KEY POINTS:
Fourteen-time American Funny Car champion John Force has had the biggest crash of his career in Texas. He broke his left ankle and wrist in a nasty end-of-strip collision with fellow NHRA driver Kenny Bernstein in the second round of eliminations in O'Reilly. The two funny cars collided just after they crossed the finish line. The numbers showed Force crossing the finish line first with a 4.86s at 315mp/h to Bernstein's 4.90s at 312mp/h. Force is expected to make a full recovery.
Motocross Champs
Daryl Hurley and Cody Cooper loom large as favourites to win as the New Zealand Motocross championships kick off near Timaru this weekend. The two professional riders have just returned to the country after representing New Zealand at the 61st annual Motocross de Nations in the United States. After a disastrous last place finish there due to accidents and injuries, Hurley and Cooper are keen to make amends. The four-round series kicks off at Pleasant Point, near Timaru, with rounds in Rotorua, October 13-14, Hawke's Bay, November 10-11, and the final round in New Plymouth on November 17-18.
Drivers Change Code
Former Indycar champion Sam Hornish jun and 2007 title winner Dario Franchitti are working on deals to move to NASCAR. Buddy Lazier and Jacques Villenueve, both former Indianapolis 500 winners, have already made their NASCAR debuts. They will all join Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart, two more Indy-car champions, who've already raced in the series. Montoya has victories in the Busch and Nextel Cup series this year, becoming only the third man to win races in NASCAR, Indy cars and Formula One. The others were Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney. In the past 10 years, Tony Stewart, A. J. Allmendinger, Robby Gordon and John Andretti have abandoned Indycars for full-time drives in NASCAR. In the same period, not one driver has left stock cars for either the IRL or CART.
More Drama For Tkr
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Team Kiwi Racing and David John, a High Court hearing has been set for early next year over a dispute about owed monies. The last thing John and his team needed was further financial distraction on the run up to the Bathurst 1000. All seemed well when TKR was relaunched last month with a new car, new driver line-up and a technical collaboration with Stone Brothers Racing. TKR's clothing supplier, Apparel by Design, said it was owed a substantial amount of money and said it was going to court.
