This coming weekend will see what could be the most crucial round of the 2009/10 BNT V8s Championship with Round 5 set to run at Manfeild Park in Feilding. As usual, three races are scheduled with the points table showing how unpredictable this season’s championship has become; especially with only one round remaining after Manfeild.
While most expected the teams to arrive at the popular Manfeild circuit with John McIntyre’s Prime Explosives Ford at the top of the points, a shocking round at Timaru two weeks ago sees the Nelson driver down in 3rd place after proving dominant in earlier rounds. McIntyre faces two problems with that scenario. Firstly, he is now 115 points behind the championship leader and secondly, that points leader is the legendary Craig Baird.
“Bairdo” seized his opportunity to capitalise on McIntyre’s misfortune and drove his United Video Falcon to two superbly judged wins and a healthy lead in the series. Not that he had it easy, as he was hotly pursued by Tim Edgell (Chesters Falcon); currently showing himself to be the big mover in BNT V8s racing. Timaru saw Edgell collect his first podium and also qualify on the front row of the starting grid, so he has the speed needed to challenge.
However, as we have already seen, a bad weekend can easily turn the tables in this closely fought championship; there is no way Baird can conserve his pace. He will have to be right on his game to keep both McIntyre and Edgell at bay and will also be wary of the current 2nd place holder Eddie Bell (Independent Fisheries Falcon).
Bell has been the find of the season, having recorded an overall win in the opening round at Pukekohe and 2nd overall in the last round at Timaru. He admits he is relying on consistency to gain a points advantage but has also shown he does have car speed where it counts. A highlight of Bell ’s campaign is his team’s ability to bounce back from misfortune, as seen at Timaru when he finished the round 2nd overall after losing his clutch in qualifying.
Defending champion Kayne Scott (Fujitsu Heat Pumps Falcon) has yet to take a race win for this season, having struggled to find the ideal balance in his car. That is until Round 4, where he was suddenly back on the pace and looking like the top contender of old. Consistency sees him lying in 5th place and it is unthinkable he will finish the season without a race win; Manfeild will be where he will want to stamp his authority.
The top-placed Holden Commodore coming into Round 5 is the 6th-placed Big Ben car of Andy Booth, who improves as the season progresses. Andy Knight (Radio Live Falcon), meanwhile, has raised eyebrows with his highly competitive driving to hold 7th. Angus Fogg has been a star at the last two rounds with his new-found speed making him a frontrunner in qualifying. Apart from a solo race win at Pukekohe, the LG / Newstalk ZB Falcon has not had the best of luck in races but is again expected hassle the frontrunners this weekend.
Andrew Anderson (ITM Commodore) and Clark Proctor (VIP Falcon) complete the top ten points scorers and are both regularly seen at the front of the field, with Proctor having won a reverse grid race and Anderson achieving some top three placings. Wellington fans will also have something to cheer about for what is geographically their closest championship round with Darryn Henderson (Radio Sport Falcon) looking to impress after some spirited performances.
Several other drivers will also be expected to perform well having already achieved top ten placings, including former champ Paul Manuell, Haydn Mackenzie, John Penny, Dale Williams, Simon Richards and Nick Ross. A big improver over the recent rounds worth looking out for is former Kiwi motorcycle racing champion John Hepburn, who constantly improves in what is only his second season of BNT V8s racing.
Qualifying for the opening race of Round 5 will be held at 3:40pm on Saturday afternoon, followed by the top ten shoot-out at 4:25pm. The three races scheduled will all take place on Sunday at 9:55am, 12:55pm and 4:00pm with Races 1 and 2 over 12 laps duration with Race 3 being over 22 laps using the full-reverse grid format.
