For Cambridge driver Nick Ross the fun of the Hamilton 400 was over all too soon

"It was a bloody good event and I can't wait for next year!" he says.

Ross who drives the Total Lubricants Holden Commodore has just wrapped up another season in the BNT V8s where he and the team have enjoyed some success with top 10 results and an ever improving race package.

At the weekend the BNT V8s were the leading support class for the V8 Supercars as they contested the second round of their championship at the Hamilton 400.

The temporary street circuit was once again assembled in the district of Frankton but this time with a few changes on and off the track.

The main priority in improving conditions for the spectators was to ensure all those who paid for a seat on the home straight grandstand were able to see all the action.

On-track, the chicane at turn 4 was adjusted by removing the third curb after last year drivers complained of it being unnecessary and perhaps even dangerous.

Some other parts of the circuit were widened and a bump before turn 3 was evened out after consultation with drivers in an effort to make the circuit safer and flow better.

For Nick Ross the weekend brought a mixed bag of results but with some very exciting and intense battles between the South Island's Adam Brooke and Hamilton's Simon Richards keeping him on his toes and enjoying every minute of it.

Richards is in fact brother to Nick Ross' partner Maria who has just this year given birth to the couple's first child Bianka.

But if you think family ties are going to have any impact on what happens on the circuit, think again.

"You've got no friends or family once you're on that track - you do what you have to do then sort it all out afterwards." laughs Ross.

Ross qualified 12th fastest but started the opening race from 10th on the grid due to a couple of drivers carrying penalties.

In a race the battle is never just at the front of the pack and a very hard fight brought a well earned placing for Ross in the first race of the weekend.

After slipping back to 15th Ross fought his way back up to eighth after a very exciting dog fight with Adam Brooke.

"That was a good race but the car was starting to 'go away' towards the end - we found out later we had broken a front roll bar." said Ross.

The breakage is suspected to be just part and package of racing on a street circuit which are notoriously bumpier than a regular track.

"It is tough on a street circuit which is bumpier than usual and there are a lot of off-camber corners plus one touch into the wall and you usually break something." he said.

In Sunday morning's race two for the BNT V8s, Ross started from eighth but a first corner incident resulted in a flat tyre and a forced visit to the pits.

"Another driver decided he wanted to win the race on the first corner after starting from the back row ploughing into another driver who went into me." said Ross.

Shortly after the pit stop Ross suffered a problem with the gearbox perhaps due to the collision but managed to finish the race in 18th place.

In the final race of the weekend Ross again had a great battle over track position this time with Simon Richards swapping places with him until he suffered the same fate many others had done also over the weekend.

"I ran out of brakes at about lap five but I managed to keep stopping it until about five laps from the end and after that I just couldn't pull it up any more." he said.

Ross was just one of many with brake issues over the weekend and the run off area at the end of the long home straight was at times looking like a home for broken NZV8s.

Also common at the weekend were nose to tail incidents at turn one due to drivers simply running out of brakes on the tough street circuit and trying to pull up at the end of the long fast straight.

The BNT V8s Championship wrapped up in March and now with the popular Hamilton 400 street race all done and dusted there should be time for a breather.

Not so for Nick Ross and the Concept Motorsport team who have plenty of work to do over the off season.

Their number one chassis spent the majority of this season in storage after being caught up in the headliner pile up at Pukekohe Park Raceway in November at round two of the championship.

"We have a lot of work to do on the new chassis after Pukekohe but the older one, which is what we have been using, is mostly only superficial stuff and not so bad."

"Once we have the car all rebuilt we can get started on testing and finding even more speed out of it." he says.

Also over the off season Ross will be back into the enduro scene where he usually partners with Ian Booth in his v8 powered Toyota Altezza.

This year with Ian overseas Nick Ross will share the driving duties with his son Matt Booth.

The first of the enduros is the six hour enduro at Pukekohe Park Raceway on Saturday 16th May 2009.