Pitstop: World stockcar titles beckon Kiwi Rowlands

Taranaki driver Brendan Rowlands has headed to Europe to compete in the world stockcar championships at Northampton in England.

The 38-year-old truck driver from New Plymouth won the right to compete by finishing third in the New Zealand championships at Palmerston North in January after a two-year break from the sport.

Five years ago Rowlands also qualified for the worlds but was unable to travel. This time he has a full schedule with meetings at Skegness, Wimbledon, Sheffield, Coventry and in Holland before the championships at Northampton on September 17.

On the way home he will have the chance to race a sprintcar for the first time at Ventura in California. Rowlands is travelling with his fiancee, Claire Pierce.

* * *

Journo loses bet and goes naked

Remember the rash bet British journalist Bob McKenzie made about the merits of last year's McLaren car?

He vowed to run naked around Silverstone if the car won a Formula One grand prix, which it promptly did.

McKenzie was as good as his word and this month completed the lap in 36m 43.7s, compared with the 1m 20.7s recorded by Juan Pablo Montoya in the McLaren which won the British Grand Prix.

Still he would have scored points at the US Grand Prix.

* * *

Lead goes back to Coulthard

Aucklander Fabian Coulthard has reclaimed the championship lead in the Australian Carrera Cup Porsche championship by winning round four of the series at Queensland Raceway.

The 22-year-old won both 14-lap races on Sunday from last year's Australian Formula Ford champion David Reynolds and fellow Kiwi Jim Richards, who previously led the points table.

Coulthard also finished first in the first race on Saturday, which was aborted after an accident involving Cameron McLean.

The fifth round of the championship is at Oran Park on August 12-14.

* * *

Gillard just misses

Spot on podium Seventeen-year-old Beachlands rider Blake Gillard has finished fourth in the World Youth Motocross championships at Junin in the Czech Republic.

Gillard, riding a stock-standard KTM250, beat several factory-assisted riders to narrowly miss a podium spot after the two races.

* * *

Hectic Weekend for karting star

New Zealand karter Bradley Tyrrell had success on both sides of the Tasman in a hectic programme last weekend.

The 18-year-old from Tokoroa was third in the final of the third round of the Kart Stars championship at Queensland's Willowbank Raceway.

Immediately after the final Tyrrell was whisked to the airport to board a plane to get him back to Auckland in time for Sunday's Top Half series races where he did enough to claim overall series victory in the Rotax Max Light and Senior 100cc Yamaha Light classes.

* * *

Kiwi driver leads US pro series

New Zealand driver Wade Cunningham has a 38-point lead in the American Infiniti pro series after finishing second behind surprise winner Jeff Simmons in Milwaukee.

The 20-year-old went into the race with a 22-point advantage over Travis Gregg, who finished eighth.

* * *

Guest racer sets fine NZ example

Guest driver John Crawford, piloting a McRae, proved to be the best of the Kiwi contingent in the Derek Bell Trophy race for historic single-seater racing cars at the Brands Hatch Superprix meeting in England.

The Christchurch driver, best known these days for his work overseeing the restoration and maintenance of most of the F5000 cars which compete in New Zealand, worked his way from 21st place on the grid to sixth at the flag.

* * *

Mark Porter seventh in Aussie V8 round

Mark Porter finished seventh in the latest round of the second-level Australian v8 Championship in Queensland.

The round was won by Dean Canto. Porter is also seventh in the championship, 162 points behind leader Adam Macrow.

The next round is at Mallala in South Australia on August 20-21.

* * *

Souped-up Fords coming next season

Formula Fords in the Australian national championship next season will have more powerful engines.

The 1.6-litre Ford Fiesta engine will replace the popular Kent engine, which powered road-going Ford Cortinas and Escorts three decades ago.

Existing Kent racing engines will continue to be used in Formula Ford's state-level series.

The new engine is fuel-injected, features a double-overhead cam design and has a displacement of 1596cc.

The road-going version of the Fiesta produces 99bhp. It is expected to generate up to 125bhp in Formula Ford race guise.

* * *

December date back at Pukekohe

Pukekohe will return to its traditional December date on the national motorcycle road calendar after being disrupted last year by track improvements.

The championship, sponsored by Ssangyong, will start at Pukekohe on December 10/11 followed by rounds at Manfeild December 17/18,Teretonga January 7/8, Levels January 14/15 and Ruapuna January 21/22.

* * *

Baird enjoys Aussie season

It says something about the season Kiwi Craig Baird is having in the Aussie v8 Supercar Championship when the WPS team celebrated the fact that both their Ford Falcons finished in the top half of the field at the Queensland 300.

Baird, who moved from Team Kiwi this season, was 16th and his team-mate, David Besnard, 13th.

Over at Team Kiwi, Paul Radisich had nothing to celebrate after the same small engine part that ruined a competitive run at the previous round failed again and relegated the black Holden to the rear of the field.