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Repairs to John McIntyre Racing Ford progressing well Ten days after the John McIntyre Racing NZ V8 race car sustained substantial damage at the Timaru round of the NZ V8 series, repairs are progressing at speed in the team’s Hawke’s Bay workshop. “The team and our suppliers are all doing an amazing job to get the JMR Ford back on track for the fifth round of the series at Manfeild over the weekend of 13 and 14 February,” says two-time NZ V8 champion John McIntyre. “We are 100% focussed on getting the car right. There is no way this car is being written off,” explains McIntyre from his home in Nelson. “Certainly the front and the rear of the car were damaged – significantly – but the central core of the car was strong and protected me, as the driver, as it was intended to do. Essentially we were left with two doors and the roof intact as far as exterior panels go, so there’s certainly been a huge amount of work to do.” McIntyre says that the car is now back at Lodge Auto Centre in Hastings, the car’s home-base, after nearly a week at City Collision Repairs in Napier. “These guys have the right equipment for a precision job. The JMR Ford has been on the chassis- straightener, primarily as a precaution as the chassis wasn’t damaged, but you need to check every detail. Much of the time at City Collision Repairs has seen the rear and the front sections being ‘stitched’ back on to the car. They’ve gone further than we thought and the car looks like new. They’ve tidied up all the wear and tear, all the stone chips. It looks great and we really appreciate their quick turnaround.” McIntyre also acknowledges the tremendous service provided by Timaru Motors Ford and Avon City Ford in Christchurch. “You wouldn’t have believed the service level if you hadn’t experienced it for yourself. Within an hour of JMR submitting our order for replacement Ford parts, both dealerships had the orders made up and on their way to us in Hastings. Being able to source parts so quickly has been critical to getting this job done in time for the next round. I’ve worked with both of these Ford dealerships for many years and their response has been phenomenal.” At Lodge Auto Centre, the JMR team with Craig Field in charge, first stripped the car of all removable parts before it went to City Collision Repairs, then they’ve gone through all the parts carefully. Many parts have been crack-tested, and now the car’s back, everything’s being re-fitted and tested as much as possible before the only official practice sessions the NZ V8 competitors get on Saturday 13 February. “Hey, it’s never say die around here and we know we’ll be ready for racing come 13 February, but it’s also very much appreciated to have had so many positive comments about JMR in the past two weeks, so thank you all.” McIntyre and his team at John McIntyre Racing extends their thanks to sponsors 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, City Collision Repairs Napier, and others for their ongoing support. John McIntyre Racing gave it everything they could during Timaru NZ V8 round “All you can say is we gave it everything we could,” said a still smiling, but understandably disappointed John McIntyre after an unprecedented run of three did-not-finish (DNF) results at the Timaru round of the NZ V8s championship.
Having been leading the NZ V8 series going into this fourth round, McIntyre’s position was leapfrogged by two competitors. He now sits 115 points adrift of new series leader Craig Baird with two rounds of the 2009-10 championship still to run. With the Castrol Edge Ford demonstrating excellent pace on the technical Timaru circuit, McIntyre lined up for the weekend’s first 12-lap race third on the grid. What had been drizzle became solid rain just as the field completed the rolling start. McIntyre was past pole-sitter Angus Fogg and had a 100-metre lead by the time he came around the last corner before the start-finish straight, but the previously-damp line on newly-sealed tarmac offered absolutely no traction this time around. “It was like driving on glass. I’d backed off but the car just aquaplaned and we were in the wall. Others were spinning in exactly the same place, and bouncing off our car. “The pair that went on to first and second, Baird and Tim Edgell, were lucky. They’d missed the pit exit closure time-limit and were starting from pit lane. As the rain fell more heavily, their cars were pushed back into the pits by their crews to change to wet tyres, so they got a lucky break on the rest of the field which went into the pits to change tyres after that first dangerous lap and race being red-flagged. “Not that there was much we could do at that point, but we decided quickly that we couldn’t repair the JMR car in time for the second race, so we talked to the other Ford teams and reached an agreement to lease the Haydn Mackenzie Motorsport hot lap car – already in race spec. That was an offer we very much appreciated. “JMR swung into action, changing over some components and parts to bring it as close to our car as we could in that two hour window.” Having not finished race one, McIntyre started from the back of the grid for race two and sadly didn’t even make it around the first lap. “The main fuel pump wasn’t 100% and we couldn’t have envisaged something like that would stop; there was just no fuel pressure.” More repairs and McIntyre lined up for race three, again at the back of the grid without having completed one full racing lap in the swiftly-renumbered #47 Ford. “On wets in solid rain, we got off to a solid start at the back and were boxing along quite nicely, all things considered, improving from 22nd to 16th when the throttle cable broke. It was just past the pit entry too, so we couldn’t even coast into pit lane and hope to get a quick repair. “Honestly, it just wasn’t our day. All you can do now is look back and laugh at what we’ve been through. What else can you do?” The team faces a busy three weeks getting the JMR Ford back in tip-top shape before round five of the season at Manfeild, 13 to 14 February. “We’re in full chase mode now. Okay, we’re third, but we know we have good car speed, we’ve got good race pace and we’ve been qualifying well. Last year at Manfeild we achieved something no one else has ever done – three race wins at one round. We’ll just have to see where we’re at when we get there, but don’t discount us. With 450 points up for grabs for the winners of the next six races, it’s not over yet.” More than ever today, McIntyre and his team at John McIntyre Racing thanks their sponsors 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 their ongoing support. NZ V8 series leader McIntyre aims for strong start in Timaru Currently at the top of the leader-board, John McIntyre is aiming for a strong start from third slot on the grid in the first of the weekend’s New Zealand V8 races at Levels Raceway in Timaru this weekend.
McIntyre said a couple of tiny errors on his flying lap made the difference between a pole-setting time and third. “That shows how close this series is and how you need to be 100% spot-on on these flying laps.” McIntyre’s time in the final run was 1:06.183 compared to pole-setting Angus Fogg with 1:05.823. The John McIntyre Racing team can be encouraged by the pace shown during the afternoon’s second qualifying session when the #47 Castrol Edge Ford achieved the quickest time in that session of 1:05.967 on a dry circuit. The morning test session was run with persistent drizzle soaking the popular South Canterbury motor racing circuit, but the rain eased with the afternoon’s final test session and all three qualifying runs taking place on the dry spec. Dunlop tyres. “I’ve started third here before and been third when we came out of the first left-then-big-right-sweeper complex,” he said. “Who knows what’s going to happen, but I do have the inside line into the first corner on this very technical circuit.” Sunday’s races in Timaru start at 10:00am, 12:55pm and 4:05pm, with two 12-lap races followed by the always-challenging 22-lap, full reverse grid final race. 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.
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“We have faced some serious adversity all day, but we didn’t give up; we just kept on trying. Honestly, the effort from the whole team was absolutely huge. Add in the amazing level of support shown by our sponsors and fans, and you’ve got to end the day with a rueful smile and the acknowledgement that today just wasn’t our day,” said McIntyre after sliding off a glass-like wet track into the wall in race one and then suffering mechanical issues in a leased car in the day’s other two races.
“We’re really happy that the car has demonstrated its speed; it’s miles quicker than it’s been here before and, okay, third on the grid isn’t exactly where we wanted to be, but we’re one place up on Craig Baird, our closest rival in the championship battle, and that’s very important,” said McIntyre after Saturday’s top ten qualifying shoot-out.
