Baird wins second BNT V8s race in Teretonga

Fresh from winning a Porsche GT3 race earlier in the morning, United Video Ford driver Craig Baird took victory in the second BNT V8s race of the weekend in what was a very unusual race.

Expert BNT V8s series commentator Brian Kelly said it was one of the most bizarre race starts he’s ever seen in this series.

“The changing weather conditions meant just nine teams made it to the starting grid – some, like Baird, had managed to change from their Dunlop D14 dry tyres to the treaded wet tyres before the pit lane exit closed, while some had elected to stay on the drys,” said Kelly. “But the other 13 competitors were still in the pits changing to wets when the exit closed and had to start the race from pit lane. It was just bizarre to have so much of the field start from pit lane!”

One of those electing to make the decision to change to wets was Tim Edgell in the Chesters Ford. “Randell [Edgell, Tim’s father and team manager] made the call to change tyres quite early and even though we missed the pit exit closure, we lined up at the front of that queue, which effectively allowed us to move from 15th on the grid to come out on to the circuit in tenth.”

Baird made the win look easy, cruising to victory with a 14 second gap to second-placed Andy Booth who would have started on pole courtesy of his win in the first race after original race winner McIntyre was excluded from the results due to a technical infringement.

“We changed to wets and were caught by the pit closure,” said Booth. “We believe the whole race should have been declared wet so everyone would have been on wets. Having said that, we were very pleased to have started from pit lane and finished as well as we did. This closes the points’ gap up to McIntyre and Scott.”

With Baird on the grid were Paul Manuell, Inky Tulloch, Chris Adams, Eddie Bell, Angus Fogg, Dale Williams, Andrew Porter and Mack Peach, with Manuell and Fogg and possibly others electing to stay on slicks. On the very wet circuit, Manuell slipped back through the field, allowing Tulloch and Adams through, while Booth, Pedersen and Edgell started their attack. Midway, Baird started lapping the slower competitors as Booth and Pedersen continued to improve their placings. McIntyre also made vast improvements, carving through the field from virtually the back to eventually finish seventh.

As the circuit dried and the slick tyres of Manuell and Fogg had better grip than the now-starting-to-wear wets, this duo started to pick up places at a rate of knots. Manuell also set the fastest lap time, 1:04.852, in the entire race.

Other than Baird’s dominant run at the front, the rest of the field changed places at an unprecedented rate for most of the 16 laps. In the end, Baird’s second win of the season improved the points’ total for the fourth place he holds overall. In second, Booth was followed home by Tulloch, Pedersen and Edgell, while the top ten was completed by Manuell, McIntyre, Adams, Bristow and Fogg. Finishing in eleventh, Scott holds on to the championship lead going into the final race, the reverse grid 20-lapper, at 3:45pm.

ENDS/

BNT V8s Championship

Round five, Teretonga – Race two (16 laps)

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Provisional points earned

1, Craig Baird, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon, 75

2, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 67

3, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon, 60

4, Paul Pedersen, Taupo, Ford Falcon, 54

5, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 49

6, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 45

7, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon, 42

8, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore, 39

9, Michael Bristow, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 36

10, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 33

11, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 30

12, John Penny, Taupo, Holden Commodore, 28

13, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 26

14, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 24

15, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 22

16, Dale Williams, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 20

17, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore, 18

18, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 16

19, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 14

20, Andy Knight, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 12

21, Mack Peach, Bombay, Ford Falcon, 10

DNF, John Hepburn, Timaru, Holden Commodore, 0

DNS, David Hopper, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 0