MOTOR RACING: Will he keep top title?

HAMISH BIDWELL
Not to put too fine a point on it, but John McInytre has a lot to live up to this summer.
As if winning the Parker Enzed NZV8s championship in 2006-07, as a privateer, wasn't enough, McIntyre went on to beat out the likes of A1GP star Jonny Reid to win the Jim Clark Trophy, awarded to the country's best and fairest driver, at Motorsport New Zealand's gala dinner.
So, a week out from the start of the defence of his V8 crown, how are things progressing at John McIntyre Racing? "Exceptionally well," McIntyre told SportToday.
"We've just had two test days with the new car and Craig Field and the team in the JMR workshop have done a fantastic job on it. "They've spent all winter working on it, leaving no stone unturned, and already we can see that the car is quicker than last year.
"The question then is, how much quicker will our opposition be? But that's out of our control. All we can do is concentrate on our job.
"We've got a great sponsorship package together this year and we're carrying more and better merchandise, so Hawke's Bay people can get behind their team. Looking back on it, last year was really hard for me, but this year I've got the benefit of hindsight and a lot more experience.
"It's very easy to underestimate the work that goes into starting your own team, especially when you've never done it before. So to win the championship in our first year was an amazing achievement. Now the challenge is to do it again."
With the team working feverishly in the garage, McIntyre used the off-season to further enhance his international reputation. That included a class win for his team in a 24-hour race at Germany's legendary Nurburgring, along with drives for Team Kiwi Racing at the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races.
"The Nurburgring was unreal and incredibly fast. It's a circuit that every racer dreams of driving and it was a real experience," he said.
"For a start you drive at night, at a time when you should be asleep, but you've got so much adrenalin pumping that you're in no danger of nodding off. A really thick fog came down during the race and they actually stopped it for three hours until it burnt off.
"I'd been out there at the time and could hardly see. I didn't know if I was on the right side or left side of the road, which is pretty challenging when you've got cars from other classes passing you. Some of them were going 70kmh quicker than we were and we were still doing 255kmh in these Honda Civic Type-Rs."
The Australian endurance races weren't quite as enjoyable for McIntyre, where he was co-driver for rising star Shane van Gisbergen. Black-flagged at Sandown, van Gisbergen hit a wall at Bathurst after just 10 laps, meaning that when McIntyre got behind the wheel at both events the team was already well off the pace.
Now back with his own team, McIntyre and car are in Hawke's Bay tomorrow for two public appearances. Firstly in Havelock North, between 7 and 9am, for the start of the Targa Rally and then at Mitre 10 Mega in Hastings from 10am.