McIntyre favourite to retain Title
Defending V8 champion John McIntyre has virtually assured himself of a second consecutive championship title following strong results at the penultimate round of the New Zealand V8s at Timaru this weekend
Coming into this fifth of the six round Championship, McIntyre had a 79-point lead over Angus Fogg. After a race win, a second and a 13th at Timaru, McIntyre has extended his lead to 115 points.
And while that’s not an insurmountable points difference, in reality McIntyre’s consistent form throughout the season would indicate it’s unlikely the BP Ultimate Ford driver will succumb to the pressure and lose the championship at this point. Statistics show that of the 15 races run so far, McIntyre has won six – a feat unmatched by any other driver in the series.
His 13th place in the final reverse grid race was the first time he’s finished outside the top ten in any race this season, but he was relaxed about taking the conservative option.
“When you have the championship on the line, you’re not going to throw it away for a higher placing in the reverse grid race,” said McIntyre. “It feels good to extend the lead over Angus, although I wouldn’t have minded if he’d caught up some points on me here. We hope to continue the good form at Teretonga. This week we will be checking the car for total reliability and this weekend we’ve had a new set-up theory which has worked well.”
Fogg also had a consistent weekend of results in the Havoline Ford, but his two fourths and a 14th clearly weren’t going to improve his points’ situation against McIntyre.
Holding third place overall, Kayne Scott experienced one of the more challenging weekend’s of racing. Unusually, he went off into the gravel during qualifying and didn’t finish the second race. The former V8 champion finished the first race sixth, and put in a determined drive in the final race coming through from 16th to second despite a slipping clutch.
“I’ll be at Teretonga,” said Scott who could also be racing for Team Kiwi Racing in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship. “I wouldn’t have this chance in Supercars without the effort and support of many people in the New Zealand V8 series and we want to put in a good performance for the season finale at Teretonga.”
The final round of the 2007-08 New Zealand V8s Championship, the Hydraulink 200, takes place at Teretonga Park outside Invercargill over the weekend of 8 and 9 March. Full details and ticket information for this event can be found on the series website, www.nzv8s.co.nz. Going into the final round, McIntyre has 905 points, 115 ahead of Fogg on 790 points. Scott is third with 733, Radisich fourth with 673 and Booth fifth with 634.
