McIntyre wins rain-soaked Manfeild first race

Defending V8s champion John McIntyre won the first race of this weekend’s penultimate round of the BNT V8s Championship at Manfeild, closing the gap to current series leader Kayne Scott to just six points.

 

The 12-lap race saw plenty of changes amongst the front-runners with Craig Baird, the Gold Coast-based kiwi expat, starting from pole position in the United Video Ford. ITM Holden driver Andrew Anderson was beside Baird on the front row of the grid with McIntyre and Angus Fogg behind them.

 

In steady light rain, Baird made it safely around Manfeild’s first right-hander and swiftly built a strong lead over McIntyre who had slipped past Anderson from the advantageous inside line of third position.

 

“I always know third is a good place to start here,” said McIntyre. “Craig really had a good gap on me and I could see his car had pace. But then the safety car came out to help Andrew [Anderson] out of the gravel on Dunlop sweeper and Craig had a poor restart which allowed me to sneak through.”

 

Scott started back in ninth, an unusually low starting position for the former V8s champion, following an error during qualifying which saw the Fujitsu Ford team changing car settings just as the rain swept in leaving Scott unable to set a competitive qualifying time. But the rain soon proved a challenge to other competitors in the 23-strong field as, from sixth place Tim Edgell went off, then fourth and fifth-placed Paul Pedersen and Angus Fogg had an encounter which dropped them right back. Anderson’s exit from third on the eighth lap left Andy Booth, Paul Manuell and Scott all benefiting from the others’ misfortunes.

 

However on the restart Baird admitted an error on his part gave McIntyre the opportunity to pass and the John McIntyre Racing Ford showed a clean pair of heels to the rest of the field.

 

“I really wanted to get a gap on Andy [Booth],” said McIntyre. “The car’s not perfect but we can tweak the wet weather set-up tomorrow if conditions remain the same. It’s nice to be on pole here at Manfeild and we’ll be looking to catch up further points on Kayne on Sunday.”

 

Booth came home second in the Big Ben Pies Holden and was delighted with the result. “It was more than we expected really as we’d struggled in the wet during testing. But the team made some changes – I didn’t even want to know what – and the car was great. We’re hoping for another good result tomorrow.”

 

Baird got back into third after dropping back for a lap. “I dropped a wheel off which left the others passed. We had good pace.”

 

Manuell finished fourth in the Orix Commodore with Scott in fifth. Although Scott lost 26 points of his advantage to McIntyre, there’s no doubt the Fujitsu Ford driver will be driving to win during Sunday’s two races.

 

Other notable drives were Adam Brook, from Christchurch, coming from 16th to sixth and Taupo’s John Penny from 18th to tenth. Dean Perkins in his first run in the GT Radial Ford for some time and Luke Youlden in the Powerbuilt Ford also had strong finishes after less-than-ideal qualifying performances. Meanwhile Anderson was unable to finish and Andy Knight was unable to start with the Milwaukee Ford receiving a new engine overnight after qualifying in tenth place.

 

Sunday’s 16-lap race starts at 11:10am and the 20-lap reverse grid race is scheduled for 3pm, both with rolling starts.

ENDS/

 

BNT V8s Championship

Round six (Manfeild), race one

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Provisional points

1, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon, 75

2, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 67

3, Craig Baird, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon, 60

4, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 54

5, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 49

6, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 45

7, Michael Bristow, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 42

8, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 39

9, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 36

10, John Penny, Taupo, Holden Commodore, 33

11, Dean Perkins*, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 0

12, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon, 30

13, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore, 28

14, Paul Pedersen, Taupo, Ford Falcon, 26

15, Dale Williams, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 24

16, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 22

17, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon, 20

18, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 18

19, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore, 16

20, John Hepburn, Timaru, Holden Commodore, 14

21, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 12

22, Alan McCarrison, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 10

DNF, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 0

DNS, Andy Knight, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 0

* Dean Perkins is running under a parked franchise and therefore doesn’t earn championship points

 

BNT V8s Championship

Round six (Manfeild), qualifying

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Qualifying time

1, Craig Baird, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon, 1:12.882

2, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 1:13.100

3, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon, 1:13.144

4, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 1:13.151

5, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 1:13.193

6, Paul Pedersen, Taupo, Ford Falcon, 1:13.395

7, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 1:13.527

8, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 1:13.547

9, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 1:30.143

10, Andy Knight, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 1:42.374

11, Michael Bristow, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 1:13.743

12, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 1:13.814

13, Dale Williams, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 1:13.825

14, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon, 1:13.846

15, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 1:13.944

16, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore, 1:13.957

17, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 1:13.960

18, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 1:14.057

19, John Penny, Taupo, Holden Commodore, 1:14.167

20, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon, 1:14.350

21, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 1:14.681

22, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore, 1:15.447

23, John Hepburn, Timaru, Holden Commodore, 1:15.452

24, Alan McCarrison, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 1:16.790