Simon Richards made up ground at the weekend when the BNTV8s Championship competed at the Manfeild Autocourse in Feilding.

Aiming for a top ten finish this season he was knocked out of the elite group last month at Timaru after sitting inside it since the opening round at Pukekohe.

The competition has been at it's fiercest this season but never the less Richards has improved his standing at the weekend by moving up into 13th in the championship from 15th and is just 57 points away from regaining 10th place.

"I would have liked to have gone a little better in the first two races but was knocked about at the wrong place wrong time. The last race was a good one and we've moved up a couple of places before Taupo." said Richards.

Qualifying session two was hindered by a light rain which prevented some drivers from improving on their times including Richards.

"I wasn't very happy with qualifying I made a mistake and got caught up behind another car on a good run." he said.

When the rain arrived making the circuit too slippery to improve on lap times, Richards left the circuit armed with the 11th fastest time barely outside the cutoff for the shootout session. It was just the second time this season he has missed qualifying inside the top 10.

In the first race Richards was badly knocked from behind at the hairpin where there was very nearly a pile up involving most of the field. Losing a few spots he was puffing smoke due to a guard rubbing on a rear tyre but it soon subsided.

He managed to move up again but was pushed onto the grass at Higgins Corner with a drop to 13th place. Fortunately the assisting driver was awarded a time penalty and Richards was declared to have finished the race in 12th.

The second race was uneventful with Richards not showing his normal speed and he finished in 15th before having the Ballistic Motorsport Team look over the car for a problem.

"I just got knocked about quite a bit and before I knew it I was 15th. I was having a bit of trouble getting the power down coming out of the corners so we checked a few things and made a couple of changes and we had a better run in the last race."

Starting the reverse grid race from 14th place Richards made his way up to sixth before some of the championship leaders began to push their way through.

"A couple of the top guys got me and I let a couple through. I had Proctor and Booth chasing me down but the fight between them slowed them down for a while and neither were able to get me."

Richards eventually finished the final race of the weekend with a solid 10th.

"I was a little disappointed and would have liked a few more points but we made some ground and the car went home ok so we are looking forward to Taupo." he said.

Although the round may not have gone as well as Richards and the team would have liked, the points from the weekend at Manfeild moved them up two spots and closer to a return to the top 10 group.

The drivers and teams head to the BNTV8s Championship 2009-2010 final round at Taupo Motorsport Park on 20th and 21st of March.

However, the BNTV8s will later contest in a non championship round at the ITM 400 at Hamilton over the weekend of April 16-18 where they will support the fifth round of the Australian V8 Supercars Championship.

Media: Iain Whitaker Photo: Little Devil Entertainment