Ross Slips Through Pack in Wet

Cambridge driver Nick Ross slipped through unscathed in the harrowing conditions which hit the Timaru International Motor Raceway yesterday for the fourth round of the BNTV8s Championship.

Taking some valuable points away from the weekend he returned home with little to no damage on the Total Lubricants Commodore which once more proved to be a quick competitive race car.

"Overall we were pretty quick all weekend and were able to move up through the traffic - we came home without any damage and took some good points, luckily the car only has a few scratches and we are much better off than some of the other guys" he says.

Unlucky to miss the top 10 qualification session by 0.079 of a second, Ross went into the first race aiming to make up some positions on the track.

However the rain hit the Timaru circuit with a vengeance and turned the weekend's opening race on it's head by catching the field lined up for the start on slick tyres.

With all but Craig Baird and Tim Edgell starting the race on slicks the rain continued to fall hard making the track extremely slippery and when the green lights came on, cars began falling off the circuit in all directions.

John McIntyre quickly pulled into the lead but soon after put his Ford heavily into the tyre wall as he entered the home straight which resulted in a red flag halting the race and ending the weekend for his race car.

Ross was riding within the top 10 by the end of the first lap of the race but unfortunately due to much confusion over the conditions and race positions he lost a few places before lining up for the restart.

"We thought we were doing the right thing when the red flag came out and we stopped at the red flag line, but we were told to go around again so I went into the pits to change the tyres and we ended up at the back of the grid for the restart." said Ross.

When the racing resumed he was able to move forward and make up some of those places all the while overtaking defending champion Kayne Scott before eventually finishing in 13th place.

"In the first race Kayne had a car which wasn't working too well in the wet. I got past him and drove away - that doesn't happen very often but it feels good when it does." he said.

The conditions cleared for the second race and the circuit dried giving Ross an opportunity to take some more places and finsh seventh in an impressive rise after starting 13th from the grid.

A tough battle with Angus Fogg endured for several laps and soon involved an ever closing Kayne Scott but the seventh place was held by an ever determined Ross.

The rain came back for the third and final race with Ross starting from 16th on the grid where he made his way up only to be knocked back again but narrowly escaped becoming caught in an incident.

"Foggy got tapped and spun around in front of me, I got out of the way and Manuell got him instead - I didn't come to a complete stop but I may as well have done the number of cars I let through, I only just got through myself."

Nick Ross finished the final race of the weekend in 13th after fighting his way up through the pack again.

Next up for the BNTV8s Championship is round five at Manfeild Autocourse over the weekend of 13-14th February 2010 before the final in March.

"We are definitely looking forward to Manfeild, we're getting faster and have a fast car in the rain or the sunshine so we don't have to pray for wet weather anymore" he says.

The final round of the BNTV8s Championship 2009-10 is March 20-21 held at Taupo Motorsport Park but it is followed by a non-championship event within the ITM 400 at Hamilton providing action-filled support racing for the third round of the Australian V8 Supercars on April 16-18.

Ross battling with Angus Fogg at Timaru on Sunday - SportProMedia