Pitstop: Dixon looks to roads for victory

Scott Dixon won his last Indycar race on a road course at Watkins Glen last season, so the streets of St Petersburg, Florida, this weekend may offer another winning opportunity.

Relishing Honda instead of Toyota power, he was fifth last weekend on the Homestead-Miami Speedway in a race won by his teammate, Dan Wheldon, the defending Indy Racing League champion.

Wheldon won at St Petersburg last year with Dixon in sixth place, one of his better results in a hugely disappointing season.

Defending champion Wade Cunningham was a shock last-minute scratching yesterday from this weekend's double-header Indy Pro Series race at St Petersburg in Florida after he was struck by appendicitis.

Clash of programmes

When A1GP was launched it was promoted as an alternative series run when Formula One was in recess.

So those planning the second season might have to reconsider the timing that has seen the innovative concept go head-to-head with Formula One on more than one occasion.

This weekend the final round of A1GP at Shanghai will be run on the same weekend as the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and the second round of the Indy Racing League in the United States.

New Zealand fans will have to choose between live cover of the Grand Prix on Sky and Television One's Sunday afternoon motorsport programme.

Family team

Husband and wife Garth and Leanne Tander will both be chasing new silverware for the family trophy cabinet at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix - the only event of the year when they will race on the same programme.

In between his three V8 Supercar races at the event, Garth will exchange his helmet for his race engineer's hat to help wife Leanne in her Formula Three campaign in the Grand Prix support races.

Leanne is regarded as the best woman circuit-racing driver in Australia.

Mcrae back in Otago

Five-time British rally champion Jimmy McRae will return to defend his title when the 10th International Rally of Otago is run in May.

McRae, father of former world champion Colin, drove a BDA Escort to victory last year and will have the same car this time.

This year's event will be on the weekend of May 5-7 in conjunction with the first round of the national rally championship.

Mason for NZ rally

Defending national rally champion Richard Mason from Masterton seems likely to be able to compete in all but one round, despite commitments to a drive in the Chinese national championship.

Mason was poised to finish third in the first Chinese round last weekend before a suspension failure left him stranded.

He will drive a Subaru Impreza in New Zealand and is likely to miss only the Rally of the North at Whangarei from June 30-July 2.

Auckland-based Chris West, who was second to Mason last season, will have a 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX prepared to full Group N specifications. It has a number of technical changes as well as visible differences from the 2003 model left-hand-drive car West has used for the last two seasons.

The car is 80kg lighter thanks to the more extensive use of alloy panels, thinner glass in the side and rear windows and general weight saving of components.

Another championship contender, Hawera-based Glenn Smith, has switched from Mitsubishi to Subaru.

Smith has joined forces with Palmerston North driver Sam Murray as part of a two-car Subaru Impreza programme. Murray has a 2006 model car being prepared and Smith will run the 2005 version that Murray drove last year.

Ferrari love affair

Melbourne is a Ferrari city and the green and gold of Commonwealth Games fever will give way to the red of the transplanted tifosi. Nothing would please them more than a Michael Schumacher triumph.

The Albert Park track has been a happy hunting ground for Ferrari. They have had four poles and five victories in Melbourne, McLaren have had three wins and Williams and Renault one apiece.

Kiwis start well

New Zealand drivers made a promising start to the second-level V8 series at Adelaide. After two races, Mark Porter was fifth, Kayne Scott ninth and Chris Pither 10th. The leader is Aussie Adam Macrow.