Motorsport Briefs

Having made his mark on the Kiwi drifting scene, young Tauranga driver Cole Armstrong will get a chance for some international competition later this year.
Armstrong, 24, who campaigns a Nissan R34 Skyline, has just received an invitation to compete in the International Drift Challenge on August 5-6 at Sydney's Eastern Creek International Raceway.
A team of six drivers will represent New Zealand at the Eastern Creek event, with four top Japanese drivers already confirmed. The Australian organisers are hoping to attract leading US drifters as well.
"This is the sort of thing that I've wanted to do ever since I started drifting," said Armstrong. "I've got the official invitation and now we are working out how to get the car across to Australia.
"It's a great opportunity. If I can do well and get noticed hopefully I can pick up a tyre sponsor and move up to next level. I know I can drive the car."
On the national scene Armstrong now holds third place behind defending champion Gaz Whiter (Nissan S14) and Curt Whittaker (Skyline R34) in the D1NZ national drift series heading into the fifth round at Pukekohe on Saturday.
In his most recent outing at Taupo Armstrong had some extra pressure when he qualified 14th among the 16 drivers who progressed into the elimination rounds.
"I learned from a mistake in qualifying. In practice I went hard out but in qualifying I was concentrating on hitting the apexes and not so much on speed and I was marked down by the judges."
Qualifying 14th meant going up against No 3 qualifier Andrew Redward (RX7 V8) in the first round. After defeating Redward, Armstrong also progressed past Daynom Templeman in a close fought quarterfinal. In the third place run-off Armstrong paired up against the Nissan Cefiro of Adam Richards.
"He's beaten me the four other times we've gone up against each other but this time I beat him," Armstrong said.
Nostalgia Drags
Drag cars from years past are being prepared for an annual outing at the Nostalgia Drags event promoted by the Bay Rodders next month.
The April 3 event at Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere, will see four Australian teams in action, side-by-side nitro Funny Car racing and the launch of a T-Bucket challenge.
"We'll have nitro funny cars running side by side for the first time in New Zealand since 1977," said Bay Rodders Inc president Dean Anderson.
The cars are The Phoenix Camaro painstakingly restored by Aucklander Lez Hearst and the Chevrolet Vega Nitro Flashback of Invercargill's Karl Boniface.
" The Phoenix was one of the cars that raced here in 1977," said Anderson.
The $5000 front-engine dragster challenge sees Australian John Fleming return with The Rattler - capable of mid-7sec passes - and there is the supercharged Ford "flathead V8" front engine dragster of Australian driver Lawrie Kyte.
Regular Nostalgia Drags visitor Marcus Paige is bringing two T-Buckets from Australia.
"The Australian cars are on the water at the moment and should be here at the end of the week," Anderson said.
"We're taking them up to the Beach Hop to put them on display and then they're on the track the weekend after."
The other drawcard is the introduction of a T-Bucket Challenge.
"The Hot Rod internet forums have gone berserk about T- Buckets recently so we're hoping for a big turnout."
The Nostalgia Drags also includes its popular flathead challenge, four-banger challenge, Pre-50 hot rod, Pre-72 and classic gasser categories.
Schoolboy's success
Te Puke teenager Michael Scott has become a competitive force in the New Zealand Formula First championship after posting his best results to date at Hampton Downs last weekend.
Bouncing back from mechanical problems which cost him two retirements at the preceding Manfield round, the Te Puke High School Year 12 student qualified second on Saturday but finished 11th after an off-track excursion in wet conditions in the afternoon race.
He raced to second place behind series leader Michael Shepherd (Palm Nth) in the Sunday morning race and came through from eighth on the grid to finish fourth in the afternoon.
Going into the Easter weekend finale at Taupo, Scott holds eighth place in the Formula First standings. Three Tauranga drivers claimed race wins at the Mid-Summer Thunder event.
Justin Herbert had his SS2000 title hopes badly affected when guest driver Earl Bamber hit him from behind under locked brakes and pushed Herbert's Honda Integra off the circuit in the wet Saturday race. But on Sunday Herbert raced through traffic to win both of the handicap events and he remains third overall in the series and leads the 1601-2000cc class.
Tauranga's Peter Stevenson (XM Falcon) won the final Pre-65 saloon race of the weekend and was a front-runner throughout the meeting with a second and sixth in the other races while Richard Grainger won Saturday's GTNZ race in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.
Jaguar XKR racer Andy Greenslade (Tauranga) was second in all three races for the GT1 class and Tauranga's David Dovey ran near the front of the Super Six saloon pack in his Holden Commodore recording a second, third and fifth for the weekend.
Trying again
Rain last weekend forced Motorsport BOP to postpone its Sunday motorkhana event at the TECT All Terrain Park. The event is now this Sunday with driver's briefing at 10.30am and timed runs getting under way from 10.45am.
Pair cross ditch
Motocross racers Cody Cooper (Papamoa) and Michael Phillips (Mt Maunganui) begin their Australian Championship campaigns this weekend at the Broadford track in Victoria.
Both local riders are contesting the MX1 category in the Australian Nationals with Cooper riding for the Rockstar Motul Suzuki squad while Phillips steps up from MX2 in Australia - where he finished seventh last season - to ride the MX1 class for the Carlton Dry Honda Thor racing squad.