Motorsport: Double double spells trouble for title rivals

John McIntyre wants to be the first to win three NZ V8 titles. Photo / Lance Hastie

The opening round of the Motorsport New Zealand Premier Race championship starts this weekend at Pukekohe and is shaping up to be one of the best seasons in a while.

Craig Baird, the leading contender and defending champion in both the BNT V8s and the Porsche Cup Challenge, is heading to the South Auckland track looking to get a good start to his season.

Baird has made a habit of winning the Porsche class (six championship titles) and now has his first NZV8 series under his belt and is looking to do a double, double.

"Winning two premier race championships in the same season hasn't been done before.

"So if I can double my double it will make it very hard for anyone to repeat," said Baird.

Not only will Baird have to keep an eye in his mirrors for title contenders John McIntyre, Kayne Scott, Angus Fogg and Andy Booth, to name a few, he'll have to be on his guard for the joker in the pack, Australian V8 Supercar driver Jason Bargwanna.

"I'm expecting this to be a competitive championship as we don't fly across the Tasman to go racing against these guys and underestimate how big the challenge is going to be," said Bargwanna.

Two-time champion McIntyre rocketed to back-to-back titles in 2006/07 and 2007/08 only to be pipped in 2008/09 and 2009/10 and is very keen to be the first driver to win three New Zealand V8 titles.

He'll be turning up at Pukekohe with his tail feathers high after two podium finishes at the last of the V8 Supercar endurance rounds in Australia.

"I've been running off and on over there [Australia] in the enduros and to finally get a result is a very good feeling and something I'll take into the New Zealand series," said McIntyre.

"Everyone's re-energised and focused on winning the championship again after the disappointment of losing a whole round's worth of points last season which took us out of contention for the title."

Another two-time champion and best-placed Holden driver last season, Andy Booth, is rubbing his hands in anticipation of taking the fight to the blue oval for once.

"We're feeling very confident this year especially with the rule changes that have allowed us to get a bit closer to the Fords," said Booth.

"We've had a disruptive run up to this season with our main sponsor pulling out, but thankfully the Rock FM stepped in.

"We're very happy with the car and it's now driving like a real race car."

Kayne Scott is another two-time title winner who'll want to improve on an inconsistent season last time out and could shake some of the other favoured front runners up now he's hopefully got the car running how he wants.

Angus Fogg has yet to nail his first championship title and as always will be throwing everything at this year's attempt to nab his first title.

"We're probably better prepared this year than we have been in the past," said Fogg.

"We've built a new engine, rather than using the one we have for the past four years, and it's proved to be strong and the car is on the money.

"Lap times have been good in practice and that's not with putting new tyres on."

The cat among the pigeons may be Tim Edgell who put a few of the more established drivers to the sword last season, along with last year's opening round winner Eddie Bell.

After being there, or there about in previous years, Edgell picked up his first win last season at Manfeild and has showed a good turn of speed in pre-season practice.

The New Zealand V8 Utes have stepped up to the main division this weekend and will strut their stuff alongside the other Tier One classes.

The category is a controlled class with matched engine maps and identical tyres, brakes and suspension to ensure opportunities are equal and costs are contained.

The field has been bolstered by the addition of one of the stalwarts of the Australian V8 Utes, Robert Jarvis, who will contest the Kiwi series. Jarvis is a 200-race veteran of the Australian series.

Also racing this weekend, with the Porsche GT3s, the Suzuki Swifts and the Production cars, are the open wheel youths of tomorrow - the Formula Fords.

These guys are hoping to following in the footsteps of Scott Dixon, Brendon Hartley, Craig Baird, Greg Murphy, Matt Halliday, Fabian Coulthard, Jason Richards, Andy Booth, Richie Stanaway and Daniel Gaunt who all got their start in Formula Ford racing.

Keeping them on their toes will be multi-class champion and NZGP winner Kenny Smith who's decided to keep the youngsters honest around Pukekohe.

Championship Calendar
Round 1: Pukekohe Park Raceway (Pukekohe) November 6-7

Round 2: Powerbuilt Tools Raceway (Christchurch) November 27-28

Round 3: Teretonga Park (Invercargill) January 15-16

Round 4: Timaru International Raceway (Timaru) January 22-23

Round 5: Manfeild Park (Feilding) February 12-13

Round 6: Taupo Motorsport Park (Taupo) March 12-13

Round 7: ITM 400 V8 Supercars (Hamilton) April 15-17