Motorsport: McIntyre primed to overtake

Defending champion Craig Baird will enter the second round just behind leader Angus Fogg and is confident Christchurch is the place for him to get back on the top of the table. Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand Motorsport premier race championships have hit Christchurch this weekend to resume battle after the Pukekohe opening round three weeks ago.

Angus Fogg arrives at the popular Ruapuna track with his nose just in front of the chasing, and defending NZV8 champion, Craig Baird and Tim Edgell, with former two-time champion John McIntyre back in an unfamiliar fourth place.

McIntyre won the first two races but came unstuck in the reverse-grid third race when he arrived, rather rapidly, at the rear of a slower car. After making contact he slide into the wall coming over Ford Mountain and ground to a halt on the front straight.

"I don't have to make any amends after Pukekohe. As far as I can see we really dominated in the first two races," said McIntyre. "We'd love to come out of Ruapuna with the championship lead if we can, but really we want to just finish every race as high as we can. The best way to do that is to get pole and win the first two."

Meanwhile, Fogg is quietly confident heading south despite being just one point in front of Baird and a mere four ahead of Edgell. For several years now Fogg has been in the hunt for his first NZV8 title but the planets haven't been quite aligned for him.

He came away from Pukekohe relatively unscathed and is hoping last year's altercation at Ruapuna is not repeated. "Ruapuna's normally been good for me unless someone takes me out like Clark Procter did last year," Fogg said.

"[Pukekohe] was a good start to the season that's for sure.

"The car speed was good and trouble stayed away and it's good to be heading to Ruapuna with a point's lead - although it is small," he said. "The class is so competitive it doesn't take much to drop off the pace and even drop out of the top 10. I should know as the past couple of years that's happened to me and some of the others.

Baird is confident this weekend at the Christchurch track is the place for him to get back on top of the table.

"While it's very early in the season, when you look at where we were this time last year - we're already ahead," said Baird.

"[And] all the past championship winners are behind me. And although we haven't won any races yet - we've proven the car is very fast. So it's a matter of finishing first and the wins will come."

Edgell will be hoping his good form, and avoidance of trouble, continues so he can remain in the hunt for his first title.

"I feel I'm due a good result [at Ruapuna]. Last season we had some good pace but had a horror run.

"I'm actually looking forward to this weekend and it should be a good one for us."

The NZV8s may be the drawcard but there's lots of other just as exciting racing over the weekend.

Baird, defending both his NZV8 and Porsche titles this year, has owned the Porsche GTS Cup event for the past few years but Pukekohe wasn't overly kind to him.

He arrives at Ruapuna in fifth place with his work cut out to overtake series leaders Daniel Gaunt, Jonny Reid and Mitch Cunningham.

In the V8 utes, defending champion Chris Pither was dogged in races one and two after brake and engine problems. He bounced back with a second in race three and trails Cain Lobb by 71 points.

Formula Ford continues to throw up the next generation of Kiwi racers with Matt Williams leading the charge after the first round three points ahead of Andre Hiemgartner.

Also providing entertainment over the weekend will be the Suzuki Swifts and the production class.

NZV8 points

1 Angus Fogg 170

2 Craig Baird 169

3 Tim Edgell 166

4 John McIntyre 150

5 Andy Knight 148

6 Paul Manuell 114

7 Andy Booth 108

8 Jason Bargwanna 102