Three-time New Zealand V8 touring car champion John McIntyre has been signed to partner Australian driver Will Davison in his Ford Performance Racing (FPR) V8 Supercar for next season’s two main endurance races.

McIntyre will join Davison in the #6 Tradingpost FPR Falcon for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 events in September and October next year.

In an announcement from FPR today team principal Tim Edwards said he was pleased to secure McIntyre’s services before the 2012 season started.

As well as the three New Zealand V8 titles, McIntyre has two V8 Supercar podiums to his credit and this year finished fifth at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island and sixth at Bathurst co-driving with fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen and Stone Brothers Racing.

McIntyre said: “First up, FPR is the Ford factory team and as a Ford-supported driver it is a real honour to be driving with them.

“As a professional V8 Supercar co-driver I only enter two races a year in Australia so my goal has to be to win the endurance events and in particular, Bathurst. To head there in the #6 Tradingpost FPR Falcon with Will Davison in 2012 gives me my greatest shot yet at a Bathurst win.

“It is also a relief to know where I am driving well before the New Year. Last year I had six or seven months out of the car and that makes it hard. I have now met the team and tested the car before the year is out which puts us on the front foot and gives us a jump on everyone else.”

McIntyre enjoyed his first taste of FPR machinery at the team’s final test day of the year at Winton Motor Raceway in northern Victoria on 12 December.

Edwards noted McIntyre’s impressive performances in this year’s enduros.

“After analysing John’s performances against his team-mate this year and against the other co-drivers, it was clear that he was one of the standout performers,” Edwards said.

“It is a real boost to our team to secure someone of his experience so far in advance of next season as it will allow us extra time to integrate John into our team and get him familiar with Will and our car.

“That process starts today with our test so we are already well underway with our preparations for next year. By winning the last race of the year and with our endurance race line-up already locked away, we head into the off-season break in the ideal position.”

FPR’s other driver Mark Winterbottom will again be partnered by Steve Richards in 2012 in the #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon as Richards is entering the second season of his two-year endurance race deal with the team.

John McIntyre Racing appreciates the support of Blackwoods Paykels, Protector Safety, Amcor, Talley’s, Castrol Edge, BP Ultimate, NZ Ceiling and Drywall Supplies, Ideal Electrical, Websters Hydrated Lime Co, Squawking Magpie Wines, Dynamic Fluid Systems, EATON, Ford New Zealand, Irwin Tools and Showquip.

More details about McIntyre and his team can be found on www.jmr.co.nz

Most of us were stuck to the sofa all day Sunday taking in all the sights and sounds of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for another year. But sadly, there were some within our ranks who had other duties to perform on Sunday, for them – here’s the low down.

This year’s 49th annual Bathurst 1000km race was won by Garth Tander and Nick Percat. The HRT pair were followed by Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife, pole-sitters Greg Murphy and Alan Simonsen, FPR’s Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards, Team BOC’s Jason Bright and Andrew Jones and van Gisbergen and McIntyre.

The all-kiwi crew of Shane van Gisbergen and John McIntyre finished up a hard-fought sixth overall.

After starting the race from the third row of the grid ‘the Giz’ was looking comfortable running in the top-five during the early stages of the race. As was McIntyre once he took over the #9 SP Tools Falcon – until he was turned around by Marcus Marshall and at The Elbow and lost 15 places getting going again. (more…)

With the very first Ford V8SuperTourer racecar chassis arriving in Auckland on 8 August, organisers of the new V8SuperTourer racing series have just confirmed that Ford New Zealand will support the new series.

As Ford New Zealand confirmed its new role as a sponsor of the new series, Auckland-based PSR West Racing took delivery of the first FG Falcon V8SuperTourer chassis from Australia.

John McIntyre, spokesperson for V8SuperTourers Ltd, said, “It’s fantastic to have Ford’s support of the ‘V8 Series of Champions’. On behalf of V8SuperTourers Ltd, I can say we are all proud to have the opportunity to provide Ford New Zealand with a sustainable platform to promote their current and future models through this exciting motorsport series.

“More than 110 individual parts from the FG Falcon road car go into making an FG Falcon V8SuperTourer. The FG Falcon is such a good looking road car, it also makes a very aggressive-looking racecar which we know fans will love.” (more…)

The new V8SuperTourer racing series has been further boosted with news that full coverage of each of the seven V8SuperTourer rounds will screen on TV3’s Gillette Motorsport show in 2012.

The exclusive broadcast package ensures the inaugural season of V8SuperTourer racing will be free-to-air on TV3 nationwide.

John McIntyre, spokesperson for New Zealand’s newest V8 racing series, says the exclusive coverage allows fans of the new ‘V8 Series of Champions’ to see all the race action on the Sunday of each round. Another significant move is that the third race of each of the four sprint rounds and the main race of each of the three endurance rounds will screen live during the show’s 2pm to 5pm slot.

“We have been working on a suitable package since April this year, so it’s very pleasing to have signed with TV3, which has truly established itself as New Zealand’s ‘home of motorsport’,” says McIntyre who is also one of the V8SuperTourer team owners and drivers, and a three-time New Zealand V8 touring car champion.

From each of the four sprint rounds, Gillette Motorsport will provide delayed coverage of race one from Saturday and race two on Sunday, before screening the weekend’s third and final race live.

From each of the three endurance rounds, which feature one main race on Sunday, the entire race will screen live.

McIntyre adds: “The Gillette Motorsport team will also make sure fans can enjoy lots of behind-the-scenes detail of all 16 drivers, teams and the technical aspects of the cars from our inaugural season.”

The confirmed competitors in the seven round 2012 V8SuperTourers series are: Greg Murphy (Melbourne), John McIntyre (Nelson), Andy Booth (North Shore, Auckland), Paul Manuell (Pukekohe), Kayne Scott (Hamilton), Craig Baird, MNZM, (Gold Coast), Andre Heimgartner (Howick, Auckland), Ant Pedersen (Hamilton), Andy Knight (Christchurch), Eddie Bell (Christchurch), Daniel Gaunt (Melbourne), Scott McLaughlin (Gold Coast), Colin Corkery (North Shore) and Richard Moore (Auckland).

V8 SuperTourer teams are now looking ahead to the upcoming months of race car construction and testing before racing gets underway at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over the weekend of 17 to 19 February. Further sprint rounds are run at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway in Christchurch at the end of March, at Manfeild in Feilding in late April and then back at Hampton Downs in late May. Each of the sprint rounds features a sprint race on Saturday and two sprint races on Sunday. Three endurance rounds take the teams to Taupo Motorsport Park, Hampton Downs and back to Christchurch’s Powerbuilt Tools Raceway, with an overall V8SuperTourer champion being declared from the two-part series.

Things didn’t go to plan for three-time NZ V8 Touring Car champion, John McIntyre during his first shot at the North Island Endurance Series at Pukekohe Raceway on the weekend.

Partnered with endurance veteran Mike Eady, the V8-powered BMW M3 race car McIntyre was driving experienced a collapsed left-rear shock absorber. This meant the racing day unfortunately finished early for McIntyre and Eady. There are positives with the team qualifying well and running as high as fourth position in the 22-car field when the issue became too much of a hindrance to continue racing safely.

“We were reaching speeds of 265km/h and at that pace you need to have every confidence in your equipment.  Unfortunately the car was becoming too much of a handful and we had to make the disappointing call to retire,” said Mike Eady.

“It’s the first time in my career I’ve had a shock absorber fail and it’s the first time this car hasn’t finished a race.  It’s frustrating as we were well positioned and had an excellent fuel strategy in play which could have seen us finish on the podium.” (more…)

New Zealand V8 Touring car champion John McIntyre will team up with North Island Endurance Series champion, Mike Eady this weekend to help defend Eady’s endurance crown.

McIntyre will join the BMW team and have his turn in Eady’s BMW M3 V8 this Saturday 14 May in the endurance season opening six hour race at Pukekohe Park Raceway. Eady will reunite with his 2010 co-driver, Kevin Bell, to compete in the four hour Taupo race later in the series.

“We have a pretty impressive package again this year, the M3 is not only incredibly fast but has amazing reliability which means the drivers can push the car 100% for the whole race distance,” said Mike Eady.

The V8-powered BMW M3 has undergone some serious upgrades during the off season, with the most dramatic being a 150kg weight reduction. This was achieved by replacing the doors and boot with lightweight racing parts from BMW Motorsport, which will not only assist with speed but also enhance fuel consumption and lower tyre wear. (more…)

The first serious test session with the new V8SuperTourer car took place at Hampton Downs last Friday (6 May). According to reports the new car handled itself well and is set up nicely for racing duties next season.

It was current NZV8 champion John McIntyre who completed the most laps during a full-on shakedown test of the new V8 race car, with fellow two-time NZV8 champion Andy Booth also enjoying a good stint behind the wheel.

In 92 laps on the 2.8km Hampton circuit, the prototype V8SuperTourer didn’t miss a beat.

“We had absolutely no major issues with the car,” said McIntyre. “This is one outstanding race car straight out of the box and we’ve had a really successful day.”

The prototype V8SuperTourer has only just been completed and previously had a 15 lap shakedown at very low speed at Hampton Downs last Tuesday.

McIntyre said, despite the very wet conditions early in the test session, it took just a few laps for him to feel very comfortable in the 7-litre V8-powered racer. “Within three laps at the most, I felt very confident in the car, confident enough to be reaching speeds of well over 200km/h, sliding the car and getting to grips with its handling.”

Between McIntyre and Booth, 92 laps of testing were completed. Various suspension adjustments were trialled to see the car’s reactions around the undulating Hampton course.

“The chassis and handling is very responsive and able to be fine-tuned to suit conditions and the driver. There was a dry line right at the end – just a little damp in places – and our last lap was 1 minute 7.2 seconds and there’s definitely a lot more pace yet to come. (more…)

John McIntyre has won his third BNT V8s Championship title in an intense final weekend of racing  on the Hamilton street circuit.

Winning the 2010-11 NZV8 championship title marks a milestone for McIntyre and his race team, John McIntyre Racing, as they become the first driver/owner/team combination to win three titles in the hotly-contested New Zealand V8 touring car series. Together the Hawke’s Bay-based team has won 38 races in five seasons after McIntyre successfully collected two further races on the streets of Hamilton.

“We’re absolutely delighted!” says McIntyre. “It’s been a really tough season, up and down with no points from several races set against eight wins from 21 races this season.

“The pressure was on right to the end. We had to do well in the final race to secure victory over Angus Fogg, who has been a tremendous competitor all season.”

On Friday, McIntyre qualified on pole for the first of three races for the NZV8 finale in Hamilton where the NZV8 teams competed as part of the ITM 400 V8 Supercar event. (more…)