Two wins for McIntyre extends lead in NZV8 championship
A third consecutive pole position, two top-class race wins and a solid ninth place have contributed to John McIntyre extending his lead in the BNT V8s Championship after this weekend’s third round at Teretonga, Invercargill.
With three of this season’s six championship rounds now complete, the Nelson-based Talley’s Ford driver now has 553 points compared to closest rival Craig Baird with 482 points. This gives McIntyre a 71 point advantage heading to Timaru’s Levels race circuit for round four next weekend.
“We did have quite lofty goals this weekend,” said a very happy McIntyre. “We wanted pole, two race wins and the best possible finish in the reverse grid race and we achieved all of these objectives. But it wasn’t easy with Craig [Baird] chasing hard all weekend.”
In race one, from pole, McIntyre had Baird and fellow Ford driver Angus Fogg alongside, making a three-wide first corner duel. But McIntyre had the lead going around Teretonga’s opening left-handed sweeper and never looked back to score his four race victory of the season.
McIntyre describes his second race win as one of the closest-ever victories in the series, with just 0.036 seconds separating the pair at the chequered flag.
“It was a massive race right from the start – from pole, I led all the way, but Craig was all over me from the first run around the sweeper. After a couple of laps behind the safety car, Craig kept on applying pressure, then on the very last corner, the car’s gearbox popped out of first gear. While I was trying to get it slotted into gear properly, Craig got the inside line as we came onto the start-finish straight for the last time and it was literally a drag race right down to the line. Thankfully we ended up with the win, but another five metres and he would have... It was great to see the big crowd of race fans up on their feet applauding.”
Heading into the weekend’s third race, a reverse grid 22-lapper, McIntyre naturally started at the back of the 21-strong field.
“It sounds odd, but I was really only racing Craig – he’s the one I needed to keep in front of, points-wise. The car’s running like clockwork and the goal was to finish ahead or immediately behind Craig.
As the pair worked from the back through the field, McIntyre got in front of Baird for one lap, then Baird was ahead as intense battles with Fogg and Simon Richards offered varying opportunities for McIntyre in his goal of not letting Baird get too far in front of him.
“With Angus behind me, again we had the same gearbox issue as in race two – it jumped out of gear at the hairpin and I couldn’t get it back in. Three cars passed me, so I just had to put my head down and focus on gathering them back in. I just wasn’t going to give up until I got on the tail of that blue and yellow car again.
“I made it back directly behind Craig, and then on the last lap he passed Simon and with just the start-finish straight to go, I passed Simon just before the line, which put me ninth and Craig eighth.”
With the team’s objectives successfully completed in Invercargill, the focus now shifts to Timaru and the back-to-back round.
“This week, obviously we need to look at the gearbox. We also put the suspension settings for the tight, twisty Timaru circuit back in the car and go through our usual detailed checklist before being ready for our first test session at 9:45am on Saturday morning.”
With a second test session at 2:00pm, qualifying then takes place at 3:55pm. Sunday’s races in Timaru are at 10:00am, 12:55pm and 4:05pm.
“We have some good tyres saved for Timaru,” added McIntyre.
After Timaru, John McIntyre Racing gets a few weeks’ break before round five at Manfeild over the weekend of 14 and 15 February and the season final in Taupo on 20 and 21 March.
The team at John McIntyre Racing extends their thanks to Talley's, Castrol Edge, Protector Safety, Ford NZ, The Rock FM, Ideal Electrical, Websters Hydrated Lime, Avon City Ford, BP Ultimate, Dynamic Fluid Systems, Speedshow, Prime Explosives , Cookes Wirerope, Colorfast Signs, City Collision Repair Napier, and others for supporting their bid to win a third New Zealand V8 Championship title.
