Mitre 10 Trade Racing

Richard Moore secures second NZ V8 Ute championship win in a row After finishing fifth in the final race of the season, Richard Moore has provisionally scored his second consecutive PORTERGROUP V8 Utes Series title win. Starting from fourth, Moore had to stay out of trouble to secure the crown; and he largely did so as his key championship rival Pa...

Richard Moore and the Mitre 10 Trade Racing team take out the New Zealand Championship #1 spot again for a second year in a row 🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁

Well done Champ !!!!

Another excellent weekend for the Mitre 10 Trade Racing Holden ute

ONE MORE FOR MOORE

Richard Moore further extended his lead in the PORTERGROUP V8 Ute Championship at the penultimate round with victory in the final race taking his weekend tally to two out of three in the Mitre 10 Trade Racing Holden.

Moore led from the start and it was Chris 'Hammertime' Hanley who powered into second ahead of Paul 'Auto' Manuell. Manuell had found the sweet spot in the set up of the Super Freight Partmaster ute for the last race of the weekend and was quickly filling Hanley's mirrors and looking for a way by. That came half way into the race when Hanley made a mistake and went off into the dirt at the downhill sweeper freeing up Manuell who set off after Moore with some blistering laps. He was on his tail with one lap to go but couldn't find a way past Moore.

At the flag it was Moore - just - from Manuell and it would be those two topping the round results too. With Glen Collinson effectively out of the championship after his morning crash, the title will almost certainly be played out at Pukekohe between the 2016 sprint champion and the 2016-2017 summer champion.
Elsewhere, Andrew "Hireman' Porter jumped up to third when Hanley went off but could not match the pace of Manuell and had to be content with third place, which he held until the flag, while Matt Spratt - starting from the back after being penalised for his part in the Race 2 shunt - worked his way through the field to finish fourth.

Alexandra 'Skippy' Whitley capped yet another impressive weekend with a fifth place finish. Geoff 'SOS' Spencer rounded out his weekend with a sixth place, while Chris Hanley recovered to seventh. Dave Kernohan meanwhile came out on top of the fight for the minor placings, finishing eighth ahead of Simon Ussher and Jason Land who rounded out a solid weekend in tenth.

PORTERGROUP V8 Ute Championship, Round 3, Race 3 Hampton Downs

1. Richard Moore Mitre 10 Trade Racing Holden
2. Paul Manuell Super Freight PartmasterHolden
3. Andrew Porter Porter Hire Holden
4. Matthew Spratt Primogrow Ford Falcon FG
5. Alexandra Whitley LDV Holden
6. Geoff Spencer Coresteel Buildings Holden
7. Chris Hanley Placemakers Holden
8. Dave Kernohan KCH Racing Ford Falcon BF
9. Simon Ussher United Freight Racing Ford Falcon FG
10. Jason Land Panorama Motorsport Ford Falcon BF
11. Brent Main Ryco 82C Racing Ford Falcon BF
12. Dave Lowe Ryco 82C Racing Ford Falcon BF
13. Jeff Kernohan KCH Racing Ford Falcon BF

Another top weekend for the Mitre 10 Trade racing team.... 2 wins and a 2nd....

Lots of drama at the track today, with Brett “Scud” Rudd and Glen “ Coyote” Collinson involved in a massive crash, we hope both drivers are not too bruised and sore....

Looks like both their Utes could be write offs !!!!!

Final round st Pukekohe in a few weeks time

Extended the championship lead with two wins today - ready for Pukekohe for the Finale!

Thanks to the Mitre 10 Trade Racing boys, NZ V8 Ute Racing Series and everyone who came out to support us today !

Round 3 of the Porter Group V8 Utes,

Head down tomorrow to support Richard “ Danger “ Moore as he looks to defend his championship

Congrats to Paul Manuell and his team, a good result today to reward all the long hours spent repairing the Super Freight ute over the last few weeks 🏁🏁

MANUELL BACK IN CHAMPIONSHIP CHASE

Paul "Auto' Manuell took out Race 1 in style at the third round of the PORTERGROUP V8 Ute Championship at Hampton Downs today, taking a lights to flag victory and bringing his championship challenge back to life after his dramas at Manfeild in the previous round.

Having secured pole position in his rebuilt Partmaster Super Freight Holden, Manuell made a clean getaway at the lights and was never headed. He will have been very glad of the clean run as there was plenty of drama behind, however.

Championship leader Richard 'Danger' Moore made a phenomenal start in the Mitre 10 Trade Holden, hooking it up and launching himself from fourth up to second place past Andrew 'Hireman' Porter and Glen 'Coyote' Collinson with some ease and even having a look down the inside of Manuell as the field poured into Turn 1. He quickly chose discretion ahead of valour however and focused on his second place as Manuell made good his getaway, building on his points lead ahead in the title race.

Behind Moore it was all action as Porter and Collinson diced for third and a further midfield battle raged behind them. It all ended badly however, with Porter hitting Collinson heavily as the two utes approached Turn 4. Porter carried on with heavy frontal damage, but Collinson was spun out onto the sand instantly and although he got going again with relatively light damage, he was right at the back of the field with his second place in the championship chase looking seriously compromised.

Through it all into a fine third place came Matt 'Stinger' Spratt in the Primogrow Ford Falcon FG, having started from the back after controversially not being timed in qualifying as a result of transponder problems. He calmly passed ute after ute, did it cleanly and was consistently one of the fastest cars, even through traffic. His fist pump at the line was well justified and proof if it was needed that had he undertaken the full championship this year, he would have been a very serious threat.

Alexandra' Skippy' Whitley was another to suffer bad luck in the race. Once again she emerged from the early drama seemingly unscathed to be holding a comfortable third before something went wrong with the LDV Holden prompting 'torque steer that wanted to fire me off the track'. She sensibly opted for the safety of its where a wobbly rear wheel and possible bearing failure were diagnosed.

Behind the top three Brett 'The Scud' Rudd enjoyed another strong race driving to fourth in the Pallet Supplies Holden, while Peter 'Kaos' Ward looked to be recapturing some real form with a solid drive to complete the top five. Chris 'Hammertime' Hanley raced well to sixth, back in a Placemakers Holden for the second half of the championship, while Jason 'Mario' Land provided some compensation for Panorama Motorsport with his best ever drive in the championship to take out seventh.

Team Kernohan locked out the next two places, with 'Dirty' Dave in eighth and Jeff 'Ripples' in ninth, with Geoff 'SOS' Spencer a hobbled tenth after clutch issues during the race. Ripples and SOS will start from the front row in Sunday morning's Reverse Top Ten format encounter.

PORTERGROUP V8 UTE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 - Race 1 - Hampton Downs

1. Paul Manuell Super Freight Partmaster Holden
2. Richard Moore Mitre 10 Trade Racing Holden
3. Matthew Spratt Primogrow Ford Falcon FG
4. Brett Rudd Pallet Supplies Racing Holden
5. Peter Ward Ward Demolition Holden
6. Chris Hanley Placemakers Holden
7. Jason Land Panorama Motorsport Ford Falcon BF
8. Dave Kernohan KCH Racing Ford Falcon BF
9. Jeff Kernohan KCH Racing Ford Falcon BF
10. Geoff Spencer Coresteel Buildings Holden
11. Glen Collinson Panorama Motorsport DNA Ford Falcon FG
12. Brent Main Ryco 82C Ford Falcon BF
13. Alexandra Whitley LDV Holden
14. Andrew Porter Porter Hire Holden

Round 3 at Hampton Downs this weekend

Come down and support the Mitre 10 Trade team, be entertained by the Porter Hire V8 Utes

How many laps do you reckon this guys has racked up around Hampton Downs? He'll be clocking a few more this weekend as he looks to extend his narrow lead in the PORTERGROUP V8 Utes Championship..join Richard the rest of the V8 cast this weekend and get your discounted tickets on-line now at Speed Works Events

Championship points at the moment ......

Who can pick the Mitre 10 Trade Racing driver 😉🏁

Here's where we are with points ahead of Round 3 which will be at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over the weekend of March 9/10/11.

Well done to
Richard “Danger”Moore,

2 race wins and the round win in the Mitre 10 Trade Racing team Holden.. 🏁🏁

MOORE WRAPS UP ROUND AND TAKES SERIES LEAD

Richard 'Danger' Moore bagged his second win of the weekend in the second round of the PORTERGROUP V8 Ute Championship at the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting at the Manfeild Chris Amon track after another titanic race.

Moore made the most of pole position to get away in the lead and once again there was a fierce scrap behind him as the rest of leading runners slugged it out to see who could take the challenge to the Mitre 10 Trade Racing Holden.

Initially it looked like it would be either Brett 'The Scud' Rudd or Andrew 'Hireman' Porter, with both of their Holdens looking as nimble as they had done in the first race of the day when they came home 1-2. But looming up through the field after a frustrating weekend was a fired up Matt 'Stinger' Spratt and having dealt with the best of the midfield runners he set after Porter and Rudd, eventually making his way through and steaming up behind Moore to be right on his bumper with one to go. Some fantastic defensive driving saw Moore just make it home, with Spratt having produced the drive of the race to take second.

Porter completed a superb weekend by nipping his Holden inside that of Rudd to take third, with Geoff 'SOS' Spencer completing his solid weekend with fifth. Glen Collinson came through to sixth after a mesmerising battle with Spratt, former champ Chris 'Hammertime' Hanley in the Placemakers Ford and Alexandra Whitley in the LDV Holden.

Hammertime and 'Skippy' Whitley had a fierce battle too, which almost ended in a huge crash when the two touched on the drag race to the line with one to go. Thankfully both kept it on the black stuff to finish seventh and eighth. Ninth was Peter 'Kaos' Ward who put in an eye-catching recovery drive after a lap one clash with Sam 'Sammy' Filmore left him near the back and with a severely wounded Ward Demolition Holden. 'Dirty' Dave Kernohan rounded out the top ten after his own battles in the KCH Ford Falcon.

Paul 'Auto' Manuell's dramatic weekend continued right through to the end of the race and he was lucky to make it to the flag. His crew, and members of Rudd's crew worked frantically between the second and third races to repair the damage to the Super Freight Partmaster Holden, even heading off to the wrecker for some late replacement parts to the steering column. The former champion was making solid progress too, until an enormous flame out through the passenger side front wheel arch signalled a rather large problem. The power steering had exploded leaving Manuell to muscle the car for the rest of the race, and contend with it going into safe mode - both problems almost certainly a result of residual damage from the morning. It was a major achievement for him to make it home in 13th place, and those points could yet prove crucial in what is turning out to be a fantastic PORTERGROUP V8 ute championship.

Race 3

POS NO. DRIVER UTE

1 1 Richard Moore Holden
2 48 Matt Spratt Ford
3 3 Andrew Porter Holden
4 99 Brett Rudd Holden
5 22 Geoff Spencer Holden
6 17 Glen Collinson Ford
7 48 Alexandra Whitley Holden
8 90 Chris Hanley Ford
9 69 Peter Ward Holden
10 12 Dave Kernohan Ford
11 21 Jeff Kernohan Ford
12 94 Simon Ussher Ford
13 15 Paul Manuell Holden
14 23 Sam Fillmore Holden
15 18 Jason Land Ford
16 84 Dave Lowe Ford
17 82 Brent Main Ford