Motorsport: Edgell seizes round five at V8s

Tim Edgell says his fifth-round win is testament to his team's determination. Photo / Supplied

Auckland racing driver Tim Edgell has powered his Ford Falcon to overall victory at round five of the BNT V8s championship - the CRC 200 - at Manfeild Park in Feilding over the weekend with a first, a second and an eighth place.

"This feels absolutely awesome especially in such hot, testing conditions for everyone," said Edgell. This result shows the determination both the team and I had to finally come up with a round win after our dramas this season.

"That last race saw the rules changing every lap but we managed to accumulate enough points for the overall win."

Kayne Scott took second overall, which included a race win, while Andy Booth was third overall.

Championship points leader Angus Fogg had a mixed day but still clings to a 37-point lead over Craig Baird, with Scott now only a further 26 points adrift with two rounds and five races remaining.

A highlight of the day's racing was the performances of Wade Henshaw in only his second appearance of the season to take fourth overall for the round.

Championship contender John McIntyre did not have the best of days - despite winning the final race of the day - due to his diff housing letting go in race one.

With another round win - his second this season - defending Crown Lift Trucks Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge champion Craig Baird has helped re-draw the class battle lines ahead of the final at Taupo in a month's time.

Heading into the weekend's penultimate series round, early season pace-setter Daniel Gaunt had a 95-point margin over second placed Jonny Reid and a 118-point buffer over third-placed Baird.

But after a horror weekend in which the only highlight was a welcome win in the reverse top six grid 16-lap final, Gaunt's points lead has shrunk to just 25 over Reid and 38 over Baird.

Though it was Reid who struck the first blow, taking his first pole position of the season, it was Baird who won both 12-lap sprint races, the first with a decisive move on early leader Reid, the second with a lights-to-flag victory from pole position.

Baird also looked to be in contention for a third podium visit early in the reverse grid final before flat-spotting a tyre and, knowing that all he had to do to win the round was finish the race where he was, chose discretion in the form of valour to eventually cross the finish line in fourth place.

"With two wins and a fourth I definitely got more out of the round than I was expecting. Now, with other people having more issues than me, we are ... in the fight for the championship at Taupo," said Baird.

Local driver Chris Pither constructed the perfect weekend as he took out the round of the Enzed V8 Ute Challenge. After winning the opening race on Saturday, Pither added two more victories on Sunday to win the round, move to second place in the championship and close the gap to series leader Caine Lobb.

Lobb finished second overall at a track that did not suit his Mark Cromie while Simon Beirne finished third overall.

"The new diff and driveshaft held together and there are a few tricks to Manfeild and I used them," said Pither. "It has been a solid round and gives us a crack at the championship. We are back in touch."

Auckland Formula Ford racing driver Andre Heimgartner executed the perfect weekend by completely dominating proceedings. Heimgartner qualified on pole position then won all three races in devastating form. Rising star Henry Thomas-Kircher was second overall for the round while Richard Vickers took third place.

Dane Fisher again tops the points table for the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup after a weekend of racing. Fisher didn't win any of the three Suzuki races, but his strong fifth, third and 11th places gave the 31-year-old the biggest points haul of the weekend and ease back into the lead.

The brother of the New Zealand Grand Prix winner, who normally races in the Porsche GT3 Cup, had a late call up into the Suzuki class and after getting his head around the different machinery, promptly won the third race.