NZV8 driver Tim Edgell will be gunning for race wins as the national series heads back to the North Island after a three round stint at the country's most southern race circuits, and he is eagerly awaiting the next round at Manfeild.
Edgell scored his maiden win in the BNT V8s championship two years ago at Manfeild, and last year won two races and collected the most points to win the round.
"Manfeild has always been a circuit that I've performed well at, even back when racing Formula Ford, so I feel pretty upbeat heading back there," said Edgell, who struggled to get his championship season back on track after a huge crash in atrocious weather conditions during the opening round at Pukekoke back in November.
That accident caused the most damage ever suffered by the Chesters-backed Ford Falcon and with such a big repair, the car headed to the South Island rounds over the holiday season with no testing.
"It's taken a while to get the car back to the front-running pace we had at Pukekohe but I'm confident we can get some more race wins before the season is over," added the Auckland driver.
The first of the southern rounds at Christchurch's Ruapuna Raceway resulted in a race win and several podiums to finish runner-up for the round, but like many competitors, Edgell struggled in the torrential rain that swept over the Teretonga Raceway at Invercargill and was forced to drive one race holding onto the gear lever, jammed in 3rd gear.
The following week the championship headed to Levels Raceway, Timaru where another gearbox issue caused a retirement from one of the three races, however a blinding pit-stop in the final race leapfrogged the Chesters Falcon from sixth place to second overall, bagging valuable championship points.
New to the championship series this year is a compulsory pit-stop in the final race of the weekend, with each team required to change one front wheel during the race. This new innovation brings the team into play in the race outcome, a move supported by Edgell.
"Sometimes it goes really good for you, like at Timaru, or sometimes it can work against you. The most important thing is that it brings the team into the outcome of the race and after all, motorsport is a team sport so I support the concept."
With two rounds and six races still to go in the BNT V8s championship series, Edgell is currently fighting for third place but can still claim the runner-up spot if the North Island rounds at Manfeild and Taupo go his way.
The V8 cars will be part of the New Zealand Grand Prix weekend at Manfeild, 10-12 March before heading to Taupo early in March for the season finale.
