Motorsport: Dynamic duo race to V8 victory

Two pole positions, a second place in race one and a win in race two were more than enough to give Scott McLaughlin victory again in the V8 SuperTourers in Taupo.

Teamed with V8 Supercar driver Jono Webb, the duo translated their superb qualifying pace - where they locked out pole position for both races with first and second fastest times from qualifying - into podium finishes.

This matched the performance of the Mike Pero Mortgages M3 Racing duo of Nick Cassidy and Jack Perkins, but two pole positions were enough to give McLaughlin and Webb the memorial Ashley Stichbury Trophy - which they received from the late ace's son Zach in front of the biggest crowd at a circuit racing event at the Taupo track since the days of A1GP.

Their driver changes - compulsory in the two 56-lap races - were among the quickest but they were hampered by tyre problems in the first race. They made the most of some small changes in race two, winning and taking the lead in the V8 SuperTourers enduro series.

They didn't have it all their own way, though. Series debutants Cassidy and Perkins put in a quick driver changeover on race one and took a lead they would not lose.

In race two, after some early contact that damaged the passenger side of the car, they had no answer to the flying McLaughlin and Webb but had the measure of the rest.

Championship leader John McIntyre and new co-driver Jono Lester translated a poor qualifying performance on Saturday into two excellent third place finishes - McIntyre's trademark press-on style getting him past the Richard Moore/Owen Kelly car late on in the second race.

The fastest-ever GP3 pole time at Spa Francorchamps and his sixth podium finish this season consolidated Mitch Evans' lead in a very brief opening race of the series at the Belgian Grand Prix.

After leading the opening lap, Evans slipped back to third but was involved in a tight tussle at the front of the 26-car field when the 13th race of the season was red-flagged after only four laps.

With little more than 10 minutes left on the clock, the scheduled 12-lap feature race was not restarted and only half points were awarded. The red-flag came after just 15 minutes of the scheduled 25-minute duration because Robert Cregan had a heavy crash into a tyre wall.

German driver Daniel Abt was declared the victor, with Portuguese driver Antonio Felix da Costa second.