Motorsport: World-class drivers join fray

Daniel Gaunt

Two international drivers add spice to the final round of national championships supporting the Aussie V8 Supercars at Pukekohe next week.

Hamad Al Fardan, who won the New Zealand Grand Prix at Teretonga in January, rejoins the Toyota single-seaters after fulfilling commitments in Asia. Alex Davison, a front-runner in the Porsche GT-3 Carrera Cup across the Tasman, will deputise for Kiwi Fabian Coulthard in the Porsche races.

The Toyotas will also welcome back Daniel Gaunt, who clinched the national title at Taupo before heading to the United States to compete in the Champ Car Atlantic series.

Also back is Matthew Hamilton, who missed the Taupo round to make his debut in the Infiniti Pro series at Miami.

Gaunt qualified 20th in his first Atlantic race at Long Beach.

Wellington driver Ben Harford is best placed to finish runner-up in the championship ahead of South Islanders Hamilton, Andy Knight and Marc Doran. International Motorsport has already wrapped up the team award. The Toyotas will have one race on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Top Aussie Porsche driver Davison will continue his battle with defending champion and series points leader Craig Baird.

Davison won the 2004 Carrera Cup Australia title, and is battling Baird for the number one spot in this year's series across the Tasman. Baird won two of the three races at the first round of the 2006 series at Adelaide over the March 25-26 weekend then had three wins from four starts at the non-championship round at Melbourne's Albert Park a week later. Davison was the other winner at both meetings.

The Australian takes over the car in which Coulthard, who will drive a V8 Supercar next weekend, won all three races at Pukekohe in November. There will be two races next weekend.

The New Zealand V8 championship, which has been mired in controversy over the past two weeks, came a step nearer resolution on Thursday when the stewards rejected a protest by John McIntyre and Paul Pedersen at their penalties for running non-conforming engines in their Fords.

The stewards ruled that no protest could be lodged against the finding that the cylinder heads were outside the regulations because that was a matter of fact.

They rejected the protests against the penalties that see McIntyre relegated from first to eighth and Pedersen from sixth to 32nd.

The drivers were given leave to take an appeal to a motorsport court of appeal that Motorsport New Zealand hopes to convene before the Pukekohe round so that the matter can be settled.

However, further engine inspections are planned and the championship may not be decided for some time.

Hamilton Holden driver Kayne Scott has a 34-point lead over Auckland Ford driver Angus Fogg with defending champion Andy Booth in a Holden 131 points further back.

Fellow competitor Clark Proctor has come to the aid of Haydn Mackenzie. Proctor has lent Mackenzie his spare Falcon V8 rolling chassis and the young Aucklander has installed his own engine.

In another change Christchurch driver Adam Brook will take over the Team Kiwi Holden from Jason Liefting.

St Kentigern College student Shane Van Gisbergen has a 114-point lead over Nelson Hartley from Palmerston North in the Formula Ford championship with two races to go.

A top-six finish in the first race would clinch the title.