Pitstop: Every enthusiast's dream come true

When Marcus Pye hits the track at Pukekohe this weekend in a Chevron B21 sportscar, he will be at the wheel of his 468th different racecar.

For the past 29 years the British journalist has written about his sport for Autosport and has raced some legendary machinery.

He has come to Pukekohe with a group of British enthusiasts who had intended to race their own Formula 5000 cars against the locals. But shipping delays scuppered that plan and they will borrow local machinery.

Pye was to drive a Lola T330 but he expects to be competitive in the replacement. The fields will also include a couple of historic Formula One cars.

British visitor Frank Lyons has flown in the McLaren in which James Hunt won the British and Japanese Formula One Grand Prix in 1978 and Phil Mauger has entered his ex-Denny Hulme 1973 M23.

The British invasion for the Tasman revival series repays a visit by Kiwi drivers and their cars to England last year and Pye hopes the exchanges can become a regular event.

SuperGT, muscle and the classic cars will be in action from 10am on both days with more than 250 entries. 

 
Shock-horror news for Nascar fans

Nascar, that most American of motor sports, will never be the same again. Toyota has given notice that it will be joining the fray from 2007.

For as long as most fans can remember, Nascar has been contested by American manufacturers.

But Toyota plans to jump into what has become one of the leading mainstream television sports with a development of its Camry model.

The results will be watched closely by Avesco, the controlling body of the Aussie V8 Supercars. Abrasive chief executive Tony Cochrane last year got up the tailpipes of the Holden and Ford teams by suggesting it was time to admit some new manufacturers, with Mitsubishi a likely starter.

The Aussies were not impressed when the original world touring car championship came to Bathurst and a pack of European BMWs and Ford Sierras spoiled the party. After the Nissan GT-R won its third title in 1992, Holden and Ford closed the door. 

 
Dixon and Wheldon fastest at phoenix

Scott Dixon and his new teammate, Dan Wheldon, topped the lap times in their Honda-powered Dallara car on the second day of Indy Racing League test sessions at Phoenix this week.

Dixon and Wheldon, who was fastest at Phoenix, will join Nascar driver Casey Mears in a Chip Ganassi Lexus Riley sportscar for the 24-hour race at Daytona this weekend. 

 
Rally revs up for replay of 70s drama

Plenty of Ford Escorts, a V8-powered Triumph TR7 and a BMW M3 from Australia are among the early entrants for the Silver Fern Rally to be staged in the South Island in November.

The rally, which will recreate the conditions of "real" rallying from October 7-14, is modelled on New Zealand's pioneering efforts of the 1970s and the world championship events that followed. 

 
Gaunt chases trophy at Ruapuna

Aucklander Daniel Gaunt will be hoping to grab a second Lady Wigram Trophy when the Toyota series moves to Ruapuna this weekend.

Gaunt, who leads the championship after four rounds, won the trophy a couple of years ago in a one-off drive in an Australian Formula Three car.

It's the first time the Toyotas have contested the historic prize and the only other driver in the field to have won it is Kenny Smith, who triumphed on the old Wigram airfield circuit in a Lola Formula 5000. 

 
Motorcycling NZ puts Pavletich in pole role

Paul Pavletich, one of the best New Zealand riders not to have sought a career overseas, is the new chief executive of Motorcycling New Zealand.

Pavletich, who raced bikes successfully for many years, later switched to Mini Sevens and touring cars. 
 

Top drivers to work on mental circuits

Four of New Zealand's top drivers, Fabian Coulthard, Daniel Gaunt, Shane van Gisbergen and Matt Halliday, are to work with a leading neuro-scientist on techniques to enhance their performance.

The scientist, Kerry Spackman, a graduate of Auckland and Waikato Universities, is based in London and works with the McLaren and Red Bull teams. He specialises in sensory and neuro-computational abilities.

The four drivers, on a presidential scholarship, will spend two days with Spackman learning about race and lap visualisation techniques and mechanical aspects of the brain. Benefits include being able to extend the level of performance normally achieved only by practice.

Coulthard won the Australian Carrera Cup Porsche title last season, Gaunt leads the Toyota series, Van Gisbergen leads the Formula Fords and Halliday is an A1GP driver.