Motorsport: Kiwi racers showcase their talent

Brendon Hartley. Photo / Supplied

It was a big weekend for New Zealand racers with drivers racing on three different continents at some of the biggest events on the world motorsport calendar.

Scott Dixon was mixing it with 33 other drivers at the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".

And there's little doubt why it's called that, especially after this year's race where a rookie mistake cost J.R. Hildebrand the race win and handed the victory to Dan Wheldon, who picks up his second Indy 500 win.

Hildebrand had the chequered flag in his sights just as he smacked into the wall at turn four. As he slid towards the finish line Wheldon zipped past to win. Graham Rahal was third ahead of Tony Kanaan and Oriol Servia.

The two fastest drivers on the day, Kiwi Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, controlled the race until the end when their fuel strategies bombed, causing them to finish sixth and 12th respectively.

With 36 laps to go, Franchitti pitted, as did Hildebrand, while Dixon stayed out a little longer. The pair edged towards the front as others pitted, but while Franchitti had to pit with one lap to go, Hildebrand looked like he had made the strategy work, until the wall got in the way.

Dixon faded to sixth in the closing laps, followed by Bertrand Baguette - who led several laps as he tried to make his fuel last but had to admit defeat and pit on lap 197.

After his surprise pole and solid run up front, leading on occasion, Alex Tagliani faded as the race wore on. His car fell completely off the pace after the third stop before hitting the wall and breaking his suspension.

Over in Europe, three Kiwis were showcasing their stuff in support races at the Monaco Grand Prix, round six of the Formula One World Championship. Sebastien Vettel took the honours in the main race, but the three Kiwis acquitted themselves very well.

Matt Halliday was contesting the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup where he finished a creditable 10th. Halliday contested the race as a one-off deal for the German-based MRS Team with whom he drove last year's Porsche Supercup championship.

During qualifying, Halliday was setting lap times comfortably within the top seven until a driveshaft failure stopped him completing his final laps on fresh tyres, and so started 14 on the grid.

Overtaking at Monaco was always going to be difficult but some aggressive driving saw Halliday overtaking four cars to finish the race in 10th place while closely chasing down a five-car pack across the finish line.

"We made a good start and passed four cars sometimes around the outside at places you normally can't pass," said Halliday. "After that it was too difficult to overtake so we have to be happy we got the best result possible considering where we started."

Two other Kiwis were racing at Monaco at the weekend in the World Series by Renault 3.5ltr race. Chris van der Drift was hoping to continue his good form in the series and Brendon Hartley was keen to give his championship a boost.

In qualifying Hartley proved to be the quickest of the Kiwi drivers and - showing that his pass around Monaco last year was not a one- off - set a fast time that put him on the front row beside Daniel Ricciardo.

Van der Drift didn't do so well and managed only 16th on the grid.

"It is a bit frustrating, because on my last three laps I was obstructed in the final sector - by the same driver," said Hartley.

"Our session was quicker and I had what it took to take the pole. But I will be starting from the front row and that's the main thing. I really wanted to get things right in qualifying. The next big challenge will be the start."

This turned out to be a challenge as Hartley struggled to get away from the dirty side of the track and just hung on to third.

Hartley was well on his game by lap seven and set the fastest lap in closing in on Robert Wickens. But it all came unstuck when he overshot the chicane on his next lap. Wanting to avoid a drive-through penalty, he lifted off and settled for a third-place finish.

Van der Drift made the best of his grid position and in some audacious moves managed to get himself up to ninth on a circuit notorious for its lack of passing places.

Meanwhile, over in Argentina, Hayden Paddon showed his Production World Championship Rally win in Portugal was no fluke. Paddon and co-driver John Kennard won the PWRC category at Rally Argentina and are now at the top of the PWRC leader-board, sharing the top spot with Czech driver Martin Semerad, despite having competed in one less event.

With his Subaru's engine problems fixed overnight on Saturday, Paddon had full power for the first time all weekend on day three of the event to secure two stage wins and picked up his second PWRC win in a row and a ninth overall in Rally Argentina. The win earned Paddon 25 PWRC points and two WRC points to his name.

"Absolutely amazing. I didn't come here to win and to come away with maximum points is great for the championship. Performance-wise it hasn't been completely satisfying, but a great result for the team. There's still a long way to go and we need to take it one round at a time, but it's absolutely fantastic."

The 2010 Pirelli Star Driver once again focused on putting in steady times and getting his Impreza through the stages. Even steady times earned the unfailingly quick Paddon, who came to Argentina straight off the back of an almost flawless victory on his first round of 2011, a hold on his near eight-minute lead.