Pitstop: Halliday back in action

New Zealand driver Matt Halliday is in Britain this weekend for round six of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. The class is the support event for the British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone. He hasn't raced on the 5.1km F1 track, but he is no stranger to the circuit, having carried out New Zealand's A1GP testing duties on the smaller club circuit. Halliday, fifth in the championship, leads the rookie title chase by a commanding 22 points.

Scholarship for karter

Auckland 15-year-old Aaron Hodgson is the latest winner of the annual SpeedSport magazine Star of Tomorrow motor racing scholarship. One of the country's top young karters, Hodgson beat six other finalists on the second day of evaluation at Manfeild. He wins an all-expenses drive in next season's New Zealand Formula First championship plus a customised race suit and a helmet. Previous winners include V8 Supercar driver Shane van Gisbergen and 2008/09 MTA New Zealand Formula Ford champion Ritchie Stanaway.

Dixon ready to pounce

The IndyCar series is a third of the way through and the championship is wide open. Defending champion Kiwi Scott Dixon is in second place, just three points behind leader Ryan Briscoe. Dixon's teammate, Dario Franchitti, is breathing down his neck eight points back. Former IRL winner Dan Wheldon will look to improve on his sixth place in the championship this weekend. Another Kiwi, Wade Cunningham, is also on deck in the Indy Lights series. With two poles and a race win already this season, the former world karting champion is fourth in the points standings this season, 35 behind leader J.R. Hildebrand.

Big race for Coppins

New Zealand's MX1 rider Josh Coppins has a tenuous grip on fourth place in his title race, just one point ahead of Clement Desalle, but 53 points behind leader Antonio Cairoli. After 15 years at the top of the motocross world, Coppins is still capable of beating the world's best but he'll have to be on his game if he wants to finish the season with the number one plate. Having finished so close for so many years, Coppins will have the drive to do well this weekend at the Grand Prix of Germany in Teutschenthal.

Button on home soil

This weekend's Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone in England makes the 59th year since the Northampton circuit hosted the inaugural round of the Formula One Championship. The race was won by the eventual world champion, Kimi Raikkonen, in 2007 and Lewis Hamilton last year. Runaway leader Jenson Button will be keen to win on home soil and only the Red Bull cars seem to have the measure of the flying Brawn GP team.Eric Thompson