Pitstop: Smith swaps Formula Ford for Toyota series

By BOB PEARCE

Kenny Smith, the doyen of New Zealand drivers, will add an old head to a new class when the Toyota racing series makes its debut at Timaru in January.

The 63-year-old Aucklander, who remains competitive in single-seaters, has sold his Formula Ford and signed up for one of the new Toyotas.

Only one of the cars has arrived in the country from Italy but series organiser Barrie Thomlinson has 20 ordered and 16 spoken for.

Seen as a good class for Kiwis aiming for a career in single-seaters overseas, the Toyotas generate 200 horsepower against the 115 of Formula Fords and will have wings and slick tyres.

Preparation and testing will be strictly controlled to shift the emphasis on to the skills of the drivers.

For the first season, running at a level below national championship class, the Toyotas will race at Timaru, Teretonga and Ruapuna in the South Island in January and then at Manfeild in February and April, and Pukekohe in April.

As well as Smith, the class has attracted some of the best young talent, including Andy Knight, Chris Pither and Brendan Hartley.

Last season's Formula Ford champion, Tim Edgell, has opted for a testing role with Mark Petch's V8 team, understudying Kayne Scott.

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Reid second in Zolder - Aucklander Jonny Reid was back on the podium for the third time in a row after finishing second at the latest round of the European Formula 3000 championship at Zolder in Belgium.

Reid qualified second behind Austrian Norbert Siedler and held on to that position in an incident-packed race.

He and Siedler share third place in the championship with two races to go.

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V8s back in Melbourne - The Phillip Island circuit outside Melbourne rejoins the Australian V8 championship series next season.

The circuit, which stages the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, was dropped by Supercars for safety reasons.

But with an upgrade and a change of management it returns as the last round of the championship in November.

The season will again begin with the non-championship Australian Formula One Grand Prix races on March 4-6.

New Zealanders will get a last look at the Supercars on the Pukekohe circuit in April before their possible move to the streets of Auckland in 2006.

The championship rounds are: March 17-20, Clipsal 500, Adelaide; April 15-17, V8 International, Pukekohe; May 6-8, Barbagallo, Perth; May 27-29, Eastern Creek, Sydney; June 10-12, Shanghai, China; July 1-3, Hidden Valley, Darwin; July 22-24, Queensland Raceway, Ipswich; August 12-14, Oran Park, Sydney; September 9-11, Sandown 500, Melbourne; October 6-9, Bathurst 1000, Bathurst; October 20-23, V8 Supercar Challenge, Surfers Paradise; November 11-13, Symmons Plains, Tasmania; November 25-27, Grande Finale, Phillip Island.

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Te Awamutu triumph - Te Awamutu teenager Nic Jordan finished his Australian Formula Three championship season in style as he clinched the trophy for drivers of older cars at Mallala, South Australia, on Sunday.

Jordan has an unbeaten record in the class and he showed his great potential by finishing second overall in the final race of the day.

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Ford's fateful decision - Ford's decision to pull out of Formula One at the end of the season and the likely downscaling of its world rally effort will have wide-ranging repercussions.

Formula One could lose more than the Jaguar team - Jordan and Minardi rely on Ford engines provided by Cosworth, which has been put up for sale.

World rallying cannot afford to lose Ford.

Mitsubishi and Skoda are bit-part players these days and a worst-case scenario could have a total of six cars, two each from Subaru, Citroen and Peugeot, contesting next year's championship.

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Speed investigation - Motorsport New Zealand is to investigate and take action on the excessive speeds achieved on the Waikato Tarmac Rally at the weekend.

The stipulated maximum average of 132km/h is already slightly higher than the world rally standard yet some of Saturday's stages produced averages of over 160km/h.

Mike John, organiser of Targa NZ, which has used the same roads and been criticised in the past, has accused the national body of a double standard in the treatment of his event and its own national championship.

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V8 driver kart king - V8 Touring Car driver Jared Carlyle was again the pace-setter in the Rotax Max Challenge kart races at Hamilton on Saturday.

He was beaten to the line in the pre-final by Palmerston North's Andrew Hoare but was back in front when it counted, winning the final from Hoare, Fraser Hart and Bradley Tyrrell.

Carlyle, 20, will take a 35-point lead over 15-year-old Aucklander Michael Wheaton to the final round at Wellington next month.