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The New Zealand V8s champion John McIntyre, most recently co-driver to Team Kiwi Racing’s young V8 Supercar driver Shane van Gisbergen at Sandown and Bathurst in Australia, says he’s all set to defend his V8s title.

After several years in the series driving for other teams, the achievement of winning the championship for the first time was made even sweeter by it being the first season that McIntyre had also run his own race team, John McIntyre Racing.

The NZ Truth V8s Championship hits the track at Pukekohe Park on 3 and 4 November and McIntyre doesn’t underrate the importance of securing a podium finish at the opening round to get his points’ chase off to a good start. As the NZ Truth V8s Championship comprises six events, not seven as in recent years, it’s even more important to make every race count.

“Our preparation has been excellent this year,” comments McIntyre from his Nelson home base. “From a team point of view, we have all the same team members, which is very good for our championship defence.”

“We have completely rebuilt the car over a five month period, going through every nut and bolt and developing the car further. Now it looks like a new car!”

McIntyre’s V8 Ford carries sponsorship from BP Ultimate, Talley’s, Eaton Fluid Power, Castrol and SKF.

“From my point of view, I am the best prepared for any New Zealand racing season I have ever been. I’ve driven at the Nurburgring 24-hour and in the Prodigy Motorsport Ford at the Fujitsu V8 Supercars rounds in Queensland and Oran Park. I’ve also raced at Sandown and Bathurst with Team Kiwi Racing.

“I’ve also learned a lot about my own driving over the past year, which has already shown through in our testing so far. We have completed two full test days where the car ran faultlessly and we made good gains with our set-up. The car is now having everything renewed by my Hawke’s Bay-based team to be ready for Pukekohe’s opening three races.”

McIntyre says it’s difficult to rate his competition. “It’s hard to say until we are all on the same track at the same time, but the usual suspects will be up the front. You can never discount the talent and ability of drivers like Kayne Scott, Angus Fogg, David Besnard, Luke Youlden, Andy Booth, Paul Manuel and Paul Radisich. Booth, in particular, has a very strong engine – stronger than any Ford out there, in my opinion – which will make him very quick at Pukekohe.”

What does McIntyre think of the fact 20 Fords and 13 Holdens are entered for Pukekohe’s opening event, the Fujitsu 200? “It is significant that the teams coming into the series or changing sides think the Ford is the easy option. However I still maintain a very well engineered and driven Holden is a very good car to have.”