Hardy is back on the pace with new car

Young Tauranga racing driver Simon Hardy has made a promising return to Formula First racing with a new locally built car.
Hardy and his father Keith spent more than a year building their Harpoon Formula First  to replace a car destroyed in a Pukekohe crash at the end of the 2007-08 season.
In the first run at Taupo at the Labour weekend championship opener Hardy took third in the first race of the season but then suffered gearbox problems.
At Pukekohe last weekend the car  ran near the front in the typical Formula First slipstreaming battles with Hardy recording sixth, third and fifth placings.
"The last race was disappointing. I had a jammed accelerator so I got a bad run out of the last corner when I was up to second," said Hardy. Three cars drafted past on the run to the chequered flag.
Hardy's Pukekohe performance saw him climb from seventh in the championship after Taupo up to fifth with two rounds completed.
"We designed and built the car ourselves and our aim was to go out and win the championship this year," says Hardy.
"But we've had a few problems getting the new car sorted out and winning will be a mission now. The class is more competitive than ever and the cars are going faster."
The 21-year-old apprentice builder has a solid record in Formula First with a best result of runner-up in the 2006-07 championship.

 The second round of the Independent Race Classes (IRC) Summer of Thunder series saw Tauranga drivers prominent at Pukekohe last weekend.
 Grant Brennan  had two GT1  wins and a second placing in his Corvette to extend his series lead while there was race win for his son David in the GTNZ category.
Tauranga representation is strong in GT1 with Andy Greenslade posting a sixth and two fifth placings in his Corvette while Bernie Gillon's 6.0-litre Jaguar XKR was on the pace as well.
The big GTNZ class saw David Brennan in his Nissan Cefiro  winning Sunday's handicap race.
National champion David Dovey (Tauranga) remains second in the North Island Super Six saloon car series after the Pukekohe round at the weekend. Dovey drove his VN Holden Commodore to a third, eighth and second place.
Jeff Warn was the most successful of the Tauranga Pre-65 saloon contingent at Pukekohe with a fourth, second and fourth placings in his rapid EH Holden while Falcon racer Peter Stevenson (Mt Maunganui) had two sixths and a seventh.
Speedway battlesNew Zealand champion Brent McClymont (Tauranga) battled with long-time rival Phil Towgood (Whitianga) at the New Zealand saloon car GP raced at Wellington's Te Marua Speedway on Saturday night.
In a close fought final Towgood won the 20-lap Grand Prix after starting alongside McClymont on the front row.