New Zealand V8s head south for back-to-back rounds; McIntyre in lead
Saturday 23 February 2008, 10:47AM
By New Zealand V8s Championship
1,544 views
Leading the points chase for the 2007-08 New Zealand V8s Championship by a handy, but not insurmountable 79 points, defending V8s champion John McIntyre says he’s using last year’s high-pressure win to help him get through this season’s final six races.
With the two final rounds taking place one weekend after another – the VnC Cocktails 200 at Timaru on 1-2 March and the Hydraulink 200 finale at Teretonga on 8-9 March – the pressure doesn’t stop for McIntyre and his fellow competitors and their teams in terms of race car preparation and driver focus.
“These last two rounds will require me and the whole John McIntyre Racing team to have made the best possible mental preparation. We’ll be drawing on the experience of winning last year’s championship under immense pressure in the very final race of the season,” says McIntyre.
The JMR team is busy stripping and checking the BP Ultimate Ford before leaving their Hasting workshop on Wednesday 27 February for the long drive to Timaru.
Angus Fogg holds second place, with 658 points to McIntyre’s 737 as the New Zealand V8s go into their final two rounds. There’s no one more aware than Fogg of how difficult it is to claw back points.
“It’s very easy to lose points against another driver, but hard to gain them back,” says the Havoline Ford driver who delivered an outstanding performance at the last round at Manfeild when he set his first pole position of the season, won two races, set a new lap record and won the round overall. His Manfeild efforts enabled Fogg to reduce McIntyre’s advantage from 105 points to 79 points.
There’s undoubtedly no other driver competing in the New Zealand V8s who’ll have had as much recent racing as former V8s champion Kayne Scott, who holds third place with 621 points.
Not only will Scott be racing in the opening round of the Australian V8 Supercars in Adelaide for Team Kiwi Racing the weekend before Timaru, he also raced on the popular South Canterbury circuit in January this year in the New Zealand Super Truck Championship, which he currently leads.
“We used the reverse grid race at Manfeild as a test session for the Fujitsu Ford,” says Scott. “We were rapt with how the car responded. This will be the platform for our starting setup for Timaru where we are the current lap record holder.”
But is racing several different vehicles a good thing? Fifth-placed Paul Manuell wonders whether Scott will be as focused as he could be on the New Zealand V8s when he gets to Timaru. “This could leave a podium spot up for grabs,” quips the former V8s champion who is currently the best placed Holden driver in the series with 509 points.
Ahead of Manuell in fourth place with 520 points is Paul Radisich, who will be looking to his HPM Racing team to iron out some of the technical issues that have made his season challenging. Radisich summarised the Manfeild as: “It was just one of those weekends where it didn’t really happen – you’ve just got to work at it.”
After official test sessions on Friday 29 February, the VnC Cocktails 200 at Timaru will see the V8s complete their qualifying sessions from 12:30pm on Saturday 1 March with their first 14 lap race at 4:30pm that day. They contest their second race at midday on Sunday 2 March and then wrap up the weekend’s motorsport action with a full reverse grid 22 lap race about 4:15pm that afternoon.
The Teretonga finale – the Hydraulink 200 – takes place over the weekend of 8 and 9 March.
The First Windows and Doors V8s Development Series also contests both the Timaru and Teretonga rounds, making back-to-back weekends full of V8s racing for New Zealand’s southern-most race circuits.
Visit the New Zealand V8s website - www.nzv8s.co.nz - for more information about the New Zealand V8s Championship, the First Windows and Doors V8s Development Series, and full programme and ticket details.
New Zealand V8s Championship: Points after 4 of 6 rounds
Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Points
1, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon BA, 737
2, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 658
3, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 621
4, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 520
5, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 509
6, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 487
7, Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 454
8, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 409
9, Cameron McLean, Brisbane, Ford Falcon BA, 397
10, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA, 304
11, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 300
12, Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 268
13, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ, 246
14, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 224
15, Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY, 222
16, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA, 207
17, Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 203
18, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 199
19, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 197
20, Dale Lambert, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 192
21, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 183
22, Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA, 178
23, Kevin Williams, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 177
24=, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ, 169
24=, Paul Pedersen, Rotorua, Ford Falcon BA, 169
26, John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA, 144
27, Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 139
28, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY, 115
28, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA, 110
29, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Holden Commodore VY, 79
30, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore VY, 72
31, Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore VY, 47
32, Darryn Henderson, Wellington, Holden Commodore VZ, 45
33, Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 35
34, Gene Rollinson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 15
New Zealand V8s Championship: Expected entry list for Timaru
Driver, Hometown, Car
Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY
Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY
David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA
Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ
Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA
Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA
Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ
Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY
Dale Lambert, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ
John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon BA
Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
Cameron McLean, Brisbane, Ford Falcon BA
Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA
Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA
Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA
Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA
Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA
Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ
Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA
Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore VY
Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA
Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore VY
Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY
Kevin Williams, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ
Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA
TBA, Bartercard Racing Holden Commodore VY