KEY POINTS:
Driver Angus Fogg is primed to lead the Ford charge in the perennial battle with Holden in the New Zealand V8 touring car championship which begins with round one at Pukekohe Raceway this weekend.
International Motorsport team driver Fogg, said it was great to see the country's premier 'tin-top' series get bigger and better every year.
Fogg and teammate Paul Pedersen, who flew the blue Ford flag, were amongst the front-runners last season with Fogg ending up second overall after a season-long battle with eventual winner Kayne Scott who is in the red camp behind the wheel of a Holden Commodore.
To promote even closer racing in a fiercely contested series, new rules have been introduced this season to bring about parity between the Fords and Holdens.
Though the two marques were evenly represented in the top six at the end of the 2005/06 season, concerns that the Falcons had an minor engine advantage has seen the Ford compression ratio reduced so that it is now the same as that of the Holdens.
The Falcons have, however, a new, better, pedal box to bring them into line with the Holdens, and both marques get a new, harder compound control tyre.
Fogg, who heads into this weekend's meeting as the leading Ford driver, says it will be interesting to find out if the changes made by series promoters Motorsport NZ will even out the playing field for both camps.
"I'll reserve final judgement until I have completed a couple of meetings on the new tyres," Fogg said.
He suspects that the harder tyre will exacerbate the flat-spotting problems associated with slowing down large, relatively heavy touring cars such as the Falcons and Commodores.
This year's series have attracted a number of drivers from across the Tasman.
Established Australian V8 Supercar driver Cameron McLean and up-and-comer Luke Youlden crossed the Tasman to race here last season and are returning with another highly-rated driver with V8 Supercar experience, David Besnard.
" We've certainly come a long way with the series, even just in the last two or three years," Fogg said.
"When I started, it was as a privateer with just the one car and trailer and here I am now part of a professional team running two cars in what has got to be one of the best touring car championships in the world."
There will be three races for the V8s at Pukekohe Park this weekend, with qualifying and the first 12-lap race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, then a 16-lap race on Sunday morning and a 20-lap final on the afternoon.
The second round is at Christchurch's International Raceway at Ruapuna Park on November 25-26.
- NZPA
