KEY POINTS:
Petrolheads will be chomping at the bit as the countdown for the Australian Supercar V8s in Hamilton gets into single figures.
More than 162,000 tickets have been presold for the third round of the series and everything is on schedule for the running of the Hamilton 400 street race. Only the finishing touches need to be applied to the track this evening and the weekend will be ready to roar into action.
"All the pre-event concrete barriers are now in place, although we have still allowed access for local residents and businesses. The remaining barriers and tyre walls will be slotted into place from midnight tonight," said event organiser Steve Vuleta.
During construction of the circuit, contracts worth $15 million were awarded to Hamilton businesses to establish the track and assets. The event will provide 1500 new jobs.
Kiwi driver Greg Murphy drove the circuit a couple of weeks ago, giving it his seal of approval. "I can't wait. I've been involved since the early stages of planning," he said.
"It's exciting to see it take shape and I'm so impressed with everything that has been put in place. As a New Zealander, you have to be proud of what's been achieved here."
However, all is not well with Russell "The Enforcer" Ingall. It appears the hard man of V8 racing has lost a bit of his bite as he's concerned the fast straights, followed by fairly tight corners, will make for a lot of lungeing under-brakes. As a result, the race could turn into a "crashfest".
Vuleta was quick to respond that the track was no more dangerous than any other. He said Ingall's view was completely different to what other drivers had told him, with Murphy and Paul Dumbrell saying the track is actually quite wide.
The Fords of Jamie Whincup and Will Davison have taken the honours in previous points-scoring rounds and Whincup sits top of the table ahead of the Holdens of Rick Kelly and Lee Holdsworth. But three other Fords, driven by Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison and Craig Lowdnes, lurk just behind.
Murphy is the best placed of the Kiwis in seventh, with fellow New Zealanders Jason Richards, Shane van Gisbergen, Steven Richards and Fabian Coulthard all in the top 20 heading into this weekend.
Having defended his NZV8 title, John McIntyre is now looking forward to competing in the non-championship round at Hamilton.
"From everything I've seen, the organisers have done a fantastic job designing this circuit. It looks wide, open and fast; it's been cleverly done from the start and could become the best street circuit in Australasia.
"It's great to be part of this event and race on this brand new track. We want to put on a fantastic show for the fans _ we're not taking anything from the V8 Supercar drivers when we say we have our own following and it's great for our category to run at these high-profile events."
Although the other premier classes in New Zealand motorsport have all had their champions declared, the Porsche GT3s, Toyota Racing Series and Minis will all be looking to put on a good show.
Every year, the Supercar V8s get more and more popular, with more than 1.65 million people attending a Supercar V8 event last year. Each event is beamed to 830 million people in 130 countries.
Attendance in Hamilton will be up on the 132,000 that turned up for Pukekohe's last hurrah in 2007 and the event is set to add an extra $20 million to the Hamilton economy.
- NZ HERALD
