Pitstop: Baird gets drive in V8 Supercar champs

By BOB PEARCE

After a year of intermittent drives, New Zealander Craig Baird is poised for a full season in the Australian V8 Supercar championship.

Now based in Queensland, Baird is cagey about the identity of his new team, saying only that it is based in Melbourne.

Australian reports suggest it is the former Rod Nash Racing, which ran Tony Longhurst last year, and that V8 legend Peter Brock is one of the principals of the reconstituted franchise.

If so, Baird will be switching to a Holden Commodore after doing most of his driving at this level for Ford.

"The deal is 99.9 per cent certain," Baird said. "I'm training two hours a day, five or six days a week, to get ready.

"It's not clear whether we'll get a run at the Melbourne Grand Prix meeting, but we'll be ready for the first round of the championship at Adelaide in March."

Baird, a former multi-winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix and the touring car championship, drove a Ford Falcon for the Pirtek team in the Supercar championship in 2000, but had a disappointing season after a winning start. Since then he has combined his business interests with racing sportscars and taking a number of one-off drives on both sides of the Tasman.

As part of his build-up for the Supercar championship, he was keen to drive Alan Ferguson's Camaro in the Tranzam races at Manfeild this weekend. But Ferguson was unable to get sponsorship for the venture.

Baird could have been excused for being soured on New Zealand motorsport after being assaulted by another driver following a V8 tourer race at Timaru this month.

His assailant was fined $5000 and suspended from the sport for three months.

"I can't blame New Zealand motorsport for the actions of a guy who has an anger management problem," Baird said. "For sure our cars touched, but I didn't do it intentionally.

"I didn't even know who he was. He's in the wrong sport. He should be in boxing."

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Team Kiwi, the Auckland-based V8 Supercar franchise, are realising just how important it was that lead driver Jason Richards finished 24th in the championship last season.

The top 25 are guaranteed a start in the first round at Adelaide in April, avoiding the cut-throat pre-qualifying they had to endure for much of last year.

This season, pre-qualifying will be a daunting procedure because in the off-season franchises have been sold, and several of the top teams have decided to run three cars in the championship.

The all-conquering Holden Racing Team, headed by champion Mark Skaife, will have a third car, as will Larry Perkins, for whom Russell Ingall was runner-up last season.

Only two cars from each team will be guaranteed a start.

And because of franchise changes, Greg Murphy, John Bowe, Todd Kelly, Craig Lowndes, Wayne Gardner and Neil Crompton may have to qualify for Adelaide.

With such a tough test just to get into the field, Team Kiwi have opted to run only one car at Adelaide and Richards is well aware that a finish in the top 25 remains a priority.

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Craig Gilbert (Corvette) and Paul Pedersen (Camaro) are level on 304 points going into the final round of the national Tranzam championship at Manfeild this weekend.

Third on 260 is Mark Porter (Jaguar), with defending champion Ashley Stichbury back on 175 after a series of setbacks for his Chev Corvette.

Stichbury is better placed in the V8 tourers where he has a 67-point lead over Andy Booth, with Andrew Anderson 38 points further back.

Fabian Coulthard, who has been running away with the Formula Ford championship, still has a comfortable lead despite losing all his points from the last round at Pukekohe when his car was found to have an illegal engine.

The young Aucklander is on 286 points, followed by Brady Kennett on 223 and Nick Ross on 175.

American Bryan Sellers, who beat Coulthard at Timaru, will be out to finish his limited campaign on another winning note at Manfeild.

Barrie Thomlinson is almost 100 points ahead of the field in the New Zealand touring cars. His closest rival is Toyota team-mate Phil Hellebrekers.

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Andrew Stroud will take a 38-point lead over Shaun Harris into the final round of the national superbike championship next month after three wins at Teretonga last weekend.

Harris had a one-point lead before Teretonga, but crashed out of the first race and did not challenge fellow Suzuki rider Stroud again.

He was also off his usual pace in the 600cc races, but still leads Dennis Charlett by 22 points.

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Rally fans can catch a preview of the Swedish Rally on TV3 at 11.40 pm on Friday.

The programme will include a day in the life of Subaru's Petter Solberg.

There will also be a profile of four-time world champion Tommi Makinen and a story on the aircraftbuilt by Kenneth Eriksson.

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Australia will have a local driver on the grid for the Melbourne Grand Prix on March 3. Twenty-five-year-old Mark Webber has got the nod for the second seat with the Minardi team. The team is owned by fellow Aussie Paul Stoddart.

Webber was second in the Formula 3000 championship last season and has worked as a test driver for Benetton. Minardi's other driver is Malaysian Alex Yoong.

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Spectators at Pukekohe this weekend for the classic motorcycle festival may be in at the birth of a new world series. The European replica bikes racing under the auspices of the International Classic Association are aiming for a world championship.

The bikes, which look like the classic racers built before 1973, have made the most of modern technology to be lighter, more powerful and easier to ride than their originals.