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V8 Supercar Championship Series’ newest track has received glowing reviews after today’s practice, with Ford Performance Racing’s Steve Richards predicting a real crowd pleaser at Hamilton tomorrow.

Richo, who was born just 100kms from the New Zealand street track, says the combination of wide corners and high grip should see plenty of overtaking action for the 160,000 sell-out crowd.

Sixth in practice today, Richo is pleased with the FPV Falcon’s handling after working hard with engineers to find the optimum set-up for the New Zealand circuit, for which no previous data exists.

Team-mate Mark Winterbottom finished 13^th in the times but says blocking and constant red flags prevented him posting a representative time of his ultimate pace.

Tomorrow’s qualifying begins at 11:20 New Zealand time.

Steven Richards

#6 Castrol FPR Falcon

“Initially the way the car was set up didn’t inspire any confidence; it was almost shaking my eyeballs out of my head to the point that I couldn’t see where I was going! We changed the set-up and it was a mile better after that.

“From that point on, it was like learning the circuit all over again. I could drive it with confidence knowing it wasn’t going to spit me out and throw me into a fence!

“The circuit really is a good little track; plenty of character and great fun to drive. In particular, there seems to be a lot of grip and that, combined with the wide corners, should be good for overtaking in the weekend’s races.”

Mark Winterbottom

#5 Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon

“We would be up in the top three if it wasn’t for all the blocking. It’s very frustrating because every time someone spun off the track they came on and tried to defend again. Today’s not the day that counts though so I’m not too disappointed.

“The track is very tough but a lot of good fun to drive. It’s much bumpier than we expected but the cars seemed to cope pretty well.”

HAMILTON 400 - 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series - Rd 3
Hamilton Street Circuit

Practice