McIntyre partners van Gisbergen for Gold Coast success
New Zealand V8 racing star John McIntyre co-drove with fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen to finish second and third in the two races of the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercar event.
Van Gisbergen’s battle with defending V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup in the final stretch of Sunday’s 300 km race was the stuff of legends with McIntyre commenting: “Getting to watch Shane race at the end there, he has matured so much, every time he goes out there he just improves so I really enjoyed watching him today.”
 McIntyre has partnered the young Kiwi, one of the rising heroes of the intensely-competitive V8 Supercar series, in the three endurance events on this year’s V8 Supercar calendar: Phillip Island, Bathurst and Gold Coast. While McIntyre and van Gisbergen had the credentials to do well as the earlier events, an element of luck and the results they expected eluded the pair. But on the ocean-front Gold Coast street circuit it was time for the only all-Kiwi pairing to shine in the Kiwi-run Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon.
On Saturday van Gisbergen and McIntyre turned a starting position of 13th into third place on the first 300 km race. As predicted there was plenty of biff and barge on the concrete barrier-lined circuit with teams required to run an international driver in their driver line-up. The race had barely started when mayhem broke out on the fourth corner with several cars were caught up in a premature stoush and creating the first of three safety car periods.
Van Gisbergen said: “The first lap was hard to watch, seeing everything go on but Johnny did such a good job, and I’m just so happy to be able to share this result with him after a hard time at the other enduros. He put in such a great drive, you just have to stay out of trouble around here and that’s what he did and now we both have surfboards [the special Gold Coast event tropies] so we will be at the beach on Monday! “
McIntyre was equally rapt with Saturday’s result. “I feel like I can finally put a good result next to my name, I have been trying since 2002 and it’s taken me a while to get in with a good team like Stone Brothers Racing. They have given me a lot of mileage in the car this year and it’s definitely helped. Shane did such a great job in the end there. We had no idea his cool suit wasn’t working so for him to press on like he did is an amazing effort and such a good start to the weekend for us and the team.”
Van Gisbergen qualified the #9 SP Tools Falcon in sixth place for Sunday’s 300 km race and with another strong start and competitive first stint from McIntyre, ‘The Giz’ went on to score his best-ever result in V8 Supercars: second place.
The highly-regarded 21-year-old commented: “It was just a great fight today and great to finally crack second place, we have taken the next step and it’s even better to do it with Johnny Mac!”
McIntyre added: “When you start a deal like this and you know you’re going to be driving with someone like Shane and the goals we set it was never a question of a podium, it was more which step of the podium we would achieve.
“I really enjoyed my stint at the start there running against Warren Luff. We were both having a good go but there was no where I could really pass him safely without jeopardising the car for Shane later on. The whole event was just fantastic to be part of, I can’t wait to come back with SBR next year and try and take the next step with Shane.”
McIntyre now returns to New Zealand, race-fresh and ready to focus on his own bid for a third New Zealand V8 title when the BNT V8s Championship gets underway at Pukekohe over the weekend of 5-7 November.
McIntyre races Dixon, Villeneuve and Franchitti at Gold Coast event
Top Kiwi race driver John McIntyre lines up beside former Formula 1, Indy Car and British Touring Car champions at the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercar event running from 22 to 24 October.
 The two-time New Zealand V8 champion is again signed as Shane van Gisbergen’s endurance race team-mate in the #9 SP Tools Ford Falcon run by leading team Stone Brothers Racing.
Each V8SC team must include an international co-driver in one of their cars for this third endurance race of the Australian V8 Supercar season. McIntyre and van Gisbergen are the only all-Kiwi pairing with SBR opting to keep ‘Johnny Mac’ with ‘the Gis’ as the duo continues to develop sound experience and speed together after the recent Phillip Island and Bathurst endurance races. Other teams have lined up co-drivers like US-based New Zealander Scott Dixon, 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve and Dario Franchitti, Dixon’s Indy Car team-mate and fellow former winner of the ultra-competitive North American Indy Car title.
McIntyre, from Nelson, is excited to tackle the concrete-lined, ocean front Gold Coast street circuit again.
“It’s great to be paired with Shane for our third event this season. We’ve got stronger and stronger as a driver pairing despite not getting the results we hoped for – and felt we deserved – at Phillip Island and Bathurst.
“We’re more determined than ever. We have been close to some good results and are looking for a little luck to go our way this time. This is a great opportunity for the team and our combination to do well.
“Not only have I co-driven with Shane in this car before, I raced on this circuit in 2004 with WPS. While there is a different track configuration this year, I do have valuable experience on the track, with my co-driver, with the car and with the team that the other international co-drivers do not.
“Street circuits are always challenging, and this one, in particular, doesn’t allow any time to rest, if you can call it that, between corners.”
The weekend’s schedule sees four practice sessions take place on Friday with McIntyre keen to make the most of the one 30-minute session specifically for co-drivers as he fine-tunes his own performance in the SP Tools Ford. Saturday sees the lead drivers head straight into qualifying, before the top ten shootout decides the final starting positions for the afternoon’s 300 km race. Sunday’s schedule follows a similar structure.
McIntyre notes that each co-driver is required to complete 30% of each of the two races. “So I’ve got two bites at the cherry this weekend which I’m looking forward to immensely.”
Coverage of the Gold Coast 600 screens in New Zealand on TV3. Check their screening schedules for full details.
Steering failure seals Bathurst fate
This year's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 provided slim pickings for Shane van Gisbergen and Stone Brothers Racing teammate John McIntyre, steering failure late in the race seeing the pair drop from sixth to 21st.
It was a cruel end to what could well have been a podium finish for the drivers of the SP Tools-backed #9 Ford Falcon, van Gisbergen lying sixth and ready to move forward when the Safety Car was deployed with just 22 laps to go.
Unfortunately it was not to be, a steering arm bolt breaking on the re-start, sending van Gisbergen off the track at the Chase and, after wrestling the car back onto the track, into the pits to replace it.
Shane van Gisbergen – Driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9
“I'm shattered. We had a really good race car, probably not good enough to challenge for the win but the way we had positioned ourselves all day we were looking alright for a while there. We were up against it all day but managed to be up there towards the end when it really mattered and to have that (the steering fail) happen is devastating. I have never finished inside the top ten here so I would have settled for 6th although I know we were capable of a podium at the end.”
John McIntyre – Co-driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9
“It's hugely disappointing. It seemed like every time we were going good something would happen over the weekend whether it was practice or qualifying. In the race it was really tough, I seemed to have the knack of ruining or delaminating tyres but we managed it really well, although it did cause me to make contact with the wall early on at Forest Elbow. I also ended up getting forced off track by another car at the restart and we think that may have attributed to the bolt coming out on the steering arm at the end.
“I think Shane and I deserve a decent run at the Gold Coast event, we were quick at Phillip Island but had an engine problem and then had what happened today, I thought a two out of three ain’t bad scenario here but it’s all going to come down to the Gold Coast. We are going to be very switched on, we are getting stronger and stronger as a driver combination so we will do a good job there.”
Sunday's result has seen van Gisbergen slip one more place in the overall series points standings, from fifth to sixth.
The SBR team will now head back home to QLD to begin preparations for the Armor All Gold Coast 600 October 22 – 24.
Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 - RESULTS
1 888 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife
2 1 TeamVodafone Jamie Whincup/Steve Owen
3 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Cameron McConville/Garth Tander
4 14 Trading Post Racing Jason Bright/Matthew Halliday
5 18 Jim Beam Racing James Courtney/Warren Luff
6 51 Castrol Edge Racing Greg Murphy/Allan Simonsen
7 33 Fujitsu Racing/GRM Lee Holdsworth/David Besnard
8 39 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall/Paul Morris
9 5 FPR - Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon Mark Winterbottom/Luke Youlden
10 34 Fujitsu Racing/GRM Michael Caruso/Greg Ritter
21 9 SP Tools Racing Shane van Gisbergen/John McIntyre
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