KEY POINTS:
There's some bad news for Ford fans in the run up to the third round of the V8 Supercars at Pukekohe this weekend.
The Holdens are on a roll.
The Holden Special Vehicles Team are looking menacing after their clean sweep in Perth where Garth Tander won all
three rounds. This on the back of Rick Kelly's race win in Adelaide - where brother Todd was the round winner.
But it's not such good news for the part-New Zealand owned Tasman team with Kiwi drivers Greg Murphy and Jason Richards. They lie in 12th and 16th respectively in the championship after two rounds.
But this is Pukekohe, and the last one at that.
"It's always a buzz to come here, and a win, when it's the last time we'll come here, will be as important as a Bathurst win," said Richards.
For the master of Pukekohe, Greg Murphy, today will be a real proving day.
"We can't really tell how we're going to go based on current form.
"We won't really know until practice [today]."
Home support will also be looking to Team Kiwi Racing for a strong showing, with Paul Radisich in the driver's seat for probably the last time at his original home track.
This will be the first time TKR has raced a Ford in New Zealand and the ex-FPR Falcon, according to Radisich, has been running very strongly.
Radisich has driven the car in anger only once, an 11th in race two at Perth, after struggling back from injury as a result of his big off at Mt Panorama.
"I'm still learning how the car works, but with each outing we're getting quicker. It's going to be better now we have our own pit bay," said Radisich.
Fellow Kiwi Fabian Coulthard is looking forward to the weekend and thinks he could have an outside chance as most teams have come to Pukekohe with new cars.
"We're going relatively well so far, but finishing is the most important thing," said Coulthard. "Getting the car to ride the bumps, as well as being able to cope with the high-speed corners, is the difficult part."
Ex-pat Steven Richards, after switching from Larry Perkins' Holden team to Ford Performance Racing, is lying in 13th. Richards and team-mate Mark Winterbottom demonstrated some quick pace at Perth.
Although four Holden drivers - Rick Kelly, Tander, Todd Kelly and Mark Skaife - are lying at the top of the table going into Pukekohe - breathing down their necks are seven Ford drivers - Steven Johnstone, James Courtney, Jamie Whincup, Winterbottom, Will Davison, Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall.
The drivers have welcomed the new knockout format for qualifying comprising three 15-minute sessions.
It follows Formula One's lead, where all the cars start the first session, and the 20 fastest move to the next round.
After a five-minute rest, the next session starts, and the 10 fastest move onto the last round.
The final 10 quickest then fight it out for pole position over 15 minutes.
The top 10 qualifiers are normally separated by mere fractions of a second, and the very fast 2.8km track offers few passing opportunities. So slick pit stops, and staying out of trouble, are key to success in this round.
The Toyota Racing Series has a winner in Daniel Gaunt, who has an unassailable lead going into the final round.
Only 13 points separate Craig Baird and Jody Vincent in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, which always provides great entertainment around Pukekohe.
Great battles will abound when the production cars take to the track, and the Mini Challenge is always good for spectacular racing - especially as the top three drivers are separated by only 38 points.
