ParcFerme.Com

Defending champion John McIntyre had the worst possible start to the weekend when mechanical failure caused his retirement from the first of the last three races of the 2007-08 New Zealand V8s Championship at Teretonga Park outside Invercargill.

Despite having his 115 point margin over closest rival Angus Fogg reduced to 55 points, McIntyre still feels reasonably confident he can take the championship title. “By the time I’d coasted around to the pits after the engine blew, I’d already worked out that even if Angus wins tomorrow I would have to finish around 20th or worse, then add in unknown factor of the reverse grid race where I’ll start closer to the front and we should be fine for the championship.”

Meanwhile Kayne Scott was pleased to have finally scored a pole position with a time of 1:02.552 in the Fujitsu Ford, and then romped home to take a handy win – the first of each this season for the former V8 champion who continues to hold third place for the 2007-08 title behind McIntyre and Fogg.

“It’s almost a sense of relief to have the win and pole this weekend,” says Scott who demonstrates his commitment to the New Zealand V8 series by choosing to race in Invercargill this weekend, rather than at Eastern Creek with Team Kiwi Racing in the V8 Supercars. “This season we have often been fastest earlier in qualifying and then Andy [Booth] will put in a quick one or Angus will. It’s really satisfying to get pole after all the hard work we’ve all put in; interestingly it’s exactly the same time we set last year at Teretonga to take pole. I love this circuit and have done well here many times.”

In the newly-sponsored Big Ben Pies Tasman Motorsport Holden, Booth took second, after setting the quickest times earlier in qualifying. “There wasn’t anything in it in qualifying – we were just 0.086 seconds slower than Kayne. We did our best but it’s nice to be consistently quick and able to repeat the pace we had at Timaru.”

Holding second place in the championship, Fogg’s chances of winning look better than they did, but the Havoline Ford driver is concentrating on simply doing the job of finishing the last two races. “To finish first, first you have to finish. I was pushing as hard as I could behind Andy. It’s one thing to get within a couple of car lengths, but it’s another thing to get past.”

With starting positions for the second race determined by the fastest lap times each driver sets in the first race, Scott will be on pole again with Fogg beside him, their two Fords followed by Booth and Manuell making up a Holden second row. McIntyre starts from the back of the grid after his team works hard overnight to replace and test a new engine.

The New Zealand V8s have an 18 lap race and then a 22 lap reverse grid on Sunday to complete the official championship.

Qualifying in more detail

The New Zealand V8s’ official qualifying sessions see all cars run in the first 20 minute period, the top 20 have another 15 minute session and then the fastest ten drivers contest a final 15 minute session to decide the final grid placings for race one.

Andy Booth was fastest during the first session, setting a time of 1:03.088 within just a few laps of being on the 2.6 km Teretonga circuit in the Tasman Motorsport Holden. His team-mate Paul Manuell was second fastest with last year’s Teretonga pole-sitter Kayne Scott third fastest. Young Aucklander Tim Edgell set the fourth quickest time, but due to an accumulation of driver demerit points incurred in previous incidents this season was obliged to set out Saturday’s first race and start from the back of the grid for the weekend’s second race. McIntyre was fifth fastest, but was initially quickest in the second session. Scott soon jumped to the top of the list with McIntyre second and Booth third. Amongst the top-runners, Paul Radisich and David Besnard didn’t make it through to the top ten.

In session three, first Booth, then Scott headed the timing chart with no one able to better Scott’s time of 1:02.552, giving the Fujitsu Ford driver his first pole position of the season. The qualifying ranking was then Booth, Fogg, McIntyre, Manuell, Clark Proctor, Mark Pedersen, Michael Bristow, Dean Perkins and Luke Youlden.

Race one in more detail

Scott led from the front for all 14 laps, never looking seriously under threat from Booth in second place. While Fogg pursued Booth with vigour, he was unable to get past. Initially Manuell battled with McIntyre for fourth place, but with McIntyre’s Ford sudden slowing, Manuell was then being challenged by Proctor. David Besnard also tussled with Youlden and ultimately came through to take eighth behind Pedersen.

With McIntyre’s uncharacteristic failure to finish, Fogg, Proctor and Youlden remain the only three drivers to have finished every race this season.

ENDS

New Zealand V8s Championship – Qualifying

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Qualifying time

1, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 1:02.552

2, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:02.638

3, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:02.921

4, John McIntyre, Nelson, Ford Falcon BA, 1:02.943

5, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:03.159

6, Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:03.488

7, Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:03.694

8, Michael Bristow, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 1:03.727

9, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 1:03.745

10, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 1:03.762

11, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA, 1:03.808

12, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 1:03.917

13, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 1:03.931

14, Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.200

15, Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY, 1:04.218

16, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.375

17, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.386

18, Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.422

19, Andrew Porter, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.601

20, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.540

21, Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.576

22, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:04.585

23, John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA, 1:04.610

24, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY, 1:04.660

25, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ, 1:04.726

26, John Hepburn, Timaru, Holden Commodore VY, 1:06.039

27, Shaun Turton, Pukekohe, Holden Commodore VY, 1:06.850

28, Julia Huzziff, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 1:07.414

29, Tim Edgell, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, no time set

New Zealand V8s Championship – Timaru Race 1 (14 laps)

Position, Driver, Hometown, Car, Points earned

1, Kayne Scott, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 75

2, Andy Booth, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 67

3, Angus Fogg, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 60

4, Paul Manuell, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 54

5, Clark Proctor, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 49

6, Dean Perkins, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 45

7, Mark Pedersen, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 42

8, David Besnard, Gold Coast, Ford Falcon BA, 39

9, Luke Youlden, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 36

10, Andrew Anderson, Auckland, Holden Commodore VY, 33

11, Paul Radisich, Melbourne, Ford Falcon BA, 30

12, Michael Bristow, Pukekohe, Ford Falcon BA, 28

13, Andrew Fawcet, Wellington, Ford Falcon BA, 26

14, Simon Richards, Hamilton, Ford Falcon BA, 24

15, Michael Wallace, Dunedin, Holden Commodore VY, 22

16, Inky Tulloch, Gore, Ford Falcon BA, 20

17, Connel McLaren, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 18

18, Adam Brook, Christchurch, Ford Falcon BA, 16

19, Haydn Mackenzie, Auckland, Ford Falcon BA, 14

20, John Penny, Taupo, Ford Falcon BA, 12

21, Nick Ross, Cambridge, Holden Commodore VZ, 10

22, Chris Adams, Mosgiel, Holden Commodore VY, 9

23, Cam Hardy, Hamilton, Holden Commodore VZ, 8

24, John Hepburn, Timaru, Holden Commodore VY, 7

25, Kevin Williams, Auckland, Holden Commodore VZ, 6