The Motul Honda Cup 2011 got underway with Round 1 at Taupo on the 29th of May and was a resounding success, that's the verdict of the 22 drivers who took part.
Biggest news at Taupo was that the series welcomed no fewer than 12 drivers new to racing, some with no track experience and others with just a few track days and dual sprints under their belts.
"This has always been one of our key objectives," explained series organiser Alan Stewart. "It's very difficult for new drivers to find the right place to go racing for the first time. The type of car they have, their budget and the type of community they want to be part of all play a part and we knew a long time ago that there were large numbers of Honda owners and tuners just itching to give it a go.
"To get 12 new racers surpassed our expectations. Not only that but we had a great day's racing with some fascinating results. We can only go on from here and we know we have more new entrants and experienced racers joining the field at Hampton Downs."
Round winner Richard Gee took two wins in his 1.6 powered EK Civic, with Rik Wakelin taking the third handicap race win after a solid day in his ever-improving Civic EG. Gee and team mate Martin Dunn clashed in the third race, leaving Dunn with no option but to retire and Gee finishing seventh. Mark Walters sits in second in the series after a second, third and fourth placed finish and Taranaki's Shaun Van Beers sits third in his lovely DC5 and the experienced Gary Wilson fourth. Wilson remains very much a dark horse in the series with a new engine in the pipeline expected to propel him to the sharp end.
Top rookie Ben Sunckell impressed all of the experienced racers with three top ten finishes and leads the newcomers in fifth overall in the series.
To see the results for Round One, click HERE to go to the Honda Cup NZ results page.
