Pitstop: Changes vex V8 teams

Schedule changes caused by the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne have left some Australian V8 Supercar teams apprehensive about the opening round of the championship on the streets of Adelaide this weekend.

Usually the teams have non-championship races at the Australian Grand Prix to sharpen their act before Adelaide. But this year the Grand Prix follows the opening round and they have had to rely on their pre-season testing.

Adelaide is tough enough anyway with 250km races today and tomorrow in what can be enervating heat.

Team Kiwi driver Paul Radisich was overcome by the heat and build-up of fumes a few seasons ago while driving for the Dick Johnson Ford team.

He was very quick in qualifying on his debut for Team Kiwi at this venue last season and hopes to convert that speed into a podium finish this time.

Greg Murphy has twice put his Holden on pole at Adelaide but has yet to win. He believes his SuperCheap Holden team have a far better car this year.

Jason Richards, who finished second at Bathurst toward the end of last season, is also confident that the Tasman Team can continue their improvement.

Marcos Ambrose, winner of the last two Adelaide rounds, has gone to the United States to race trucks but his former team-mate from the Stone Brothers Ford team, Russell Ingall, begins this season as the reigning series champion.

Campaigns begin

New Zealanders competing overseas begin their campaigns at very different venues this weekend.

At the fast Homestead Miami oval in Florida Scott Dixon will begin what he hopes will be a vast improvement on last season's campaign in the Indy Racing League. Dan Wheldon is his new team-mate in the Chip Ganassi team.

At the same venue young Aucklander Wade Cunningham returns to the Infiniti Pro series as defending champion and will be competing against Christchurch driver Matthew Hamilton.

And in Adelaide, by the second session of second-level V8 championship, experienced NZ V8 driver Kayne Scott topped the standings.

Knight fined

Christchurch Toyota driver Andy Knight, who had a collision and then a confrontation with Christina Orr in the third race at Taupo last weekend, has been heavily fined.

He was fined $800 for passing under a yellow caution flag and $2500 for verbally abusing and making physical contact with Orr.

Meremere drag racing

Three Australian Doorslammer competitors will compete against some top New Zealand machinery as a special attraction for the national drag-racing championships at Meremere today and tomorrow.

The visiting machines will be Peter Lovering's 1955 Chev, Shaun Mifaud's 1941 Willys and Brent Gillespie's 1934 Chev. Championship qualifying will start at 10am today and racing starts at 9.30am tomorrow.

Promising debuts

New Zealand teenagers Earl Bamber and Dominic Storey made promising debuts last weekend in the Asian Formula BMW races at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Bamber had a fourth and a third while Storey was twice seventh. Both races were won by Hamad Al Fardan, who won the New Zealand Grand Prix in a Toyota in January.

Yamaha assists Smith

Glenbrook teenager Sam Smith will contest all seven rounds of the Australian motorcycle road-racing championship, thanks to assistance from Yamaha in Australia and New Zealand.

Smith, who finished fourth this year in the New Zealand 600Sport championship in his first full season, will have a new YZFR6 machine.

His first race in what is described as a "development year" will be at Eastern Creek, Sydney, from April 6-8.

Ambrose tests Ford

Two-time Australian V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose has taken the wheel of his Ford F-150 racing truck over the past week in testing ahead of his entry in the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series in the United States. Ambrose will make his racing debut on April 1 at the half-mile Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway.

Celebrity fundraiser

Tiger Woods' golf caddy, Steve Williams, is planning a celebrity speedway event to raise money for needy young sporting talent. Williams, who won the national Super Saloon title in January, will stage the event the day following the V8 Supercar round at Pukekohe. It will be held at the Huntly Speedway on Monday, April 24.