McIntyre fastest in unofficial testing for BNT V8s at Pukekohe

Reigning BNT V8s champion John McIntyre set the fastest times in two sessions of testing for round two of the BNT V8s Championship at Pukekohe today (Friday 7 November).

In Friday’s two test sessions, McIntyre piloted the BP Ultimate Ford around Pukekohe in the two quickest times of 1:01.68 and 1:01.74. Next fastest was Paul Manuell in the Orix-backed Holden with a time of 1:01.78 – quite a feat considering Manuell crashed heavily during last week’s Dunlop Targa event and is still recovering from injuries sustained in the high-speed crash.

Current points’ leader Kayne Scott was up amongst the fastest with a time of 1:01.90 while Australian V8 Supercar development series leader Steve Owen was also quickly on the pace with a time of 1:01.98. Owen steps into the HPM Ford vacated by the injured Paul Radisich, so today’s lap times demonstrate the Melbournian’s skills given it’s the first time he’s driven a New Zealand-spec V8 race car and the first time he’s competed on Pukekohe’s fast circuit. The top five in the second test session were McIntyre, Manuell, Owen, Andy Booth and Scott.

The BNT V8s’ undertake their three-part qualifying programme from 12:20pm on Saturday 8 November. All competitors run in an initial 20-minute qualifying session, then the fastest 20 run for a 15-minute session, and the top ten effectively run a top ten shoot-out for another 15 minutes. Race one – 12 laps – is scheduled for 3:55pm on Saturday with a 16-lap race at 11:05am on Sunday 9 November and a 20-lap reverse grid race at 3:10pm on Sunday afternoon, all with rolling starts.

See the new-look BNT V8s website – www.nzv8s.co.nz  – for details from the circuit over the weekend.