Fourth pole for Johnny Mac in Taupo’s NZV8 final
John McIntyre had the edge when it counted during today’s top ten qualifying shootout, taking pole position for the final round of the New Zealand V8 Championship in Taupo this weekend, 20 and 21 March.
McIntyre’s pole-setting time of 1:35.472 was just 0.026 seconds quicker than Craig Baird, who currently leads the championship with McIntyre holding second. Also within a whisker of McIntyre and Baird was defending champion Kayne Scott, who’s currently fourth.
“The entire team at John McIntyre Racing is naturally very, very satisfied to be on pole here in Taupo,” said McIntyre, from Nelson. “As far as we know, to set four poles in one season is a record in this championship, so that’s a decent achievement to notch up.”
During the both NZV8 practice sessions earlier in the day, McIntyre was second quickest – first to Baird, and then to Scott.
“Then we were quickest in all three elements of the three-part qualifying programme. It’s extremely tough; Craig and Kayne are right there too. We haven’t got the margin between us and the next closest we’ve had at other circuits this season.
“But we’ve achieved our first goal of being on pole here. This gives the team the best possible chance to score maximum points in this final round of the championship. With 131 points between us and Craig Baird, it’s certainly still possible to win our third title. We have the right car speed and we’ll be giving it everything we’ve got in all three races tomorrow.”
Johnny Mac has three races on Sunday – the first ten-lap race is at 10am, the second at 1.05pm with the final race of the championship series, a full reverse grid 20-lapper at 4:30 pm.
JMR thanks the team’s many thousands of fans and the following sponsors for their ongoing support: Talley's, Castrol Edge, Protector Safety, Prime Explosives, Ford NZ, The Rock FM, Ideal Electrical, Websters Hydrated Lime, Avon City Ford, BP Ultimate, Dynamic Fluid Systems, Speedshow, Cookes Wirerope, Colorfast Signs, Amcor Packaging and Squawking Magpie Wines and City Collision Repairs Napier.
