McIntyre goes hunting for third NZV8 title in Taupo

John McIntyre heads to the final round of the New Zealand V8 Championship in Taupo this weekend, 20 and 21 March, with two goals. First, set pole position for the fourth time this season and second, use the advantage that comes with being on pole to underpin his drive to win his third NZ V8 championship title.

“We have the lap record on the tight Taupo circuit [a time of 1:36.607 McIntyre set in 2008] and we’ve qualified on pole three times already this season so we know we’re capable of doing it again in Taupo,” says the Nelson-based professional racing driver and team owner.

McIntyre is second on the points-table with 721 points, 131 shy of current leader, Queensland-based Kiwi racer Craig Baird. Do the maths and it’s completely feasible for John McIntyre, or any one of about five fellow competitors, to take the championship title by Sunday afternoon.

“We’ll be hunting down Craig, no doubt about it. The pressure on him will be intense,” says McIntyre who has just returned from Adelaide and the Clipsal 500 where he was driving for Stone Brothers Racing in their #93 Fujitsu Series V8 Supercar.

“Our preparation for Taupo has been really good,” he says about the Hawke’s Bay-based engineering team for John McIntyre Racing. “Having prepared the car so thoroughly, so intensely, before the last round at Manfeild in February after the crash in Timaru, we have had less to do preparing for this round then we normally do. Some very minor damage at Manfeild, where Craig and I enjoyed some of the best races I’ve ever had in my life, was easily tidied up.

“We expect to be quick and aim to score our fourth pole position of the season. As I said earlier, the intensity of the time I’ve spent racing with Stone Brothers Racing in V8 Supercars over the past six months has made a difference to how I prepare for and do well in the top ten shoot-out final leg of qualifying in the Protector Safety Falcon.

“With pole position, that will set things up as well as we can for Sunday’s three races.”

JMR is on-track during the official practice sessions for the NZ V8 class at 10:15am and 2:20pm on Saturday. The three-part qualifying session gets underway at 4:05pm. 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.

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