MOTORSPORT: New dawn for V8s in NZ

However, the most significant developments in the past couple of days may have been across the Tasman, where New Zealand’s new V8 SuperTourer series began – with Greg Murphy (pictured) the big winner – and some fresh hopes for the future of the country’s V8 Supercar round.

NZ prime minister John Key has indicated his government could help keep a V8 Supercar round in the country after April’s Hamilton 400 – the last event that will be held on the streets of that regional city in the Waikato region.

Key has indicated his government is prepared to inject money into Pukekohe, the former home of the annual NZ round in the Australian-based series.

He dismissed the Whenupai air base on the north-western outskirts of Auckland and Hampton Downs, where the V8 SuperTourers ran at the weekend, as possible venues for the V8 Supercars.

Key’s comments are a significant development in a sorry saga in NZ.

It is wise that any government money be spent on permanent facilities, although we can foresee some hurdles with Pukekohe, which is cramped and primarily a horse racing venue that may be difficult to upgrade sufficiently in time for a round next year.

Hampton Downs is a new, dedicated motorsport venue not far from Pukekohe, although there could be problems in housing a mega crowd there and even in bringing the circuit up to international standard without massive expense.

However, in the long term any government money may be better spent at Hampton Downs, which to date has been developed – just off the Auckland-Hamilton highway - purely with private funding.

All these matters will be for the Kiwis and V8 Supercars to resolve, but at least light has appeared in the tunnel that some were starting to see as a dead-end in NZ.

Murphy won the first 20-lap race on Saturday and a 25-lapper on Sunday, then finished seventh in the final, 35-lap race, after a drive-through penalty for collecting Kayne Scott, but he emerged the weekend’s overall winner.

It was his first race triumph since his V8 Supercar win at Surfers Paradise in 2005.

Pleasing crowds turned out and were treated to close and at times thrilling racing.

While Murphy delivered two victories to Holden at the debut of the V8 SuperTourers, the longest race on Sunday was won by Hamilton driver Ant Pedersen in a Ford.

However, under the bodywork the cars are identical, and similar to the Car of the Future to be introduced to V8 Supercars next year, but with a 7-litre engine in NZ imported from the US and derived from the Le Mans C6R Chevrolet Corvette program.

Sixteen cars and drivers are competing in the early rounds of the series, with four more cars to be added for three endurance races in August, September and October – and another four cars next year, with talk of a third marque (perhaps Korean).

The Speed channel on Foxtel is showing delayed telecasts of the V8 SuperTourer races.

New Zealand V8 SuperTourers Championship after first of seven rounds – 1. Greg Murphy (Holden) 625 points; 2. Kayne Scott (Holden) 497; 3. Jonny Reid (Ford) 471; 4. Ant Pedersen (Ford) 455; 5. Andy Booth (Holden) 445; 6. John McIntyre (Ford) 411; 7. Scott McLaughlin (Ford) 380; 8. Andy Knight (Ford) 375; 9. Eddie Bell (Ford) 339; 10. Steven Richards (Ford) 328; 11. Andre Heimgartner (Holden) 285; 12. Craig Baird (Ford) 267.

NZ V8 SuperTourers  calendar - April 7-8, Ruapuna; April 27-29, Manfeild;  June 1-3, Hampton Downs; August 10-12, Taupo; September 21-23, Hampton Downs; October 26-28, Ruapuna.

It was a race of attrition, with barely half the field of 25 cars completing the distance – which was meant to be 187.5 miles (300km) but became 192.5 miles (308km) as those still running were required to run two extra laps at the spiritual home of stock car racing in Florida.

Ambrose kept out of trouble better than any driver, although his Ford Fusion had significant damage on its right side, and worked his way from 21st after a random draw for starting positions to fifth by the time of a 10-minute compulsory pitstop at one-third distance, by which time there had already been one huge crash.

Then, after two more “big ones”, including multiple champion Jeff Gordon surviving a huge slide on his roof and several rollovers, the Aussie led the field with a lap to go but was overtaken by reigning Sprint Cup champion Tony “Smoke” Stewart and Kyle “Wild Thing” Busch as they raced to the closest finish in the Shootout’s history.

Busch scored Toyota’s first victory in the event ahead of Stewart’s Chevrolet, with Ambrose just 0.211 seconds away in third – and the leading Ford driver.

“It was a crazy race,” Ambrose said. “I saw pretty much every spin and crash - I was either in it or around it or just dodged it.

“We’ve got a lot of steam under the hood this week, which is great [with the Daytona 500 next Monday morning, Australian time]. The Ford department has done a wonderful job with the engines.”

Of the drafting on the 2.5-mile (4km) super-speedway, even after the ban on radio communication between drivers, Ambrose said: “It’s a blur … I’m out there with one lap to go thinking I’m gonna win the race and I get freight-trained. We missed a lot of incidents and accidents and I’m just pleased we made it to the end. But it’s much better racing (under the rule changes) … we’re more in control, even though it doesn’t look like it.

“You’ve got to have great cars and you’ve got to have a bit of luck and you’ve got to manage your race. It’s a combination of all three.”

The front row for the Daytona 500 will be decided in qualifying today, while the rest of the line-up will be settled in two 150-mile (240km) Duels late in the week.

Former IndyCar racer Danica Patrick is assured of a start with Stewart Haas Racing. She will be the third woman to race in the Great American Race and has already turned a lap at 191.975mph (308.88kmh) in practice.

After Daytona she won’t compete in another Sprint Cup race until May, but she will contest the whole second-tier Nationwide Series.

Atkinson’s first WRC event since a one-off in Ireland driving a Citroen in early 2009 will be in a Ford Fiesta RS in a two-car team with American Youtube sensation Kenny Block. They also will compete in New Zealand in June and Finland in August.

Block has curtailed his WRC plans as he concentrates on American activities, including the X Games in Los Angeles, all five rounds of the Global (but purely American) RallyCross series, four North American rallies and a five-stop Gymkhana world tour – as well as filming and launching his Gymkhana Five.

Atkinson, now 32, won three rallies in last year’s Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and was a little unlucky to miss out on the title to Proton teammate Alister McRae.

Plans for him to compete in the second round of the WRC in Sweden this month fell through, but he said he was pleased he would be driving a similar-specification Ford Fiesta in Mexico to that in which Finn Jari-Matti Latvala won in Sweden.

“Malcolm Wilson [managing director of Britain’s M-Sport, which builds the WRC Fords] put me in the car last week for almost 400km of testing at M-Sport’s test stage in north-west England,” Atkinson said.

“The lack of power cars will have in Mexico [because of the altitude] will help me, because the speed will be a lot closer to what the Proton I drove last year in the Asia-Pacific championship produced.”

Atkinson said his aim was to gain a manufacturer drive in the WRC again.

Picture courtesy V8 SuperTourers New Zealand

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