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A very happy Andy Booth will be in pole position for tomorrow’s first of three New Zealand V8s Championship races, a popular action-packed feature of the high profile A1GP motor racing meeting at Taupo.

Booth, who drives the Tasman Motorsport Holden and is a two-time V8 champion, set a blistering time of 1:35.668 on the re-jigged Taupo Motorsport Park circuit to snatch pole position from John McIntyre and Kayne Scott in the last of the V8s three qualifying sessions.

Defending V8s champion McIntyre, who leads the 2007-8 New Zealand V8s Championship coming into this third round, set a fastest time of 1:36.576)in the second session while Scott, another former V8 champion, set the fastest time of 1:36.643 in the second session. The final session’s times see Booth on pole with Scott in second (1:35.934) in the Fujitsu Ford, McIntyre third (1:36.165) in the BP Ultimate Ford, from Paul Manuell in the Orix Holden and Paul Pedersen who rejoins the V8s series in the Havoline-sponsored Ford most recently driven by Angus Fogg, who was unable to qualify better than eleventh in his new Ford. Tim Edgell, Paul Radisich, Dean Perkins, Mark Pedersen (no relation to Paul) and Andrew Fawcet round out the top ten, with Booth and Manuell the only Holden drivers.

Booth says he’s delighted to feel competitive again. “The big test will be to see if the car is that quick over the whole race distance, but we’ve done a lot of work since the previous round in Christchurch. A couple of worthwhile test days here at Taupo with one of the Tasman Motorsport engineers have really paid off.”

Conditions for qualifying at the Taupo Motorsport Park were hot and windy, and with the changes to the sequence of corners after the nearly 850-metre long main straight, the competitive V8 drivers will have to look after their tyres and brakes even more than normal.

Booth says the new corner complex is very tight for the V8s. “If you take the inside line, you’ll have to make sure you’re past the other car and complete your braking before turning into the 90-degree left hander or else it’s too easy to plough straight ahead through the guy you’re trying to pass.”

McIntyre says the BP Ultimate Ford is feeling very consistent. “We did that best time twice and we have the inside line into the first corner after the start which is good. We won here last year from fifth on the grid. It’s good for the class to see a Holden on pole and good for us, points-wise, to see Angus Fogg and Paul Radisich, currently third and fourth respectively.”

The New Zealand V8s have one 14 lap race just after midday on Saturday and again on Sunday. They wrap up the A1GP meeting with the last race on the card, a 22 lap reverse grid race at 5pm on Sunday.

New Zealand V8s Championship – Taupo Qualifying

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Qualifying time

1, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:35.668

2, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 1:35.934

3, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon BA, 1:36.165

4, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:36.381

5, Paul Pedersen, Rotorua, Ford Falcon BA, 1:36.660

6, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:36.861

7, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 1:37.250

8, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 1:37.285

9, Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:37.548

10, Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA, 1:37.588

11, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:37.884

12, Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:38.004

13, John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA, 1:38.305

14, Cameron McLean, Brisbane, Ford Falcon BA, 1:38.326

15, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 1:38.344

16, Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY, 1:38.713

17, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:38.826

18, Kevin Williams, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:38.897

19, Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:39.115

20, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:39.273

21, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA, 1:39.113

22, Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:39.181

23, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA, 1:39.404

24, Dale Lambert, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:39.538

25, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 1:39.795

26, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:40.067

27, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY, 1:40.074

28, Eddie Bell, Christchurch, Holden Commodore VY, 1:40.083

29, Dave Stewart, Wellington, Holden Commodore VY, 1:40.176

30, Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 1:42.774

31, Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore VY, 1:43.570

32, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 1:49.495

33, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA, No time set

The 2007-08 New Zealand V8s Championship - Calendar