Motorsport: Fast Eddie sets red-hot pace

Eddie Irvine showed he is ready to defend his Australian Grand Prix title next week when he set the fastest time at the last European practice for the event.

The Irishman, who won last year for Ferrari, is now driving for Jaguar Racing, the revamped Stewart team.

At the Jerez circuit in Spain, he clocked a best lap of 1m 23.2s, 0.1s better than his team-mate, Johnny Herbert.

Irvine's time was 0.8s quicker than the rival McLaren team managed during the three-day test.

The 34-year-old Irvine is reported to be getting around $US10 million a year to drive for Jaguar.

His lifestyle matches his income, with a house on the Irish coast, a flat in Milan, a helicopter, a Falcon jet and a large motor yacht, unofficially dubbed "the Babe Magnet."

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Craig Baird's win at the opening round of the V8 Supercar championship has quickly moved him from rookie to star.

He has been given a special wildcard entry into the non-championship Supercar Showdown at the Australian Grand Prix.

The races earn as much fan support as the grand prix itself and are fiercely contested.

Fellow Kiwi Greg Murphy holds the V8 track record of 1m 59.292s, a mark he set in a Holden Racing Team car in 1997.

The fastest Formula One lap of 1m 29.369s was set the same year by Jacques Villeneuve in a Williams.

Paul Radisich will be hoping for a change of luck this year after a disastrous debut in 1999.

The Johnson Ford team was breaking in a new Falcon and after a series of mishaps headed home to Queensland before the final race.

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A part of New Zealand motor-racing history will be recalled at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next week.

The Maybach Special, in which Stan Jones won the New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore in 1954, will be among historic cars paraded at Albert Park.

The Maybach, built around an engine from a captured German scout car, beat a field which included British ace Ken Wharton in a BRM. The BRM will also be at Melbourne.

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Aucklander Phil Hellebrekers finally clinched a national title after 13 years of trying when he won the Formula Ford championship at Manfeild last weekend.

A sixth placing in the first race saw him drop behind young Christchurch rookie Robbie Henderson, but he stormed back to win the second race and drove to a conservative fifth in the final race to clinch the title by eight points.

Local star Brady Kennett won two races on the day, including the Dan Higgins Trophy.

He finished third in the championship.

Jason Richards won all three touring car races for BMW, and Mark Pedersen (Commodore) and Andrew Fawcet (Falcon) shared the V8 honours.

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Cambridge rider Michael Cotter has successfully defended his national 250cc motocross title at Mosgiel.

Cotter won all but one of the six races, with his perfect record spoiled by Stacey Oldeman, of Te Puke, who finished second in the championship, 22 points clear of Cameron Negus, of Rotorua.

Cotter was also defending the 500cc title, but this went to Corrie Sargent, of Featherston.

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As the America's Cup yachts raced off Auckland, we were assured that millions around the world were glued to their television screens.

Just who counts and who is counted is less than clear. It is all part of the make-believe world of global television.

Motorsport always claims billions of viewers for Formula One. The world rally championship has joined the party.

Last year the combined viewing figure claimed for all rounds was 4,793,110,895.

Each round was broadcast in 182 countries, with the best viewing figure earned by the last round in Britain with 358,657,807.

The Rally of New Zealand was fifth-best of the 14 rounds with 345,351,333 viewers.