Fogg wins BNT V8s race at Pukekohe; McIntyre holds lead

Angus Fogg won an intense battle with Craig Baird to take his fourth race victory of the season, but defending champion John McIntyre maintains a slightly reduced lead over second-placed Kayne Scott as the BNT V8s prepare for their final two races of their championship season.

Fogg, in the LG Ford, and Baird, in the United Video Ford, swapped positions for the lead several times in the 12 lap race. Baird started from pole and, after Dale Williams was tapped and spun miraculously untouched through the middle of the 21-strong field charging around Pukekohe’s opening sweeper, Fogg managed to get past Baird with a bold move around the outside leading up to the ‘mountain’. From the start, Booth got past Scott and Anderson past McIntyre to make the running order Fogg, Baird, Booth, Scott, Edgell, Anderson and McIntyre with Dean Perkins, Eddie Bell and Paul Manuell all improving their original starting positions to round out the top ten.

An incident with Michael Bristow, Inky Tulloch and Simon Richards bought out the safety car on lap seven and the race was red flagged while the circuit was cleared. Tulloch and Bristow rejoined the race while Richards and a smoking Hydraulink Ford of Andrew Porter retired.

McIntyre slipped past Edgell on the restart, but dropped back saying he wasn’t totally sure that he was over the control line which indicates passing was allowed.

Fogg admitted an error on the hairpin lost him the lead. “I locked the rear brakes going into the hairpin, which let Bairdo past. On the last lap, Craig lifted off the gas where I wasn’t expecting him to and I clipped him unintentionally. He held on to the car brilliantly, but it gave me the chance to pass.”

Smiling wryly, Baird commented that he was today’s drift champion. “But let’s just leave it to the officials to determine what the result should be.” A steward’s hearing is taking place on Saturday evening to examine video footage.

Crossing the line, the order was Fogg, Baird, Booth, Scott, Edgell, McIntyre, Perkins, Anderson, Bell and Manuell.

McIntyre said it was reasonably frustrating not being upfront. “But you can’t take anything away from the other guys who qualified so well. It’s not that we’re struggling, but you have to give them credit for a job well done. We may be a little down on power compared to the others, particularly Tim Edgell who looks to have an excellent engine package, but we’re racing for a championship, not simply a race win. We’ve lost a few points compared to Kayne, but we have two more races to go.”

McIntyre now has 1067 points, 29 points ahead of Scott while Baird is 115 points adrift in third place.

On Sunday the final two races of the BNT V8s Championship take place – a 16-lap race starts at 11:25 am with the 20-lap reverse grid race scheduled for 3:55 pm, both have rolling starts.

ENDS/

BNT V8s Championship – Race 1, Round 7, Pukekohe

Position, driver, hometown, car, provisional points earned

1, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 75

2, Craig Baird, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon, 67

3, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 60

4, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 54

5, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 49

6, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon, 45

7, Dean Perkins*, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 0

8, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 42

9, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 39

10, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 36

11, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon, 33

12, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore, 30

13, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 28

14, John Hepburn, Timaru, Holden Commodore, 26

15, Michael Bristow, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 24

16, Dale Williams, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 22

17, John Penny, Taupo, Holden Commodore, 20

18, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 18

19, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon, 16

DNF, Andy Knight, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 0

DNF, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 0

BNT V8s Championship – Provisional points after Race 1 of Round 7

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Provisional points

1, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon, 1067

2, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 1038

3, Craig Baird, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon, 923

4, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 887

5, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 774

6, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 730

7, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 644

8, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 606

9, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 597

10, Paul Pedersen, Taupo, Ford Falcon, 590

11, Michael Bristow, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 582

12, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 556

13, John Penny, Taupo, Holden Commodore, 505

14, Dale Williams, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 494

15, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore, 419

16, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 419

17, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon, 403

18, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon, 350

19, John Hepburn, Timaru, Holden Commodore, 295

20, Andy Knight, Christchurch, Ford Falcon, 281

21, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon, 234

22, Alan McCarrison, Auckland, Ford Falcon, 197

23, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore, 197

24, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon, 181

25, Steve Owen, Melbourne, Ford Falcon, 144

26, Boyd Norwood, Palmerston North, Ford Falcon, 114

27, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore, 104

28, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon, 88

29, Mack Peach, Bombay, Ford Falcon, 74

30, David Hopper, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 67

31, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore, 54

32, Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore, 48

33, Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore, 18

34, Dean Perkins*, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon, 0

* Please note that Dean Perkins is competing under a “parked V8 franchise” agreement and therefore is ineligible for championship points.