Jonny Reid. Photo / Ross Setford
The second round of the breakaway New Zealand V8 series, V8 SuperTourers, is in the South Island this weekend at Ruapuna and motorsport fans down south will get their first chance to see the new cars.
A solid crowd is expected to turn up to watch some of the best tin-top drivers in the country do battle in the two make, one engine category.
Fans in the North Island saw 16 drivers in the inaugural race of the new series at Hampton Downs do battle in February where Greg Murphy came away with the bragging rights.
The Aussie-based Kiwi V8 Supercars driver leads the series from former NZV8 champion Kayne Scott and Porsche maestro Jonny Reid. Murphy, unfortunately for his legion of fans, will not be racing this weekend as he's recovering from surgery on a blown disc in his back and wants to keep his powder dry for the New Zealand round of the V8 Supercars later this month at the ITM 400 in Hamilton.
Murphy fans shouldn't be disappointed though, as the four-time Bathurst winner will be at the meeting and they'll also get the chance to see another Kiwi V8 Supercar driver in action.
Fabian Coulthard has jumped at the chance to sample the new Kiwi V8 race car and will be in action over the weekend.
With Murphy not being able to race, the door is opened for Scott and Reid, in particular, to grab a few points and get in front of Murphy. Reid qualified fifth and finished fourth in the first race at Hampton Downs and was runner-up in the second and ninth in the third race.
Having quickly come to grips with the new V8 car in the first hit out, Reid is confident he can again run at the front this weekend.
"To be perfectly honest, I'm a bit disappointed with third at the end of the round," said Reid.
"I left there [Hampton Downs] a bit hungry after being robbed of the win in race three but am heading to Ruapuna feeling confident we can get a win.
"I know we've got the car speed to be a front runner.
"The racing is really close as you're limited to what you can do engineering-wise to the car and therefore it makes it a driver's formula."
Lying second in the title chase is a pleasant surprise for Scott as his deal to drive was only locked away a few days before the first race. Despite having no time for car setup or practice and bolting bits of the car together at the track, the wily former NZV8 champion called on all his experience to pick up a bundle of points.
"It's a kind of a bugger really that Greg [Murphy] isn't going to be there," said Scott. "We'd kind of picked Ruapuna as a venue we've had some pretty good success there in the past and I was looking forward to having a tussle with Greg there."
The weekend's programme is condensed as the teams get only an hour's practice, and then it's straight into it. The racing will be fast and furious.