Pitstop: V8 Supercar bosses keen to keep Kiwi fans happy

Avesco says it will do all it can to continue to race in New Zealand.

It said it wanted to put the fans first and hold a round of the V8 Supercar championship series here.

Avesco must finalise its international calendar by July 24 but has yet to secure a track and a promoter for a New Zealand round next year.

"Whilst recognising we have been treated appallingly by Government agencies and councils alike in New Zealand, we will do our utmost to not disappoint hundreds of thousands of New Zealand fans," board chairman Tony Cochrane said.

Kiwis at Indianapolis

Scott Dixon won't be the only New Zealander driving on the Brickyard at Indianapolis this weekend.

Former world karting champion Wade Cunningham will be in action on Saturday in the fourth round of the Indy Racing League's Infiniti Pro series - the series one step down from the IRL which Scott Dixon won in 2003.

Cunningham, 21, from Auckland, is second in the Infiniti Pro series, three points behind leader Travis Gregg of the US who has 110 after three rounds. The series is run over 14 rounds.

Among the drivers are Arie Luyendek jnr, Marco Andretti and Al Unser - members of famous racing families in the US.

Heading into qualifying, Cunningham can take confidence from being the first driver to break the 305.77km/h mark for a lap of the Indy oval. He put in the hot lap during testing recently.

Cunningham said from Indianapolis he was looking forward to his first time racing on the Brickyard.

"The atmosphere goes totally crazy during Speed Week. Up to 350,000 people are at the track to watch the 500."

Cunningham, stepped up to the Infiniti Pro after finishing fifth last year in the US Formula Ford series with his Florida-based team, despite missing two races.

He drives for Brian Stewart Racing. 'It's an all-Canadian team and it's just great to be working with them," he said.

Although there was a lot of history and tradition about the annual race (this weekend's race is the 89th) it was like any other race track to drive.

"The hardest bit is running in a pack of cars when you lose so much downforce that you get a lot of understeer in the corners."

The first and third turns were the most critical, particularly the third which had to be taken flat out, which "was pretty cool".

Cunningham, whose Dallara chassis, is powered by a Nissan 3.5-litre V8 engine, said he would be at the track to watch Dixon, who will start the race on Monday from the fifth row after qualifying 13th.

Silence on Sauber future

BMW won't comment on a newspaper report that it may buy the Swiss Formula One team Sauber.

Citing Formula One sources, Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper reported BMW was considering buying the Sauber team as a way to boost its racing profile.

The report said such a deal would cost BMW at least 150 million ($270 million).

"The fact is that we are negotiating with Sauber about providing motors from 2006," a BMW spokesman said.

"Everything else is speculation, on which we don't comment."

Meanwhile, a Sauber spokesman in Switzerland also said: "We are negotiating with BMW about motors and all the possibilities that go above and beyond this are speculation."

He said the motor talks should take a few more weeks.

BMW believes the talks should be wrapped up by the end of next month.

- AGENCIES