A1GP: Booth guides Holden into pole position

Paul Radisich pilots the HPM Racing Team Ford to seventh place in qualifying. Photo / SportProMedia

It's been a long time between drinks, but a Holden finally sits on pole for a race in the NZV8 series - and Andy Booth is a happy man.

"Ruapuna was a big wake-up call," said Booth. "We put a lot of work in over the last six weeks and we've had some help from Australia. Ruapuna proved I can drive terribly if I don't concentrate."

Two-time V8 champion Booth pulled an impressive 1min 35sec lap to snatch pole from John McIntyre and Kayne Scott in the top-10 style shoot out. Conditions for qualifying at the Taupo Motorsport Park were hot and windy, and with the changes to the sequence of corners after the 850-metre long main straight, the competitive V8 drivers will have to look after their tyres and brakes even more than usual.

Julia Huzziff is back in a rebuilt car after her big crash at Pukekohe, and resultant knee surgery.

"It feels good, we had a few steering and temperature problems in practice," said Huzziff. "But the knee's all good and it doesn't hurt at all."

Today sees the first of three NZV8s championship races, as part of the weekend's A1GP event.

Craig Baird continued to show his international pedigree by qualifying his Porsche GT3 Cup car on pole ahead of Matt Halliday, Daniel Gaunt and Jono Lester. Baird jumped to an early lead as Halliday slotted in behind him, and in a repeat of the previous six races Baird was never headed, winning comfortably ahead of Halliday, who kept Lester at bay.

Richard Moore and Michael Morton tried to fit through a corner side-by-side in a move that spun them both out.

The Toyota Racing Series continues to throw up different winners. This time it was Australian Nathan Antunes who launched the best of the front four and hustled his way past Dominic Storey and Matt Halliday to slot in behind pole-sitter Ben Harford. While Harford kept up the pace at the front, Halliday pushed Antunes hard. Antunes pulled into the pits midway through the race and although Halliday was climbing all over the back of Harford he had to settle for second in front of Earl Bamber.

Kiwi Paul Radisich clocked the seventh-fastest time in his first competitive run on the track despite carburettor problems. "It's causing a bit of trouble," Radisich said. "We had some changes made through the qualifying sessions to see if that would help - it was a little better. But overall we improved every time we were out."

Describing the circuit as tight and narrow in places, Radisich, who missed the chance for pre-race testing, was generally happy with the track condition. "The track is good; OK, ideally we needed to do testing before coming here, so we're behind the eight-ball with the general set-up - but that's the way it goes really; we will keep working on it for tomorrow's race."

The Mini Challenge provided its usual mixture of door banging and spins with the eventual winner Courtney Letica leading Gavin Dawson and Rhys McKay home.

Caine Lobb took the honours in the Formula Ford race followed by Hugh Gardiner and Andrew Waite.