Consistency rewards BNT V8s leaders
Thursday 13 November 2008, 3:20PM
By The MotorSport Company
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With two of the seven rounds of the BNT V8s Championship completed, it’s easy to see from an analysis of race statistics why former V8s champions John McIntyre and Kayne Scott head the points’ table.
McIntyre has scored a top ten place in every single one of the six races completed to date and three of these finishes in the Squawking Magpie Wines Ford were podium or top three places, giving ‘Johnny Mac’ a total of 345 points. And while Scott has only five top ten finishes, two of these were outright victories giving the Fujitsu Ford driver the maximum of 75 points for each race. Scott’s total is 332, just 13 adrift of McIntyre.
Matching Scott with five top ten finishes so far this season are Andrew Anderson in the ITM Holden and Michael Bristow in the Tex Onsite Ford. Anderson is one of the most experienced competitors in the BNT V8s field, this being his ninth consecutive season in the class, while Bristow is youngest driver this season at only 21 years of age.
When you have competitors of the sheer calibre and experience of United Video Ford driver Craig Baird holding eighth place in the BNT V8s after two rounds, the intensity of this season’s competition is obvious. Add in the fact there have been five race winners – Scott twice, Paul Radisich, Angus Fogg, John McIntyre and Paul Manuell – in just six races, and it’s obviously tough at the front of the BNT V8s field.
Holdens outnumber Fords in the top five for the first time in several seasons with the three Holdens prepared by AV8 Motorsport taking positions three, four and five on the points’ table. In third, former champion Andy Booth has four top ten finishes to his credit, two being thirds helping his points’ tally. Manuell leapt into fourth place after two top finishes at Pukekohe, while Anderson’s very consistent three fourth places has the ITM Holden driver hankering for a podium finish at the next round.
McIntyre and Manuell have each earned the honour of pole position while McIntyre has been the only driver to set a new lap record so far this season at the opening round in Taupo in October.