Pitstop: Dixon and Baird to race in Daytona 24-hour

Two of New Zealand's leading race drivers, Scott Dixon and Craig Baird, will compete in the American Classic Daytona 24-hour race this weekend.

Dixon will join his Indycar team-mate Darren Manning and Nascar driver Casey Mears in a Lexus Riley run by Chip Ganassi.

Baird will join fellow Aussie V8 Supercar drivers Marcos Ambrose and Paul Morris in the Aussie Assault Porsche GT3.

The Lexus Riley is a Daytona Prototype, a purpose-built, closed cockpit racecar powered by a production-based engine. A Pontiac car from this class won the race last year. There are 29 Prototypes entered this year.

The Porsche runs in the other major class, the GTs, of which 34 are in the field, mostly Porsches but with a few Ferraris and Corvettes.

Drivers from a wide range of classes converge on Daytona for the 24-hour. Among the big names this year are Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle from Nascar, Buddy Rice, winner of the Indianapolis 500 last year, Paul Tracy, the Champ Car champion in 2003, and Hollywood legend Paul Newman.

The track combines a road course with the Daytona Speedway and is 5.6 km long. The race is a test of endurance as well as speed.

Baird, listed as an Australian on the race website, comes to Daytona race-fit after competing in the New Zealand Porsche GT3 series. He will continue to juggle his appearances in that series with his commitments to his new V8 Supercar team, WPS Racing, for whom he will drive a Ford Falcon.

He will have his first test in the WPS car a week before the non-championship race at the Melbourne Grand Prix. The first Supercar championship race is at Adelaide on March 17-20.

Family rivalry

The Solberg brothers will compete for rival works teams in the Swedish Rally from February 11.

Former world champion Petter will as usual spearhead the Subaru challenge while older brother Henning will join a three-car Ford contingent.

Henning Solberg has been drafted in by Ford because of his snow experience and has been nominated for manufacturer points alongside Toni Gardemeister, while Roman Kresta will be eligible only for driver points.

Williams hires Heidfeld

Aussie Mark Webber's team-mate in the Williams team for the Formula One season will be German Nick Heidfeld.

Heidfeld, who drove for Jordan last season, was chosen ahead of Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia, who will continue in a testing role.

Williams parted company with Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of last season.

Time to get smart

Jacques Villeneuve says Formula One drivers will have to be more intelligent in the season starting in Melbourne on the first weekend of March.

Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion returning full-time to the sport this year with Swiss team Sauber, says rule variations that will virtually abolish tyre changes during races and make teams use engines longer will require a smarter approach from drivers.

The 33-year-old Canadian says experience will be more important than ever in the sport.

Bo comes to town

International actress Bo Derek, famous for her role in the movie 10, will jet into Australia on March 3 as a special guest for the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Known around the globe as the "perfect 10" in the 70s, Derek is an avid motorsport fan due to a family history in the sport.

Her father worked for Goodyear, Kawasaki, Honda and Yamaha, and her great-great grandfather - a pioneer in car racing - designed, built and raced his Collins Special against the Chevrolet Brothers.

$100,100 wins drive

If you put in a bid in the auction for a drive in the BMW celebrity race at the Australian Grand Prix, you missed out.

Peter Hosking, head of a Melbourne-based power tools company, placed the winning auction bid of more than A$100,100 ($108,945) that will go to tsunami relief.

Hosking's final bid was A$100 more than the next-best offer in the frantic last 90 minutes of the internet auction.

Northerners in lead

OSCA racing has always been a South Island affair but with the extension of the series to the north this season, the North Island drivers are proving hard to beat.

After the first two rounds, held in the South Island, North Island-based competitors fill the first three places overall. The South Island retains some pride by leading the North-South Challenge 867 points to 831.

Roger Fawbert from Upper Hutt leads the championship with 121 points in his Chev Camaro. He is the reigning South Island OSCA Champion having travelled south to compete in last year's championship.

Second place on 116 points is Brian Gray from Tauranga, whose RX7 has only one third of the horsepower of his V8 competitors. Third is another Tauranga driver, Andy Greenslade, on 114 points in another Chev Camaro.

The final two rounds of the championship will be held in the North Island over two consecutive weekends, March 23-24 at Taupo and April 2-3 at Manfeild.