Angus Fogg recovered from a huge crash to claim the first round of the BNT New Zealand V8s.

Starting the six-round championship with the new-look Radio Sport Falcon, Fogg has made the perfect start to his goal of winning the coveted V8s title, even when adversity challenged his team’s motives. Three second placings in the Sunday 6 November racing was enough for the 44-year-old to take the weekend accolades.

Qualifying third fastest around the 2.82km track on the Saturday afternoon, Fogg was hopeful that Sunday’s three races would turn his fortunes.  The opening 12-lap race offered a glimmer of hope with a second place in fine weather conditions. Starting mid-pack for the second 12-lap top-ten reverse grid race, Fogg wrestled his way through the field despite the rain. Late in the race the #2 Radio Sport Falcon then broke traction to hit the track Armco heavily. Surrounded by competitors also following suit, the race was halted, with calculated results putting Fogg in second place.

Starting from the front row for the third and final race for the day, Fogg made a strong start to get an early lead. With 22 laps to complete including a compulsory pit stop, continuing rain made conditions even more treacherous. Fighting to regain the lead Fogg had to settle for his third second placing, benefiting from consistency to take the round win. (more…)

John McIntyre, the two-time NZV8 race champion, is right in the hunt for this season’s BNT V8s Championship title having won the penultimate round in Taupo last weekend.

With two second places and fifth in the reverse grid race, McIntyre’s points’ haul from the weekend moves him to third on leader-board, just 45 points away from series leader Angus Fogg who has 944 points. Kayne Scott is second with 937 points.

“The weekend couldn’t have gone better. That was our first round win all season, so we’re understandably delighted. The Talley’s Ford was genuinely quick all weekend and it was nice to have a little luck go our way too,” says McIntyre, from Nelson.

“Now John McIntyre Racing is very much in the running for our third NZV8 championship title and it’s going to be all on when we get to the championship final at Hamilton on 17 and 18 April.”

McIntyre says the weekend’s first race was the most enjoyable. “Having started beside Kayne on the front row, we were racing hard right from the outset – the intensity was phenomenal! We were the only competitors doing times in the 35s [McIntyre’s top ten shootout time was 1:35.613]. I got very close to passing Kayne at some points, but second place was still good.”

McIntyre also finished in the same position in race two, “…but I was very lucky to get safely around the first corner after the car was hit from behind during the run into turn one. Jason Bargwanna came through into the lead and while I had the pace on him for much of the race, he’d lost both the wing mirrors on his car. At Taupo, you really need the driver you’re following to be able to see you in their mirrors, so I was cautious about not putting myself in a position where he didn’t see me trying to pass.” (more…)

All it took was a faulty $22 steering joint to cost Andy Booth, any chance of challenging for a top 3 championship position at round 6 of the BNTV8 series held at Taupo Motorsport Park last weekend. The tie-rod pin snapped little more than 1 lap from the finish of race 2 as the two-time champion held a comfortable 6th position ahead of current NZV8 champ Craig Baird sending the #23 Holden Commodore straight off the track into retirement.

Booth started the weekend qualifying 8th in Saturday’s top ten shootout continuing his record of making every qualifying shootout this season, the crew later discovered a faulty front shock absorber so confidence was high for much improved race pace on Sunday.

Race 1 started with the expected biff and bash into turn 1 with several cars getting turned around in front of the field. The Rock Commodore settled into 6th position as part of a trio of cars chasing down the fast starting John Penny. On the second lap Booth shot down the inside of Penny into turn 1 but locked the rear brakes and ran wide, losing the position plus 2 more. The order remained unchanged for the rest of the 10 lap race and Booth crossed the line in 8th position.

The ill fated race 2 started well with Booth moving up into 6th position after more 1st corner niggle. The first lap jostling created a 2 second gap between the lead group and The Rock car, with improved handling Booth was able to match the pace of the lead group but could not close the gap. Half way though lap 9, the steering joint snapped going through turn 7 and Booth’s race was done.

“I couldn’t believe it when the steering broke but hey, that’s motor racing” Booth said after the race “We had ball joint break on the same corner of the car in practice so it may well be that the steering component was damaged at that time but really it’s just one of those things”

The opportunity to end the weekend on a high came with the 20 lap final race and Booth was determined to make the most of it. After chasing initial race leader Nick Ross for 6 laps The Rock Commodore seized the lead when Ross was slow onto the straight. Booth then lead for the next 6 laps whilst engaging in a thrilling wheel to wheel battle with emerging star Scott McLaughlin who had been devastatingly quick all weekend. The battle had the crowd on their feet for several laps but with the grips level on his car starting to fade Booth struggled to hold off the Supercheap Auto car of McLaughlin and ultimately had to relinquish the lead after a fierce braking duel at the end of the main straight. (more…)

Race driver Tim Edgell aims to maintain his current race-winning form when he competes in the penultimate round of New Zealand’s premier race series at Taupo Motorsport Park this weekend.

Edgell is among the country’s best touring car drivers contesting the sixth round of the BNT V8s Championship in Taupo over the weekend of 12 and 13 March. Having secured his first-ever round win at the previous round at Manfeild in February, the North Shore-based driver is keen to repeat the performance in Taupo.

“I’m looking forward to the Taupo round and my aim is to keep the momentum from Manfeild going. I set the lap record last year at this 3.3km track and I’m hoping the same successes will be achieved this year,” says the former Formula Ford champion.

Edgell acknowledges the necessity of performing strongly in the two-part qualifying session on Saturday to be in the best possible position for top-class performances in all three races on Sunday. “It is very important that I pull all three races together and I know I can do that.” (more…)

Current NZV8 championship leader Angus Fogg says it’s a matter of keeping on pressing on in his bid to win his first BNT V8s Championship title.

Fogg is set to take on his fellow NZV8 competitors at the penultimate round at the Taupo Motorsport Park over the weekend of 12 and 13 March. The Auckland-based driver has a handy, but not insurmountable lead of 37 points over nearest rival Craig Baird.

“It would be nice to extend that points’ lead before we head to the championship final at Hamilton in April, particularly as you never know what’s going to happen in those street circuit races,” says Fogg. “It would be good to have a bit more of a buffer over Craig.”

Fogg says the primary goal at Taupo is to do the best possible time he can in qualifying.

“Then you’ve just got to go on and do the best you can in the three races. We don’t necessarily need to finish in front of Craig, but we certainly don’t want to be far away from him either to keep that points’ difference going in our favour.

“The LG-ZB Falcon is good to go. We were going to test at Taupo last week, but decided to concentrate on our workshop preparation where we continued to look for every possible hundredths of a second of extra speed. Also I’ve had a couple of weekends off, so I’m feeling fresh and ready to race. (more…)

This weekend’s (11–13 March) penultimate round of the NZ V8s championship at Taupo puts defending champion Craig Baird in a pressure position to reel in the 45-points needed to get the series lead.

Currently sitting in second overall on 792 points after five of the seven rounds on the 2010/2011 summer series calendar, Baird says the coming weekend is more about driver ability. Leading the series is Angus Fogg with 829 series points.

Baird is piloting the #1 United Video Racing Ford and the Gold Coast based Kiwi has three races worth a possible 225 championship points ahead:

“Taupo’s race circuit is one where you can drag a lot more of the lap time out of being in the seat, as opposed to just relying on horsepower – it’s a track more reliant on driver ability,” he said.  “Plus after our engine got hot at the recent Manfeild race round, we’ve got a newie for the Taupo weekend.”

But it’s not a point the father of two ranks as taking up the most of his recent thinking time.  With 25 New Zealand championship titles to his name, Baird says he’d give-up the hard fought accolades in an instant if he could re-unite a broken family from any one of the recent disasters.

“As a nation of Kiwi’s we’ve had a tough time this race season.  We started in the wake of September’s Canterbury earthquake, then the Pike River mining tragedy and now the recent devastation in Christchurch. to bring home someone’s mother, sister, brother or father for any one of my championship wins – I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“I was reading a newspaper here in Australia and there was a picture of a father, son and daughter, who’d just been given news their mother wouldn’t be ever coming home after the 22 February Christchurch quake.  It puts your whole life in to a new perspective, especially as a father, you have an empathy, a wanting to do anything to change the situation.” (more…)

John McIntyre put together a solid, consistent performance to earn his first podium position of the season as the fourth round of the BNT V8s Championship concluded in Timaru last weekend.

The Nelson-based driver, with his Hawke’s Bay-based team, was rapt to secure second place for the round and move into third place in the championship standings.

“It’s good news to come through a weekend of racing with no major dramas,” said the Falcon driver.

“It was a really consistent weekend for John McIntyre Racing and it feels like we’ve pressed the reset button on our championship. With two fourth places and then a third in what was a drama-filled reverse grid race, we’re delighted to have finished our best round of the series so far.”

McIntyre came through one of the closest-ever NZV8 top-ten shootouts with the fifth-quickest time. In Sunday’s first 12-lap race, McIntyre managed to get through the first corner complex without getting caught up in any other competitors’ panel-benders. The two-time NZV8 champion ran fourth most of the race, finishing in the same position after having to battle past early pacesetter Paul Manuell.

“I also had some great tussles with Craig Baird [who finished third in race one behind Angus Fogg, the winner, and Kayne Scott], and then in race two, it was pretty much more of the same with us top four finishing in the same order.

“The team made some worthwhile improvements to the #47 Falcon for the last race, which saw some pretty major issues for Craig, with a broken Watt’s linkage, and Kayne who, along with several others, was caught out in the oil spilled from Craig’s car. Having started 16th, we got through all of it relatively unscathed and after the race being re-flagged and restarted, we came home third.

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Tim Edgell, continued to battle on with top-five performances in the BNT V8s Championship as the popular race series headed to Southland for this season’s third round.

In Saturday’s official qualifying sessions for the NZV8s’ third round of the 2010/11 season, Edgell again made it into the top ten shootout to then secure fifth position on the starting grid for race one, just seven-thousandths of a second behind the fourth-placed competitor, Angus Fogg.

Edgell and the #26 Chesters BNT Falcon demonstrated an exceptional turn of speed as the NZV8 field charged into Teretonga’s famed left-handed opening sweeper from the first rolling race start. Edgell got the edge on Fogg and powered around the sweeper for the first time in fourth position. In increasingly gusty conditions, Edgell maintained his position among the top-runners to secure his first fourth place of the season.

In race two, also 12 laps in length, Edgell was challenged by former Bathurst winner Jason Bargwanna and had to settle for fifth, but the two strong placings looked set to position the Chesters Falcon driver well in the overall standings.

“The first two races were okay and we got some good points from them,” said Edgell. “Despite the fact I struggled with balance in the Chesters Falcon, it was excellent to bank two more solid, top-five results.”

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