First win for Foggy in 2008

Havoline Ford driver Angus Fogg scored his first pole position, and then his first win of the season as the New Zealand V8s contest the third round of the 2007-08 championship at Manfeild this weekend.
Foggy’s super-quick qualifying time of 1:12.737 was just 0.170 seconds faster than Kayne Scott in the Fujitsu Ford, but it was more than enough to give him the front slot on the grid.

Fogg said setting the time was hard work. “It was a struggle. With this new car there are lots of little things that could be better, but naturally we’re pleased to be on pole.”

The 3.03km Manfeild circuit, in Feilding, was resealed recently. “Everyone should be faster on the new surface,” said Fogg, whose qualifying time is considerably faster than the track record he set this time last year of 1:13.165. (Note: only racing lap times count for official track records.)

Fogg then went on to win the weekend’s first V8 race, a 14-lapper than turned into two parts of seven laps each, one dry, one wet. “It wasn’t too much of a battle in the end,” said Fogg who established a dominant gap on the field in both sections of the race. “You’ve just got to make the most of it and drive to the conditions. We’re lucky the car is good in both dry and wet. The track was drying towards the end and we had enough of a gap to hold on for the win. It’s good for us that John McIntyre finished fourth so it reduces the points’ gap to John at the top of the table a bit.”

Having run with Fogg in the dry, Scott, who finished second, says his car needed a different setup for the wet. “We had good pace in the dry. We were a bit of a roadblock in the wet, but I was able to hold the others off to take second place.”

Paul Manuell bought the Orix Holden home in third, his first podium of the season. “The pace has been there with this car; it’s a matter of putting it all together on the day,” said the former V8 champion.

The starting grid for Sunday’s 18-lap race is determined by the fastest times that each driver set in the first race. This sees Fogg on pole with his time of 1:12.940 – a new track record – with Scott and Manuell in second and third slots respectively. The New Zealand V8s then have a third reverse grid race to wrap up the weekend’s racing at Manfeild in the Fujitsu 200.