-
Chris Van Der Drift in Black Beauty - Source: Photosport -
Related
New Zealand has finished in the points after Chris van der Drift steered Black Beauty to fifth in the Sprint Race.
Starting at fifth on the grid, the young Kiwi driver did well to recover from a big mistake on turn two which saw him surrender four places.
Going into the turn slightly too fast, van der Drift struggled to get Black Beauty to turn as it skidded to the outside of the track.
New Zealand ran ninth for the first half of the race before a terrific pit stop helped van der Drift back out sixth.
He then managed to pull back another place, which he held on to through to the chequered flag, 11.666 seconds behind the winner.
The result gives Black Beauty four points, dropping from fourth to fifth behind Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland and France.
Unsurprisingly, Ireland's Adam Carroll led from start to finish, grabbing maximum points after securing pole position during Saturday's qualifying.
Switzerland's Neel Jani came in second and Robert Doornbos of the Netherlands third.
Carroll has stormed to first place in all his races in Taupo so far, including qualifying.
With Ireland now 15 points ahead of Portugal in the championship standings, the team was clearly happy with the Sprint Race gold.
"To go from pole to win we're obviously happy," Carroll said after the race.
"It's a hard little circuit. If you push too hard or miss your braking it's really a big thing.
"You always have to work hard all the time so it's hard to consistently do fast laps."
Taupo's Feature Race gets underway at 3pm with van der Drift 10th on the starting grid.
