Zack Scoular wins in wet and wild Toyota FR Oceania sprint at Manfeild
The New Zealander kept himself in the championship hunt with a fine drive through a heavy downfall.
Kiwi Zack Scoular braved the conditions and put on a masterful show at Manfeild to take victory in the reverse-grid Toyota FR Oceania sprint race.
With patchy rain falling around the circuit, it was a close call for teams and drivers over slick or wet tyres, with Scoular the lead driver on the wet compound as a gaggle of runners on the slick compound made their way through the field, led by championship leader Arvid Lindblad.
Scoular was the fastest on track by a wide margin despite the drying conditions, with a huge lead of 12 seconds before a burst of heavy rain and a late safety car.
Scoular held his lead at the restart to finish ahead of Americans Nikita Johnson and Josh Pierson.
"I had a great car early on and I knew if I was going to win this race and it was going to dry I had to build a big lead,” said the Kiwi.
"I was conscious of looking after the front tyres particularly, but the car had plenty of speed even when the track was drying. After the restart it was fully wet and all I had to do was get a good restart, which I did, and I was able to bring it home comfortably."
Lindblad had made his way up through the field to challenge the top five before falling to 14th at the flag after the burst of rain, with Scoular taking vital championship points. The mtec Motorsport driver was able to reign in the Red Bull Junior's lead from 44 points down to just 24, with everything to play for later on Sunday in the Dan Higgins Trophy.
Australian Patrick Heuzenroeder once again impressed, charging to eighth after a pit stop to change to wets during the safety car, with countryman Nicolas Stati behind in ninth.
