By BOB PEARCE
Simon Wills believes the move to Pukekohe may make it harder for him to win his third New Zealand Grand Prix in a row.
The 23-year-old Aucklander won the last two Grands Prix at Ruapuna, a tight, technical circuit where getting the right set-up for the car is essential.
"Pukekohe is going to be pretty fast," Wills said yesterday. "That means it will be down to horsepower and a bit of bravery.
"It will probably make it more open, with some drafting like in Formula Ford. Being in the right place at the right time will count for a lot."
Wills showed he is in the right sort of form for Pukekohe in December by clinching his second Australian Formula Brabham championship at Mallala, South Australia, on Sunday.
He finished third to Christian Murchison in the first race, knowing that would be enough to clinch the title. In the second, he fought his way to the front to win his ninth race of the season.
He took the championship with 244 points to Murchison's 208, with fellow Aucklander Matthew Halliday third on 163 and Southlander LeRoy Stevenson fifth on 97.
Halliday was second in both races at Mallala and Wills credits him with huge improvement over the season.
"I had to really work hard to get past him in that last race," he said.
Wills has won 21 times in 35 starts over the past two and a half years in Formula Holden and he rates the competition this season as the hottest yet.
"There will be 18 cars at Pukekohe and though I don't know who all the drivers will be, it should be very competitive.
"Brenton Ramsay's going to the States to see if he can get some Americans to race in New Zealand."
Wills' immediate priorities now turn to Australian V8 Supercars, where he has a drive with Craig Baird for the Stone Brothers Ford team in the Queensland 500 next month and the Bathurst 1000 in November.
He is well placed to gain a fulltime V8 drive next season, but will not be able to confirm a seat until the "silly season" of driving musical chairs is completed.
Halliday also has V8 prospects and is chasing an Indy Lights test in the United States before the end of the year.
fuboxesBOX BOX BOX Kawerau rider Tony Rees finished sixth and first privateer in the fourth round of the Australian road-racing championship at Eastern Creek, Sydney, at the weekend.
Rees was riding the Yamaha R1 he rode during the Formula Xtreme series but with different tyres.
The winner at Eastern Creek was Aussie Shawn Giles on a factory-prepared Suzuki GSXR750.
Team Kiwi will track test the Holden they intend to run at Bathurst for the first time at Pukekohe on Friday.
All going well, there will be test sessions at Teretonga on September 25, Timaru (September 27), Ruapuna (September 29) and Manfeild (October 2).
The ex-Perkins Holden and drivers Jason Richards and Angus Fogg will be in Australia well before the Bathurst race on November 19.
fuboxesBOX BOX BOX Scott Dixon was 17th fastest on both days of his Champ Car test at Laguna Seca in California.
The 20-year-old Aucklander, who leads the Indy Lights championship, was faster than some of the regular drivers in the premier American single-seater formula.
His best lap was 1m 9.582s in the PacWest Reynard-Mercedes. The fastest was Helio Castroneves with 1m 7.602s in a Reynard-Honda.
fuboxesBOX BOX BOX Time with the McLaren Formula One and Formula Three teams in Britain will be among the rewards for the winner of the Bruce McLaren scholarship offered by the Prodrive Trust and Motorsport New Zealand.
The scholarship is for a promising driver under 21, who will also have three months of employment with the Lifestyle BMW touring car team in New Zealand. There will be a requirement to spend 80 hours working with the Prodrive programme helping young people to improve their driving skills.
Application forms are available from Motorsport New Zealand. Applications close on October 30.
fuboxesBOX BOX BOX Two Japanese drivers have entered the International Rally of Rotorua, on September 15 and 16.
Tatsua Koizumi will have a Subaru Impreza and Haruhiko Torii will drive a Honda Civic in the event, which is the final round of the national championship.
Next year the rally will really live up to its international title when it becomes the New Zealand round of the Asia-Pacific championship.
It will be run in June-July, while the world championship Rally of New Zealand moves to September.
Competition is certain to be fierce at the top of the field of over 60 cars, with national championship rivals Geof Argyle and Bruce Herbert seeded one and two.
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