MOTOR RACING: Bay racer won't be burned again

HAMISH BIDWELL
The name John McIntyre and "points deductions" will never be mentioned in the same sentence again.
McIntyre was robbed of victory in last summer's New Zealand V8s Championship when the cylinder heads of the Hydraulink Ford Falcon were ruled not to comply with the technical regulations. It was a decision that saw him drop from first to eighth in the championship standings and is an experience he has no interest in repeating.
So disappointed was he, that he turned his back on the Tracer Motorsport team, in favour of setting up John McIntyre Racing, where he would have full knowledge and control of what was going on under the hood.
And there's been plenty in the past few months as his Hawke's Bay-based team have worked feverishly to get his new BP Ultimate Ford Falcon BA in race trim.
"It's taken us three months to re-build it from a basic shell," said McIntyre earlier this week.
"Only the roof, windscreen and rear screen remain and last Thursday and Friday at Manfield was the first time we'd turned the wheel in the car. We did a few laps down there in the wet on Thursday and then on Friday we started to get a bit more pace and I was really happy with how reliable and fast the car was straight away.
"My head mechanic, Craig Field, has done an amazing job on the car, but he was pretty apprehensive about how the car would run, until I told him it was really good. We've got another testing day coming up at Pukekohe in a week's time and then the first race in the series on the first weekend in November.
"What happened last year was hard and it was one of the reasons I wanted to go out on my own, because I don't want to be caught out like that again. It was a bit of a leap of faith, but now that we've gone and tested the car I feel much better about it."
The leading Ford driver over the past three seasons, McIntyre says he has been delighted with the financial and fan support his new team has gotten from within Hawke's Bay. Having a purpose-built facility at Hastings' Lodge Auto Centre has given the team a good profile, but there's always more room for sponsors.
"BP and Talley's have come on board, but we're still looking for more sponsors to get involved. Maybe people are waiting to see how we go at Pukekohe," he said.
"We get about one-and-a-half hours coverage on TV One of each round and that gets replayed on Sky about six or seven times, so the series has a strong profile. I'm going to be at the Hawke's Bay Show this year and at the opening of the new SKF branch in Hastings and at a few BP stations as well.
"They're great opportunities for people to see me and the car and get in behind a real Hawke's Bay team."