V8S
NZ Utes: Chris Pither Manfeild Park summary
Published: Feb 14, 2011, 7:28 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
PITHER PILES ON POINTS
Chris Pither got the perfect result on his home track when the ENZED V8 Ute Challenge came to the Manawatu this weekend.
The Palmerston North driver who now spends much of his time based in Queensland took a clean sweep with the fastest lap in qualifying on Saturday before going on to win all three races - one on Saturday and then two on Sunday - as he boosted his championship challenge after a rocky start to the series.
More importantly for Chris he now moves into second place in the championship points and has closed the gap to series leader Caine Lobb. Prior to the round Chris was third in the standings 142 points behind Lobb. He left Manfeild on Sunday evening second in the championship just 74 points in arrears.
Time and time again this season diff and driveshaft problems had cost 'The Gypsy' dearly but with new units installed this weekend it was a perfect round for Pither.
Saturday had seen Chris require just two flying laps in the Gallagher XR8 Falcon to set the pace in qualifying with a lap 1.244 seconds faster than the next best time. 'The Gypsy' followed that up later in the afternoon with a perfectly timed drive from near the rear of the field. He took the lead midway through the final lap to start the round with a race win.
The next race on Sunday morning saw a fierce battle between Pither, Lobb and Simon Beirne before Chris prevailed to make it two from two for the weekend. "Once I got into the lead I had clear track and didn't have to defend so I could run fast lines," he said.
Those results gave 'The Gypsy' pole position for the final race and again the Gallagher XR8 Falcon scorched off into the lead. It looked routine until a brief safety car period near the end of the race. At the restart Lobb launched an attack which Pither withstood before going on to record his third win of the round.
Pither was understandably very pleased with his weekend." It was a solid round and it has given us a crack at the championship. We are back in touch. The new diff and driveshaft held together." The home track factor was also in his favour as he alluded to after the final race. "There are tricks about getting around Manfeild and I used them." Pither also confirmed he had things under control despite Lobb's attempt to get by from the restart in the final race. "You can't pass around the outside here so I was not concerned."
Chris now returns to Australia to test a Holden Ute prior to the Clipsal 500 weekend in Adelaide late in March. Before that event he will return to New Zealand for the penultimate round of the ENZED V8 Ute Challenge at the Taupo Motorsport Park from 11-13 March.
Support for Chris in his ENZED V8 Ute Challenge title defence comes from the Gallagher Group, ENZED, KDTraining.com, Cairns Bins and Maldon Salt.
-source: pither/beer
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article NZ Utes: Series Manfeild Park summary
Next article BNT: Andy Booth Manfeild Park summary
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Chris Pither
Supercars driver makes Porsche switch
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars driver makes Porsche switch
PremiAir Racing announces Pither exit
Supercars
Supercars
PremiAir Racing announces Pither exit
PremiAir Racing cuts maiden test short
Supercars
Supercars
PremiAir Racing cuts maiden test short
Latest news
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
45 min
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 59 min
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Rackley W.A.R. to immediately shut down NASCAR Truck Series team
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Talladega
1 h
Rackley W.A.R. to immediately shut down NASCAR Truck Series team
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe