McIntyre to start third in first Hamilton NZV8 race

John McIntyre lines up third on the starting grid for the first New Zealand V8 touring car race in Hamilton, one of the support races for the V8 Supercar ITM400.

“We didn’t have a top ten shootout as officials needed to access the circuit to clean up an oil spill. That was disappointing, but it’s just one of those things,” says McIntyre, a two-time NZV8 champion and owner of John McIntyre Racing. “We just have to make the most of being third, on the inside line.”

Johnny Mac was fastest during the morning’s official test session, setting a time of 1:32.2260 on the 3.4 km street circuit. He says although the Talley’s Ford was the quickest of the 25 NZV8s in Hamilton, the team knew exactly what they wanted to do to get more speed on the unforgiving street circuit.

The NZV8s headed out for their first early afternoon qualifying session, where McIntyre was again the fastest.

“With the top ten shootout cancelled, our second qualifying session then became the session to set the grid,” he explains. “The split sector timing on this circuit showed I was on a very good lap, 0.5 seconds up after second sector, but then I made two mistakes in the last sector, and didn’t have a chance to do another faster lap.”

Tim Edgell has pole with a time of 1:31.3, Kayne Scott is second with 1:31.6 and McIntyre’s time is just a fraction slower, 1:31.7.

“Although we aren’t on pole, it’s actually better to be third on the grid than second or fourth because of the nature of the first corner. Tim and I can keep the inside line, whereas Kayne and Angus Fogg, who’s fourth, are outside us around two sharp bends.”

Race one for the NZV8s is at 11am on Saturday features, 12 laps. Race two, also 12 laps, is at 9:15am on Sunday, and race three – with the starting order not the usual reverse grid format, but based on finishing places in race two – starts at 3:15pm and running for 16 laps.

As always, McIntyre thanks Talley's, Castrol Edge, Protector Safety, Prime Explosives, Amcor Packaging, Ford NZ, The Rock FM, Ideal Electrical, Websters Hydrated Lime, Avon City Ford, BP Ultimate, Dynamic Fluid Systems, Speedshow, Cookes Wirerope, Colorfast Signs, Squawking Magpie Wines, City Collision Repairs Napier, NZ Ceiling, Drywall Supplies and Uniden for their support.

Coverage of the ITM400, including the NZV8s, screens on TV3 from midday to 6pm, both Saturday 17 April and Sunday 18 April.