Luke Youlden and the Powerbuilt Falcon will be missing when the NZV8s Championship field lines up for the opening race of Round 5 of their series at Timaru International Motor Raceway on Saturday.
However the Australian star will be back for the second and third races of the round when they take place on Sunday.
Unfortunately this weekend’s round of the championship clashes with the opening round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Development Series in Adelaide, an Australian series in which Youlden has landed a ride with the HPM Racing Team.
After originally announcing the round at Timaru would take precedence, the decision has now been made that Youlden will miss practice, qualifying and the opening race at Timaru while he competes on the other side of the Tasman. Once his commitments in Adelaide are complete on Saturday he will fly to Melbourne to catch a flight to Christchurch, arriving in New Zealand at midnight. He will then drive to Timaru, 162 kilometres to the south, in time to compete in the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning. The finale, a 20 lap reverse grid race will be held later in the day. Youlden’s late arrival will place him at the rear of the grid for Sunday morning’s race.
Despite the fact that Youlden’s first laps around the 2.4 kilometre Timaru circuit will be in Sunday morning’s race the Melbourne based driver is still confident of a good result at Timaru. “Timaru is a track we know well and I think we will be competitive, especially in the reverse grid race. Missing race one should put us near the front for race three and we will be going for a win in that one. I’m very grateful to Powerbuilt Tools and AutoTek for allowing me to have a crack at the Fujitsu Series, ” continued Youlden. “They didn’t have to but they have recognised that we do not have a shot at the New Zealand title after the dramas we have had in this series. Powerbuilt Tools are on board for the Fujitsu Series campaign and we will try and win that series. It is just a shame the A1GP date brought about a clash of dates. ” The Timaru round was initially scheduled for January but the late confirmation of the A1GP World Cup Of Motorsport event at Taupo in that month meant the New Zealand racing calendar was altered to accommodate it.
Youlden currently lies 6th in the point standings in the NZV8s title chase.
The clash of rounds means a big trans-tasman weekend of motor racing for Youlden. After testing at Adelaide on Thursday he will take part in qualifying at lunchtime on Friday with the first 24 lap race of the demanding 3.22 kilometre street circuit scheduled for 6.20pm (Australia time) on Friday evening. The second race is at 9.50am on Saturday morning. After that Youlden and one of his kiwi rivals in both series, Kayne Scott, will make the dash to Timaru for the second day of competition at the South Canterbury circuit.
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