Motorsport: A leader playing catch-up

Wade Henshaw leads the New Zealand V8 touring car championship by 96 points but he may have some ground to make up on his rivals to win the title at Pukekohe on Sunday.

The Christchurch driver did not test at the track last Sunday, when most of the V8s had a chance to try out the new surface. He will have to adjust the setup of his Holden after his first taste of the track today.

But Henshaw, who engineers the car for the Mike Pero Team, dominated his northern rivals in the first round at Pukekohe last October and steady drives should secure the prize after three races over the weekend.

In the 18 championship races completed thus far, Henshaw has secured top-three placings 15 times, with three wins, eight seconds and four thirds.

"We're not counting on the fact we've got the title in the bag and we know we need a good weekend to wrap things up the way we'd like," he said.

"We've basically rebuilt everything we can in the car and hopefully it's quite fast so we can run at the sharp end of the field and keep things clean and fast.

"From what we hear about the resurfacing of the track, it's fast, so my lap record will probably go, but hopefully it's me that sets the new one."

Defending champion Andy Booth, in another Holden, is not resigned to losing his title and intends to put the pressure on from the front.

The man to beat in the three races may well be John McIntyre, third in the championship and with only a remote chance of overhauling Henshaw and Booth. But he has shown that his Tracer Ford can outpace the points-leading Holdens.

Phil Stewart, the Wellington driver who suffered major injuries at this V8 Supercar event last season, is returning to the class. Another new face will be Australian driver Cameron McLean, who will drive the ex-Joe Faram Ford Falcon.

Craig Baird wrapped up the Porsche GT3 title at Taupo in the previous round and was set to concentrate on his Supercar drive this weekend.

But a change in the schedule has allowed Baird back in the car and expatriate Jim Richards, who was to take his place, will now drive the car run in earlier rounds by Christchurch's Rick Armstrong.

Aussie Charlie O'Brien will also drive but the man to beat may well be Aucklander Matt Halliday, who will be keen to turn the tables on Baird.

The new Toyota single-seaters make their Pukekohe debut, with Timaru driver Brent Collins enjoying a 60-point lead over Palmerston North teenager Brendon Hartley, with two races to go.

The New Zealand V8s have one race tomorrow and two on Sunday. The other classes have one race each day.