Pitstop: Toyota class off to flying start

The successful debut of the Toyota Tatuus cars at Timaru last weekend has put them on track to take over the New Zealand Grand Prix from the Formula Fords next year.

Part of the contract with Toyota for the establishment of the class in this country provides for national championship status next season, provided 15 cars compete at every round this year.

And Kerry Cooper from Motorsport New Zealand said yesterday that championship status would almost certainly bring with it the rights to the Grand Prix and the main trophies.

Cooper was impressed with the debut races from the 17 cars on the grid at Timaru.

"I think they have done very well," he said. "The drivers were understandably a bit tentative in the first race but it got very competitive later on.

"The whole package was well presented as one would expect from the people involved."

Brendon Hartley, Brent Collins and James Cressey each won a race and Timaru local Collins leads the series.

The Grand Prix will be run on Sunday for the fourth year in Formula Fords at Teretonga. Cooper is pleased with the way entries for the Fords have held up despite the addition of the Toyota class and he believes both have a secure place in the national championships.

No decision has been made on the venue for next year's Grand Prix, but Cooper sees no reason for it to shift from Invercargill.

History against Aussie Queenslander Shannon O'Brien, who leads the Formula Ford championship, will start as one of the favourites for the Grand Prix on Sunday, but he faces one historical disadvantage.

No Australian has won New Zealand's premier trophy since 1975 when Warwick Brown won at Pukekohe in a Lola-Chevrolet Formula 5000 car.

Last year's winner, Aucklander Ken Smith, has switched to the new Toyota class and is unlikely to defend his title, but runnerup Andy Knight from Christchurch is contesting both classes. Bright signs for Ford Jason Bright, who finished third in last season's Aussie V8 Supercar championship in a Holden, has signed with Ford Performance Racing for this season.

The 31-year-old boasts a remarkable 141 top-10 finishes from his 192 V8 Supercar starts to date, including 65 podium places and victory at Bathurst in 1998. McIntyre on move With two wins and a third placing Tracer Ford driver John McIntyre was the big mover in the national V8 championship at Timaru.

Christchurch Holden driver Wade Henshaw still leads with 613 points from last year's champion, Andy Booth, in the Orix Holden on 501 but McIntyre has moved up to third on 494.

In the Porsche GT3s, frontrunners Craig Baird and Matt Halliday tangled twice allowing Hamilton driver Ross Rutherford to win two races and establish a 60-point lead in the series. Impreza special Six-time national hillclimb champion Marty Roestenburg will contest the 15km Race to the Sky international climb at Cardrona over Easter weekend in the wide-track, H6 WRX Subaru Impreza developed by David and Linda Loughlin from Tauranga.

The car is powered by a twin-turbocharged six-cylinder Legacy engine and produces around 650 horsepower.

Five-time winner Monster Tajima in his 900hp Suzuki is the man to beat and Rod Millen is coming back with his spectacular V8 Toyota Hilux.

Sweden's Kenneth Eriksson will pilot the ex-Possum Bourne Subaru WRC car and Andrew Hawkeswood will drive his 700hp Mitsubishi. Dixon for Daytona Scott Dixon will contest the Daytona 24-hour race on February 5 as part of an all-star combination from the Chip Ganassi team.

Sharing the driving will be Nascar racer Casey Mears and his IndyCar team-mate, Darren Manning. They will have a Lexus-Riley sportscar.

In official testing over the weekend the car set a best time of 1m 47.654s, 0.054s quicker than the next best on the day. Ganassi have three cars entered for the race. Coppins on form Josh Coppins left for Italy and another world motocross campaign this week but he gave his hometown fans in Motueka a thrill before he flew out.

He won all three 125cc races on a Honda in the first round of the national supercross championship at Motueka on Saturday. He didn't have the same success in the second round on Sunday at the same venue but left the country with a points lead.

The title is likely to be contested by Suzuki riders Luke Burkhart and Scott Columb when the championship ends at Tokoroa on Saturday evening. But they will have to contend with Aussie 125cc champion Cameron Taylor, who has entered for that meeting.