By BOB PEARCE
Aucklander Scott Dixon's first race in a Champ Car on Monday will be a drive into the unknown.
The race will be run at Monterrey, northern Mexico, on a new track that will be a mystery to all the drivers.
Former champion Jimmy Vasser, who circled the track in a road car last week, suggested the drivers would have a lot of fun.
"It has a lot of non-traditional corners, a wide variety of turns and there are potentially some good passing zones," he said.
"It's going to be very interesting to see the different lines the drivers will use. It's very smooth and wide."
The 2.1-mile layout features 12 turns - including three chicanes and a banked left-hand sweeper that leads on to a 190 mph straight.
The 20-year-old Dixon and his PacWest team-mate, Mauricio Gugelmin, have tested their Toyota-powered car on a range of circuits leading up to the opening race without major incident.
In contrast, the defending champion, Brazilian Gil De Ferran, has twice crashed his Penske car and has been hampered by damaged ribs.
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New Zealand Grand Prix champion Andy Booth heads to the United States next week to prepare for a drive in the Indy Lights championship.
The Hamilton driver, who won both the big races of the Tasman Formula Holden series in November, will miss the first round of the Lights championship at Monterrey on Monday.
But he expects to drive for the Brian Stewart Racing team in the second round at Long Beach, California, on April 8.
Booth tested with the Stewart team in December and has been trying to arrange sponsorship to allow him to take up the offer of a drive.
"I've got several things in place, but I need to be over there to complete some deals," he said. "We decided that missing Mexico and starting at Long Beach made sense, because the Stewart team has won there and it would be a chance to make a good impression.
"At the moment it may only be Long Beach, but I'm hopeful of putting together a deal for the season."
Aucklander Matthew Halliday, who finished second in the Grand Prix and has also been chasing a Lights drive, is negotiating with Team Kool Green.
It seems likely he will opt for the Toyota Atlantic championship if he cannot secure the Lights seat.
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Paul Radisich and Ford ruled supreme in the V8 Supercar support races to the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne.
The Kiwi, in a Johnson Falcon, won two of the three races and was fourth in the other, which was won by defending series champion Mark Skaife in a Holden.
In the second race, Radisich was followed home by fellow Kiwi Steve Richards in a Ford. In the third, his closest rival was Ford convert Craig Lowndes.
The Grand Prix shootout is not part of the championship, but when Radisich was home last month he expressed confidence that Ford was at last on level terms with Holden. He may have been understating the case.
The Team Kiwi Holden, driven by Jason Richards, finished only one of the three races, in 19th place.
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Those who doubted the wisdom of Finn Kimi Raikkonen driving in Formula One with barely a season's racing in any class must now eat their words.
The 21-year-old brought his Sauber home in seventh place in Melbourne and was promoted into the points when Olivier Panis (BAR) was penalised for passing under yellow caution flags.
Jenson Button's golden boy status dimmed when his Benetton spent most of the race at the tail of the field.
A record 369,500 people watched the four days of the meeting, with 128,500 at the track on Sunday.
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The country's top karter, Auckland 16-year-old Jonny Reid, gets to strut his stuff on the local stage this weekend as the Auckland Kart Club hosts the annual CIK Trophy meeting at Rosebank Rd.
Reid beat top Australian karter Troy Hunt to the NZ senior intercontinental A title at last year's CIK Trophy meeting at the Hamilton kart track and then finished third overall in the Australian SICA champs.
His closest rivals are likely to be Tasman commuter Wade Cunningham and Team Kiwi Academy scholarship winners Ryan Grant and Marshall Lewis.
Forty karters will contest the first round of the Rotax Max Challenge, which carries a first prize of a trip to the world final. Favourite is Rotorua's Terry Corin.
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New Plymouth rider Shaun Harris will be the man to beat in the Battle of the Streets at Paeroa on Sunday.
He leads four of the classes on his stable of Suzukis and is equal first in the fifth. He has spent time since the last national championship round tuning his superbike at Manfeild and Pukekohe.
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A line of motorbikes stuck in the mud forced organisers to stop the Taumarunui round of the national cross-country series at half-distance.
Victory was given to young Pahiatua rider Paul Whibley, who was leading by about three minutes on his Honda CR250 from local rider Kevin Archer on a Suzuki DRZ400. Stacey Oldeman of Te Puke was third on a Honda CR250.
Motorsport: Dixon's Champ Car debut on new track
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