Fogg scores first pole and first win of season in V8s at Manfeild

Havoline Ford driver Angus Fogg scored his first pole position, and then his first win of the season as the New Zealand V8s contest the third round of the 2007-08 championship at Manfeild this weekend.

Fogg’s super-quick qualifying time of 1:12.737 was just 0.170 seconds faster than Kayne Scott in the Fujitsu Ford, but it was more than enough to give him the front slot on the grid. Fogg said setting the time was hard work. “It was a struggle. With this new car there are lots of little things that could be better, but naturally we’re pleased to be on pole.”

The 3.03km Manfeild circuit, in Feilding, was resealed recently. “Everyone should be faster on the new surface,” said Fogg, whose qualifying time is considerably faster than the track record he set this time last year of 1:13.165. (Note: only racing lap times count for official track records.)

Fogg then went on to win the weekend’s first V8 race, a 14-lapper than turned into two parts of seven laps each, one dry, one wet.

“It wasn’t too much of a battle in the end,” said Fogg who established a dominant gap on the field in both sections of the race. “You’ve just got to make the most of it and drive to the conditions. We’re lucky the car is good in both dry and wet. The track was drying towards the end and we had enough of a gap to hold on for the win. It’s good for us that John McIntyre finished fourth so it reduces the points’ gap to John at the top of the table a bit.”

Having run with Fogg in the dry, Scott, who finished second, says his car needed a different setup for the wet. “We had good pace in the dry. We were a bit of a roadblock in the wet, but I was able to hold the others off to take second place.”

Paul Manuell bought the Orix Holden home in third, his first podium of the season. “The pace has been there with this car; it’s a matter of putting it all together on the day,” said the former V8 champion.

The starting grid for Sunday’s 18-lap race is determined by the fastest times that each driver set in the first race. This sees Fogg on pole with his time of 1:12.940 – a new track record – with Scott and Manuell in second and third slots respectively. The New Zealand V8s then have a third reverse grid race to wrap up the weekend’s racing at Manfeild in the Fujitsu 200.

Qualifying in more detail

This season, the New Zealand V8s adopted a three-part V8 Supercars-style qualifying format with the full field completing an initial 20 minute qualifying session. The fastest 20 drivers run for another 15 minutes, then the top ten complete a final 15 minute session.

From the first session, Scott was looking very quick with John McIntyre, Paul Radisich, Tim Edgell and Clark Proctor completing the top five. Surprisingly Australian David Besnard didn’t make it through, suffering obvious mechanical issues with the SCG Ford.

In the second session, Edgell – with fresh tyres just fitted – and fellow Ford driver Adam Brook were looking likely to go through to the top ten shoot-out. But the session was restarted after a mix-up about which drivers should be in the top 20 and neither Edgell or Brook were unable to repeat their earlier quick times, naturally disappointed not to secure a top ten slot. Fogg was fastest that time around with Scott and Mark Pedersen hot on his heels.

In session three, the top nine times were separated by less than one second. Fogg and Scott have the front row of the grid for the weekend’s first race. Paul Manuell was the best of the Holden drivers with the third fastest time with defending New Zealand V8s champion and current series leader John McIntyre fourth fastest. Proctor, Pedersen, Andy Booth, Radisich and Luke Youlden follow with John Penny, a relative newcomer to the V8s, making the top ten for the first time.

ENDS



New Zealand V8s Championship – Qualifying

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Qualifying time

1, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:12.388

2, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 1:12.568

3, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:12.690

4, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon BA, 1:12.767

5, Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.028

6, Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.069

7, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:13.196

8, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.229

9, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.278

10, John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.646

11, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.536

12, Cameron McLean, Brisbane, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.588

13, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.590

14, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.684

15, Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA, 1:13.684

16, Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY, 1:13.909

17, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:14.175

18, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 1:14.502

19, Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:14.676

20, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore VY, 1:15.752

21, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA, 1:15.093

22, Dale Lambert, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:15.166

23, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY, 1:15.199

24, Kevin Williams, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:15.238

25, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:15.415

26, Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:15.520

27, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 1:15.701

28, Gene Rollinson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 1:16.680

29, Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 1:17.257

30, Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore VY, 1:17.647

31, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:26.776

32, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA, 7:16.704



New Zealand V8s Championship – Manfeild Race 1 (14 laps)

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Points earned

1, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 75

2, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 67

3, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 60

4, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon BA, 54

5, Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 49

6, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 45

7, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA, 42

8, John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA, 39

9, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 36

10, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA, 33

11, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ, 30

12, Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 28

13, Dale Lambert, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 26

14, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ, 24

16, Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 20

15, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 22

17, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 18

18, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 16

19, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 14

20, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY, 12

21, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore VY, 10

22, Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 9

23, Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore VY, 8

24, Cameron McLean, Brisbane, Ford Falcon BA, 7

25, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA, 6

26, Kevin Williams, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 5

27, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 4

Not classified, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA

DNF, Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA

DNF, Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA

DNF, Gene Rollinson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY

DNF, Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY





New Zealand V8s Championship – Provisional points after Race 1 at Manfeild

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Provisional points

1, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon BA, 628

2, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 544

3, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 531

4, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 449

5, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 435

6, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 420

7, Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 376

8, Cameron McLean, Brisbane, Ford Falcon BA, 341

9, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 330

10, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 248

11, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA, 229

12, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ, 198

13, Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 188

14, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 186

15, Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY, 182

16, Kevin Williams, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 177

17, Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 176

18, Paul Pedersen, Rotorua, Ford Falcon BA, 169

19, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ, 159

20, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA, 157

21, Dale Lambert, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 151

22, Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA, 150

23, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 135

24, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 134

25, Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 130

26, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 119

27, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY, 117

28, John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA, 113

28, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA, 83

29, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Holden Commodore VY, 79

30, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore VY, 62

31, Darryn Henderson, Wellington, Holden Commodore VZ, 45

32, Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore VY, 38

33, Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 26

34, Gene Rollinson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 0