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The New Zealand V8s Championship has had a seven week hiatus prior to racing at the Taupo A1GP meeting over the weekend of 18-20 January, but don’t think the V8 teams have been on holiday, says defending champion and current series leader John McIntyre.

McIntyre says JMR had a great test day at Taupo before Christmas. “We had Shane van Gisbergen drive the car and had additional expertise with an engineer from the Australian V8 Supercar series here as well. We think we’ve made some major gains.”

Like most of the teams, JMR has also been testing at Taupo during the week before the A1GP meeting. The Taupo circuit has been changed again, with a new sequence of corners at the end of the nearly 850-metre long back straight. “We’ll be looking at the new corner, which now has a 90-degree left-hander at the end of the straight, going into a tight right-hander, then left again onto the start-finish straight,” says McIntyre.

Kayne Scott, now driving a Ford after three years and a V8 championship win in a Holden, says the Mark Petch Motorsport team (MPM) tried some new theories at the previous round, the GT Radial 200 at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway (Ruapuna) outside Christchurch.

“We also tested at Taupo before Christmas. The team has just soldiered on with more and more updates to the car, so we’re looking for a good weekend at Taupo,” says Scott, who won the high profile Taupo V8 round last season. Scott also races with MPM in the equally-competitive Australian Fujitsu V8 Supercar Championship. At the final round at Phillip Island in November, Scott took pole position and ultimately scored a well-deserved third place in the 2007 championship. “The team has put in a huge effort, and when they do, we always get another jump in performance.”

Holding third place, well-known New Zealand racer Paul Radisich has not raced on the Taupo circuit before, but believes it’ll just be like any other. “It’s always nice to race somewhere where you have some knowledge, but I’m used to going in and not having seen them before. I’ll just have to work a bit harder that’s all!” says the two-time world touring car champion and long-time V8 Supercar driver who is running the HPM Ford for the Tracer Motorsport team.

Radisich adds: “It’s more crucial we get pole position as we’re behind the eight-ball as far as the championship goes. The aim is to get as many points as possible. We’ve got quite a deficit to make-up and we can only do that by winning. So that’s the attitude we’ve got to take.”

In fourth place in the championship after the first two rounds, Angus Fogg, a former Mini racing champion, has just finished building a new Ford, the first all-new car that Fogg has had in the four years he has been driving for the Havoline Racing/International Motorsport team.

“At the end of the day a newer car is always going to be better, though by how much can often depend on the day, the weather and the condition of the track, as much as anything else,” says Fogg who is also in charge of the build programme.

“That said, each time we’ve built a new car – and this is the third one we’ve built since Havoline and International Motorsport have been working together – we’ve tried to do things better. There are certainly no quantum leaps to be made these days, but if you look at the times from Pukekohe and Christchurch we don’t need much to make a difference; a hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there and it’ll be us who has the advantage going into the weekend.”

With just six rounds in this year’s championship, the Taupo event could see the leading four – McIntyre with 382 points, Scott second with 331 points, Radisich third with 328 points and Fogg with 319 points in fourth – establish an unassailable lead over the rest of the V8s field. But not if former champions Paul Manuell and Andy Booth have their way. Manuell and Booth are the leading Holden drivers in a Ford-dominated field and hold fifth and sixth positions respectively. Since the last round a technical amendment has been implemented which effectively provides the Holdens with the same rear suspension bushes as the Fords.

“We’re confident the suspension changes are a step in the right direction,” says Manuell. “But we haven’t had a chance to test it as thoroughly as we would have liked due to the weather at recent testing at Taupo. The intention is that the Holdens can get the power down a little better. We have learned that it’s changed the dynamics of how the power goes down, so we’ve got a bit of work to do yet. We’re in a good position in fifth with 279 points, but we definitely want to be higher up the points table.”

Booth, with 242 points, says he’s fairly positive. “We’re certainly not expecting another stinker like we had at Powerbuilt Raceway! We tested at Taupo pre-Christmas and that went well. One of the most significant things about this recent technical change for the Holden suspension is the fact that the decision was made based on real data, rather than various opinions. The philosophy of looking for quick and economical ways to introduce similar characteristics for both Ford and Holden is a very positive one.”

Kerry Cooper, general manager of The MotorSport Company which promotes the New Zealand V8s Championship, welcomes VnC Cocktails as the event sponsor for this round. “We value the support of VnC Cocktails and look forward to working with them at this high profile event.”

Other recent news from the New Zealand V8s Championship includes:

§         Julia Huzziff has recovered from the serious leg injury she suffered at Pukekohe last November and her team has completed the rebuild of her distinctive pink Holden. Huzziff will race again at Taupo and hopes to complete the rest of the 2007-08 championship.

§         Former New Zealand V8s champion Paul Pedersen will race at Taupo in Angus Fogg’s old car. Pedersen may also contest the Hamilton trophy round in April, but no decision has been released regarding him contesting the remaining three championship rounds at Manfeild, Timaru and Teretonga.

§         Pukekohe car dealer Shaun Turton, who’s been racing a Mini this season, has bought a Holden and contested a round of the First Windows & Doors V8 Development Series. Officials may grant Turton approval to contest the Taupo round of the New Zealand V8s Championship.

§         Darryn Henderson has withdrawn from the V8 series due to business and family commitments. He’s now racing a fully-prepared Porsche and his car and franchise are up for sale.