by Lance Hastie

The weekend's third round of the Toyota Racing Series has elevated Triple X Motorsport driver Earl Bamber to second overall after three races at the brand-new Hampton Downs race circuit.

Following on from his third placing in Saturday's 15-lap race, Bamber driving the VnC Cocktails Mad Butcher FT40 continued his points claim with a second in this morning's pursuit.

Wanganui's 19-year-old Earl Bamber has climbed to second overall in the 2010 Toyota Racing Series after the weekend's third round driving the Triple X Motorsport run VnC Cocktails Mad Butcher Toyota FT40 at Hampton Downs.  Photo: SportProMedia.com

In sweltering conditions at the venue adjacent to State Highway one, Bamber had to start from the third row in the afternoon 20-lap New Zealand Motor Cup race, behind championship rivals Sten Pentus (Estonia) and Mitch Evans (Auckland). Resigned to laying in wait for the front-runners to tangle, Bamber managed a fourth placed result at the chequered flag. The net points tied him for second in the weekend standings and similarly tied for second overall in the championship.

"We've made some good gains but we still don't have the car pace so we've still got to keep improving as a team," said Bamber.

"Realistically we've got to find three-to-four tenths of a second; we're not far behind in a championship point-of-view but we need to be faster earlier in the weekend to be honest." explained Bamber of the slower early weekend qualifying pace that decided the premier race grid.

New Plymouth's Stefan Webling in the Horizon Energy Miles Toyota FT40 car finished sixth for the afternoon race, after a tangle in the morning that required a pit-stop to ensure the car was still aligned correctly.

"We're fairly happy; although the car didn't hook-up quite as well in the major race so we could have done even better I think, but to finish sixth, yes, we're happy," he said.

"We now head to Manfeild where I've done many many laps, so I think we've got a positive twist on where we're at."

Damage free, the Triple X Motorsport Toyota duo hand their cars back to the team mechanics who have to package the weekend operation for transport to Manfeild on the Monday morning. Upon arrival the crew have race-weekend preparations for the feature New Zealand Grand Prix next Sunday afternoon.

"It's been a very good weekend for us as a team in the championship," said Triple X Motorsport team manager Ian McNabb. "There was a lot at stake for both Earl and Stefan, so it's great to see them both achieve at a new venue."

Similar to this weekend's race programme, three races spread over the Saturday and Sunday at the Manfeild venue will add to the championship chase - which will be the fourth and penultimate in the 2010 season.

2010 Toyota Racing Series - Championship points after round three (of five) - top eight
1 Mitch Evans Auckland 558
2= Earl Bamber (Triple X) Wanganui 533
2= Sten Pentus, Estonia 533
4 Lucas Foresti, Brazil 491
5 Andrew Waite, Auckland 463
6 Daniel Jileson, Taumaruni 405
7 Alastair Wootten, Auckland 356
8 Stefan Webling (Triple X) New Plymouth 352

Race results: New Zealand Motor Cup - Toyota Racing Series 20-lap race 1 Hampton Downs (top-six)
pos, car, driver, time
1 20 Sten Pentus 21mins00.061
2 47 Ritchie Stanaway +2.151s
3 28 Lucas Foresti +5.427s
4 7 Earl Bamber +9.295s
5 4 Mitch Evans +12.241s
6 41 Stefan Webling +12.453s