KEY POINTS:
Class will always out. And class is exactly what Paul Radisich showed at the second round of the NZV8 championships at Ruapuna, outside Christchurch.
Twenty-two years on from his last race at Ruapuna, where he won the Liquor King 500, Radisich again dominated the weekend.
Following on from
Pukekohe, where by his standards he had an indifferent weekend, Radisich showed just how quick he is by taking commanding wins in Saturday's and yesterday morning's races.
Starting at the rear in 29th place for the full reverse third race yesterday afternoon, Radisich carved his way through the field to finish third and claim the round win.
"It's always fun winning," he said. "There was never a dull moment in the car with warning lights coming on and everything."
In race one, it appeared Radisich had jumped the rolling start and could have been penalised. "The other guys were a bit slow on the uptake," he said. "They made me look bad by not keeping up."
The race was red-flagged and after the restart Radisich's car showed good speed, and held the chasing pack led by Kayne Scott, Angus Fogg and John McIntyre at bay.
Race two yesterday morning was also red-flagged. In a repeat of race one, Radisich grabbed the lead on the restart and was never headed.
Farther back in the field, Paul Manuell was having a tussle with defending champion McIntyre, who, in attempting to pass on the front straight, ran into the back of Manuell's car. "I don't know what he was thinking," said Manuell. "If it had been me or one of the other drivers, we'd have got a black flag."
The full reverse grid third race looked like a Pack'N Save carpark as the V8s headed into the first corner at times four abreast. After the usual jockeying, the race settled down and the freight train of McIntyre, Radisich, Manuell, Scott and Fogg worked their way methodically up through the field.
McIntyre reacted quicker than the others and went on to win by a big margin from Kevin Williams, and Radisich.
"I had an amazing run through the middle of the field," said McIntyre. "The speed of the car was so good that I was able to catch the front runners. Not bad for a team that had all their stuff burned after Pukekohe."
McIntyre still leads the championship on 382 points, with Scott on 331, Fogg on 328 and Radisich closing the gap on 319. The first two GT3 races were a procession with Craig Baird comfortably holding off Matt Halliday and youngsters Daniel Gaunt and Jono Lester fighting it out for third in both races. Lester finished third in race one and Gaunt in race two.
The opening laps of the reverse grid (first six only) were action-packed as Baird and Halliday muscled their way to the front. Baird eventually took the win to make it six from six.
The Mini Challenge as usual produced close racing with three different winners: Brent Collins in race one, Gavin Dawson in race two and Keeley Pudney in race three.
The next round of the NZV8s, and supporting championship classes, is at Taupo in conjunction with A1GP on January 17-20