Motorsport: Coulthard fired up to surf Gold Coast

New Zealand driver Fabian Coulthard in action at Bathurst, earlier this month. Photo / Edge Photographics

New Zealander among six or seven drivers in with a chance of winning this year’s championship.

The V8 Supercars' teams have converged on Surfers Paradise for the last of Pirtek Enduro Cup rounds.

The Gold Coast 600 signifies the end of the series within a series, and Prodrive Racing Australia's Mark Winterbottom has a handy overall lead in the championship.

He sits a relatively comfortable 399 points ahead of Craig Lowndes, who jumped into second after his sixth Bathurst 1000 win, and a fired-up David Reynolds, with just four rounds to go, including this weekend.

Fabian Coulthard is the best of the Kiwis, fifth in the title race, 83 points behind Chaz Mostert, who won't be racing the remaining rounds as a result of his massive shunt during practice at Bathurst. Coulthard has been a little distracted in the run-up to the race, having announced he'll be moving to DJR Team Penske next season.

Now that's out of the way he "can put 100 per cent focus on the remainder of 2015 without any distractions", especially at the Gold Coast where he and co-driver Luke Youlden have stood on the podium before.

The street circuit is a high-speed, concrete-lined waterslide of a track that was shortened by 1.5 kilometres in 2010. It has a reputation for causing a great deal of chaos if not treated with respect. The co-drivers will have to be on their toes and show some patience to stay off the walls, especially when there are still six or seven drivers in with a chance of winning the 2015 championship title.

Two other regular main game New Zealand drivers are hanging on inside the top 10. Shane van Gisbergen is in seventh place and Scott McLaughlin ninth. Both have had an up-and-down season and are looking for a consistent run for the remainder to move up the points table.

Rookie Andre Heimgartner is the fourth Kiwi in the pack. He's been consistently fast in recent qualifying and is coming to grips with the rough and tumble of racing with the big boys. He is 22nd, just 200 points away from getting inside the top 20.

New Zealand's rising World Rally Championship star Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard are under way at Rally Spain. At the time of going to press Paddon had been fastest in shakedown and posted the eighth-quickest time through the 3.2km asphalt opening special stage.

He'll be relaxed over the weekend, safe in the knowledge Hyundai Motorsport had enough faith to lock him into the factory team for a further three years.

"We would like to target another top five finish," said Paddon who had his first stage win in Spain last year.