By BOB PEARCE
Newly-crowned national Formula Ford champion Tim Edgell is a realist. He may have dreamed of Formula One, but his goals are more modest.
The 23-year-old Aucklander has set his sights on getting into the Australian V8 Supercar championship within five years.
"I'm a realistic type of person and I believe
that is achievable," he says.
"The key is getting noticed by the right people and I hope to be able to do some Formula Ford races in Australia to help that.
"You need to have big budgets to race in Europe or the US, and V8s are our major championship."
Edgell comes of a motorsport family so it is surprising that he was 13 before he went kart racing, comparatively old by modern standards when kids are progressing from trikes to karts with scarcely a pause.
His grandfather is Eric Mallard, long-time chief executive of the New Zealand Grand Prix and principal promoter at Pukekohe.
His father, Randall, is one of the country's leading builders of racing engines.
"To start with I played soccer and cricket and dad was involved in his own racing projects, so it wasn't until I was 13 that he gave in and got me a kart," Edgell says.
In the next eight years he won two New Zealand kart grand prix, sprint and pro series championships, and multiple North Island titles.
His first season in a Formula Ford two years ago brought modest results - "It was a learning experience for me and dad. He knew about the engines, but we had to learn about the chassis and the set-up."
This season Edgell has reaped the reward of consistency.
He won only four races out of the 16, but took four rounds out of the eight.
One mishap that does rankle came when he was punted off in the last race of the international series run in the South Island. He ended up second overall to American Charlie Kimball and when the scholarships offered by an American promoter were announced he wasn't among the recipients.
His goals are clear, but his immediate plans depend on finance and opportunity. Though he wants to get into V8s, he doesn't rule out another season in Formula Ford.
* * *
Team Kiwi were among the big winners from the rain-shortened second round of the Australian V8 supercar championship at Eastern Creek at the weekend.
Craig Baird finished in ninth position and moved to eighth in the championship just as the teams pack up to come to Pukekohe for the third round at the end of the month.
Baird is enthusiastic about the team's new Holden and believes there is more improvement to come on what used to be his home track.
Team principal David John was all smiles about the positive effects for the team's newest sponsors, Hyundai Construction Equipment, and the local fans.
* * *
Two-time world champion Carlos Sainz has given the new Citroen the thumbs-up after testing ahead of next week's Propecia-sponsored Rally New Zealand.
Sainz, who has won Rally New Zealand a record four times, tested the new Xsara WRC 2004 model for the first time in southern Spain. He was pleased with the subtle modifications to the slick Citroen for the fourth round of the world championship here. The car is a moderately updated version of the machine that took last year's constructors' title and won the opening two WRC events this year in the hands of Sebastian Loeb.
* * *
Former Superbike star Aaron Slight will drive a Melbourne-built Vauxhall version of the Holden Monaro in the British NGT series this season.
The 5.7-litre V8 was built at the Monaro Performance Centre and will be run by the EE Motorsport team for the Kiwi driver.
* * *
The support races for the V8 Supercar round at Pukekohe at the end of the month will break new ground. Back again will be the New Zealand V8s, Porsche GT-3s and Formula Fords in non-championship races. The newcomers are Formula 5000s and Lotus Elises.
The NZ Formula 5000s are '70s era single-seater open-wheel racing cars. There will be a grid of 15 cars over the weekend, bringing back memories of the days when the stars of Formula One used to race at Pukekohe.
The 2004 Kumho Tyres Lotus Trophy will start with its first points-scoring round at Pukekohe.
The new Lotus Elise cars made their debut at Eastern Creek.
* * *
Manukau rally driver Marty Roestenburg, badly injured in a crash in Northland last year, returned to competition at the weekend in the Ashley Forest sprint near Rangiora.
He finished second, just seven-tenths of a second behind Steve Murphy, of Manurewa.
* * *
More than 200 drivers will compete in the national sprint kart championships at Rosebank Raceway over Easter weekend.
Leading the charge are champions such as Caine Lobb from Whangarei.
By BOB PEARCE
Newly-crowned national Formula Ford champion Tim Edgell is a realist. He may have dreamed of Formula One, but his goals are more modest.
The 23-year-old Aucklander has set his sights on getting into the Australian V8 Supercar championship within five years.
"I'm a realistic type of person and I believe
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