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…)

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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Top racing driver Tim Edgell started his fourth season in the tough BNT V8s Championship strongly with a podium position at the season opening round which took place from 5 to 7 November at Pukekohe Park Raceway.

Edgell delivered a trademark tidy, fast performance in the Chesters Ford to secure second, third and eighth in the three races which comprise each round of the nationwide NZV8 touring car series. These three excellent placings means the former Formula Ford champion currently holds third on the leader-board.

“We’re only four points off the leader, Angus Fogg, so that shows how close this racing is and it’s an excellent way for our team to start the season,” said Edgell, who finished last season’s NZV8 series fourth overall.

The North Shore-based Edgell was particularly pleased to be so competitive at the first event of the seven-round championship as he said he hasn’t done a lot of driving over the winter, particularly compared to the two main competitors, John McIntyre and Craig Baird, who he was racing against at the front of the field.

“For Saturday’s qualifying, the car had good balance and showed good speed,” said Edgell modestly after topping the 21-strong field during the one 20-minute qualifying session with his lap time of 1:01.342.

His flying lap in the top ten shootout was even faster, a time of 1:01.117, but it wasn’t quite fast enough to stop two-time NZV8 champ McIntyre taking pole position for the opening race of the season with Edgell alongside on the front row.

“I put together a nice tidy lap and I was still on the front row for Sunday,” said Edgell.

“First race, and as we came around for the rolling start, I saw the start lights go out earlier than usual and I was on the gas. For a moment I wondered if I’d made a false start, but I made the most of it and got ahead of Johnny Mac into the first sweeper.”

Edgell led the field for three laps, but “…was struggling for drive out of the hairpin and John had the speed, so I gave him room to pass. From then, I was pretty much on a par with John to come home for second with Craig behind me.”

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John McIntyre took the first two victories of the new season of NZV8 touring car racing at Pukekohe this weekend (6 and 7 November) and, despite a crash in the third race, holds fourth place overall.

“The fact is we were dominant through the majority of this opening round,” said the two-time NZV8 champion. “With two race wins to our credit, we’ve been able to stay in touch with the three guys in front of us on the leader-board despite not finishing the weekend’s reverse grid race.”

After setting pole with an ultra-quick time during Saturday’s top ten shootout, McIntyre made the most of the opportunity to run at the front of the field for the first two 12-lap races and secure the maximum points — 75 points for each victory.

However the first race almost didn’t go to McIntyre’s plan as fellow front row runner Tim Edgell got the jump on McIntyre as the starting lights went out early while the pair led the field down to the start-finish line for the rolling start.

“I was hoping to control the race right from the outset, but was caught by surprise when the race started early. Tim got in front and led for a couple of laps while I worked out we had a strong car through certain parts of the circuit. With a switchover move at the hairpin on the third lap, Tim gave me plenty of room to pass, and then I was able to pull away and do what I needed to do to win. I wasn’t pushing very hard at the end and was happy with the car’s performance and new brake package. It was very consistent.”

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This coming weekend will see the Hydraulink Grand Finals of the 2009/10 BNT V8s Championship take place at Taupo Motorsport Park with six drivers still in the title hunt. Without question the favourite would have to be Queensland based Kiwi star Craig Baird (United Video Falcon) who holds a 136 point lead over Nelson’s early season pace setter John McIntyre (Prime Explosives Falcon).

Only one point behind McIntyre is Auckland’s rising V8 racing star Tim Edgell (Chesters Falcon) who is hotly pursued by defending champion Kayne Scott (Fujitsu Heat Pumps Falcon) just 32 points further back. They are followed by Christchurch’s new hero Eddie Bell (Independent Fisheries Falcon) 40 points behind then the first Commodore of Aucklander Andy Booth (Big Ben Commodore) a mere 6 points away.

Despite having what appears to be a healthy points advantage, the pressure will be put on Baird throughout the weekend as a maximum of 225 points are on offer. Although he only needs the points equivalent of three 6th places, nothing can be taken as a given in BNT V8s racing as seen earlier in the season with McIntyre’s Round 4 crash at Timaru almost eliminating his championship chances.

Whether the ever popular “Bairdo” will be happy to settle for points places rather than go for race wins is a strategy only he will decide as racing is expected to be furious among the top six drivers. The reason for this is obvious as there is a host of drivers still battling for championship podium positions with Andy Knight (Christchurch) and Aucklanders Angus Fogg, Clark Proctor and Andrew Anderson all within reach of a top three points finish.

Following the close racing seen at the most recent rounds there will be much more than just the championship holding spectators’ attention. The door to door battles between Baird, McIntyre, Scott and Booth in Round 5 delighted the crowd and Baird chasing down Race 2 leader Tim Edgell to steal a race win was spectacular to watch.

Another important aspect of the weekend will be Saturday’s all important qualifying where drivers such as Angus Fogg have proved to be prominent. Once again, qualifying will comprise a 20 minute session involving all drivers with the fastest 20 moving onto the next 15 minute session.

The top ten will then contest a single lap “shoot out” after which the starting grid for Race 1 will be determined. The grid for Race 2 will be the finishing order from Race 1 with the Race 3 grid determined by the combined points from the first two races then reversed so the best performing driver starts from the rear.

Outside the current top ten point scorers, there are plenty of other drivers who have featured in top three placings during the season including Taupo’s very own John Penny, Haydn Mackenzie (Auckland), Simon Richards (Hamilton), Paul Manuell (Auckland) and Darryn Henderson (Wellington). Manuell in particular will be a driver to watch as he has switched teams to drive the Autotek Team’s New Balance Falcon for the remainder of the season. Having won two earlier races in his Commodore, it will be an interesting comparison to see if he gains momentum in a Falcon.

All of the above drivers are capable of causing an upset, especially with the technically demanding Taupo circuit often favoring drivers who quickly adapt to its twisty but fast nature. Another factor in the equation is the full reverse grid Race 3 which often throws up surprise winners and can deal misfortune to front runners as they fight their way through the pack. It must be remembered that this is the race which decided the outcome of last season’s championship and could very well become the focal point of this season.

Qualifying for the opening race of Round 6 will be held at 4:05pm on Saturday afternoon followed by the top ten shoot-out at 4:55pm. The three races scheduled will all take place on Sunday at 10:00am, 1:05pm and 4:30pm with Races 1 and 2 over 10 laps duration with Race 3 being over 20 laps using the full reverse grid format.

TV3 will again be providing highly popular as live broadcasts of all races from 2:00pm on Sunday and delayed coverage can also be seen on Fujitsu Motorsport NZ Gold Pass at 7:30pm Wednesday on Sky Sport 3.