole position. The lap could have been even sharper as Eddie later revealed that he lost 2 or 3/10ths of a second at the final corner of the lap. However the Cantabrian was a happy man. "We've got a good car," he said as he looked forward to the three races ahead.

Bell and the Independent Fisheries/Hydraulink Falcon missed a gear off the start of the opening race on Sunday morning but nevertheless the former national Pro 7 and MINI Challenge champion still made a solid start to the round with a sixth place finish. Early on Sunday afternoon the second race got underway and again Eddie was running strongly in sixth place when the safety car was deployed. A great start at the resumption saw Bell gain a spot and he brought the car home in fifth position. Once clear of traffic after the restart Bell recorded the second fastest lap of the race.

Several drivers suffered misfortune in the final race, a reverse grid event, and unfortunately Bell in the Independent Fisheries/Hydraulink Falcon was one of them. Two cars got together in front of Bell and he was forced to take to the grass to avoid the incident. Unfortunately the evasive action filled the radiator with grass and the car began to overheat and Eddie was forced to pit. He rejoined the fray but he was not classified as a finisher as he did not cover 75% of the full race distance.

While the lack of points from the race was costly Bell still holds fourth place in the championship after the round, down one spot from his position entering the weekend.

The championship continues next weekend at Timaru International Motor Raceway next weekend.

Bell's campaign is supported by Independent Fisheries, Hydraulink, Valvoline, Mondiale, Rilees Signs, Lamb & Hayward, Hawkins Refrigeration, Avon City Ford, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, Arbi Monograms, PSP and Dinsdale Race Engineering.

Eddie Bell leads a train of cars in his Independent Fisheries/Hydraulink Falcon at Round 3 of the 2009/2010 BNT V8s Championship at Teretonga Park this weekend: SportProMedia.com