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After a wind-blown final race of the NZ Truth V8s Championship event at Powerbuilt Tools International Raceway outside Christchurch, Paul Radisich scored enough points to take the round win in the HPM-backed Ford. However Nelson-based BP Ultimate Ford driver John McIntyre still holds the lead in the championship.
Melbourne-based Radisich is driving for the HPM Racing team in New Zealand’s premier motor racing series and, after a misfire-plagued opening round at Pukekohe earlier in November, is now delighted with how the HPM Ford is running. “The fun of winning never goes away,” said the star Kiwi driver known as ‘The Rat’. “We’ve had a superb weekend for reliability.”
After setting the fastest lap in Saturday’s qualifying and winning the first two races, Radisich drove from the back of the field in the weekend’s third reverse grid race through to a well-earned third place.
McIntyre, who won the NZ Truth V8s’ first round at Pukekohe, had scored a fourth and a fifth, saying that he simply wasn’t fast enough to match the pace of Radisich and fellow-runners Kayne Scott in the Fujitsu Ford and Angus Fogg in Havoline Ford. “But in the third race we got an amazing run through the middle, which gave us a lucky weekend result to keep the lead in the series going into the high profile A1GP event in Taupo in January next year.”
Scott, who flies out to Melbourne this coming week to contest the final round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Development Series at Phillip Island next weekend, was pleased with the improvements made with the Fujitsu Ford that the Mark Petch Motorsport team finished building just before Pukekohe a few weeks ago. “We’ve made huge improvements with the car this round which is a credit to the hard work from all the team,” said Scott who won the 2005-06 V8 championship in a Holden. “There was oil on the track in that third race which made the hairpin very slippery. It was good there was no requirement for the safety car to come out in this race – the first this weekend – but the carnage in that race was unbelievable. Fortunately there’s lots of run-off on this circuit.”
After these first two rounds, McIntyre’s 382 points’ total puts him ahead of Scott with 331 points, Fogg with 328, Radisich with 319 and Paul Manuell in the Orix Holden the best of the Holden drivers in fifth with 279 points. (NB. All points are provisional.)
The NZ Truth V8s contest the third round of their 2007-08 championship at the Taupo A1GP event in January.
The weekend’s racing in detail
The NZ Truth V8s Championship has its second round at Powerbuilt Raceway this weekend with the GT Radial 200 event being contested by a talent-filled field of 31 V8s, comprising 20 Fords and 11 Holdens.
During Saturday’s new V8 Supercar-style qualifying sessions – where the whole field completes an initial 20 minute session, then the top 20 have another 15 minutes and only the top ten drivers contest a final 15 minute session – Radisich took pole position with a well-timed quick lap with just a minute to go in the final session.
Radisich’s time of 1:30.320 put him in front of Scott, with Fogg and defending V8 champion and current series leader McIntyre lining up in fourth position for the weekend’s first 14 lap race late in the afternoon. The remaining six in the top ten were: Cameron McLean (Tex Onsite Ford), David Besnard (SCG Racing Ford), Paul Manuell (Orix Holden), Luke Youlden (Powerbuilt Ford), Mark Pedersen (United Video Ford) and Andy Booth (Tasman Motorsport Holden).
Radisich roared away from the rolling start with officials initially questioning the speed at which he crossed the start-finish line. No further action was taken with Radisich, but the race was restarted after only one lap due to damage caused to the tyre of Youlden’s Ford which then forced him to go off the circuit, which then bought out the safety car.
From the restart, the field basically raced in the order they qualified with Radisich comfortably running in the lead to the chequered flag for his first win in the NZ Truth V8s Championship. “I was pushing for the whole race. We were wondering if we might have had a ten second penalty to overcome, but after the misfires we’d had at Pukekohe, the car’s now running really well,” said Radisich.
Scott took second place for his first top three placing in his new Fujitsu-backed Ford.
“The car was good in qualifying but it’s only our second meeting in this car and I was watching what Angus (Fogg) was doing behind me. I think everyone’s made some improvements here – certainly the top-runners were quicker this year than last year,” said Scott, the 2005-06 V8 champion.
Angus Fogg finished third, saying he’d been driving as hard as he could. “Our car’s good, but we’re querying where we should been on the grid for the re-start.” Fogg’s International Motorsport team lodged an inquiry with officials, but the re-start order was correct.
For the weekend’s second race, the starting order is based on fastest lap times set in the first race, so the top ten for Sunday’s 18-lapper was Radisich, Scott, Fogg, McIntyre, Manuell, Pedersen, Andrew Anderson – doing a great job in a revamped Holden borrowed from fellow Holden competitor Nick Ross to be eighth fastest – with Clark Proctor and Dean Perkins rounding out the top ten.
With Radisich in control at the front, Fogg then Manuell got past Scott as the field swept around Powerbuilt Raceway’s first left-hander, but, again, a no-fault off-track excursion – this time by young North Shore driver Tim Edgell – saw the race red-flagged before one lap was completed.
At the restart, Radisich was quick to keep his lead while Fogg and McIntyre got past Scott, then Scott got back past McIntyre who then tangled with Manuell and incurred a warning from officials for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The battle between McIntyre, Manuell and Pedersen got fairly heated until Pedersen needed to retire the United Video Ford from the race.
Out in front Radisich was building a handy lead over Scott, who had got past Fogg with a well-judged manoeuvre, until the safety car came out when young Hamilton driver Cam Hardy ploughed into the tyre wall behind the hairpin. This allowed Scott and Fogg to close up on Radisich. As the final laps were completed, Scott was hot on Radisich’s back bumper, but the finishing order was Radisich – for his second win of the season, Scott, Fogg, Manuell – as the first Holden, McIntyre, McLean, Proctor, Besnard, Perkins and Booth making up the top ten.
With the grid for the weekend’s third race determined by ranking the drivers by the points they’ve earned in the first two races and then reversing the order, Southland’s Inky Tulloch – a multiple Super Truck champion – was on pole position in the Cat Rental Ford after some frustrating incidents earlier in the weekend. Kevin Williams in the Strapping Systems Holden lined up beside Tulloch, with NZ Truth V8 rookies Connel McLaren in the second Havoline Ford and Eddie Bell in the Bartercard Holden allocated positions three and four. Having earned more points than anyone else, Radisich was at the very back of the grid in position 29 with Scott, Fogg, McIntyre and Manuell immediately in front of him.
In hot windy conditions – Canterbury’s north-wester was in full force – Tulloch led the NZ Truth V8s away into the first corner, but within a short distance had been overtaken by Williams. McIntyre carefully commenced picking his way through the field, while Scott and Radisich agreed ... “hanging back to let the mid-field runners sort themselves out seemed a good option”.
Pedersen made very good progress from 15th getting as high as 5th before retiring by halfway through the 22 lap race. Meanwhile a whole series of incidents saw plumes of dust shower the circuit as one driver after another tangled and spun. By lap three, McIntyre was up to 13th from 26th; by lap nine, he was up to fifth with a clear focus on taking the lead from Williams.
After a very assured drive in the lead for 12 laps, Williams’ Commodore was swiftly passed by McIntyre’s Ford on lap 13. McIntyre then went on to post a 14 second differential over Williams, who held on for a well-deserved second place.
In the Orix Holden, former V8 champion Paul Manuell was another carving through the field. Having started in 25th, like McIntyre, Manuell made one decisive passing manoeuvre after another to attain third place with four laps to go. With Radisich on his rear bumper, Manuell then had to defend his own track position. Radisich made it passed Manuell coming out of the first left-handed sweeper, but Manuell snatched third place back from ‘The Rat’ will a brilliant move down the inside line at the hairpin. Radisich again passed Manuell after the left-handed sweeper and made sure he kept third place from Manuell through to the chequered flag.
Definitely a race of attrition, McIntyre led home a field of only 20 finishers from 29 original starters. Behind McIntyre, Williams, Radisich and Manuell, Scott and Fogg had also negotiated the slower cars to finish fifth and sixth respectively. Fogg’s team-mate Connel McLaren, a V8 rookie, having started in third place drove a very steady race to finish seventh. Simon Richards in the Turtle Wax Ice Ford came from eleventh to eighth. The Metalman Ford driver Clark Proctor came from 22nd for a very creditable ninth place. And Cam Hardy held his start position amongst all the action going on around him to take a well-deserved tenth place.
The top ten drivers in the NZ Truth V8s Championship leader-board after two rounds are: McIntyre (382 points), Scott (331), Fogg (328), Radisich (319), Manuell (279), Booth (242), McLean (227), Proctor (210), Perkins (204) and Youlden (145).
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