With 36 entries across TaG restricted classes, including 8 newcomers, the class has continued to go from strength to strength.
Round 2 of the club championship saw its largest field in the TaG Restricted Light class, amassing over 20 entries.
Some great racing throughout the heats saw championship leader Shane Petersen battle it out with returning 2017 club champion of Salvatore Scarpignato, and front running regular Kristian Mizdrak.
Racing across the weekend was anyone’s for the taking, with regulars Todd Williams, Pietro Lidano, Bruno Postaj and Andrew Grima all within striking distance of the podium.
After a last lap move in the final between Petersen and Scarpignato, Mizdrak positioned himself perfectly and capitalised to take his maiden round win.
The podium was rounded out by Lidano and Williams.
Interview with TaG R Light Winner, Kristian Mizdrak:
Q1: Your maiden round win – you must be feeling great about that one?
Yeah definitely! 24 hours on and I still can’t believe it. Every 15 minutes or so I have to pinch myself just to make sure it actually happened. Definitely shed a few tears after the race finish, as it’s something I’ve worked up to for so long. I’ve been close on multiple occasions but to finally do it was nothing short of an amazing feeling.
Out of everything, I’ve proven to myself and to other people that I can compete at the highest level, not only being up the front but actually winning against the veterans and such a big class. I was able to play my cards right on the day through setup and on-track tactics, and felt as though I had driven my best yet to win at the end of the day.
Q2: A real mixture of finishing positions throughout the weekend for everyone shows that it can be anyone who wins – what is it that makes this class so competitive?
What makes this class so competitive is that anyone of any experience level, budget or age is able to compete on such an even playing field. It’s not like F1 where bigger teams can gain huge advantages. Everyone has the same tyres, same weight regulations, and the same engines. With the restrictor put in place, no one is able to gain an advantage engine-wise and it’s all up to the driver’s skill as to how they finish.
With the skill level being so close across the entire field, the question remains on how you use racecraft on your side. Do you try and overtake as soon as possible or do you wait it out until a last lap pass to seal the deal?
Q3: Just to finish with, TaG R seems to just keep growing at eastern creek with people coming in droves to compete – why is that?
What TaG R is great at is that it’s able to integrate a variety of ages into a class in which not only offers competitive racing, but also welcomes any new driver with open arms. Drivers like myself have moved up from junior categories to compete in a class with such competitive calibre, newcomers, and even people 3 or 4 times my age are also competing in the class on the same level.
The club itself has really stepped up it’s communication to a point in which it attracts people from all areas of NSW, from Newcastle all the way down to Lithgow, come to race here. They’ve listened to what the drivers want, which has benefited the numbers of the TaG R field, which is good to see from a competitive standpoint, just being able to race a bigger field is always fun.
NSKC’s next race meeting will be held on May 11th, and is going to be one of the club’s biggest of the year, with Eastern Creek bringing back Finals under lights, following a night race format.
