Motorsport: Henshaw expects door to door race for title

V8 touring car championship leader Wade Henshaw doubts he will settle the title race at Manfeild this weekend.

With three rounds to go Henshaw has a mathematical chance of securing the crown this weekend.

"I'd like nothing better than to wrap it all up then and we're certainly going for wins," said the Christchurch driver, who comes to the Feilding track with a lead of 150 points over his closest challenger, fellow Holden Commodore driver Andy Booth.

Henshaw enjoyed success on the 3.03km circuit last year and likes the layout - "it has lots of corners and that suits my style" - and has fitted a new engine just for this round. However, he knows defending champion Booth, Aucklander Kane Scott and top Ford Falcon driver John McIntyre, also of Auckland, will be trying to upset the standings. "I really don't think it'll be all that easy," Henshaw said.

He believes the seven-meeting summer series will continue through to the next and penultimate round, at Taupo on March 12 to 13.

Henshaw and Booth share the win count, with three apiece after the South Island races, but Henshaw is ahead thanks to a brace of second places.

Scott, McIntyre and Aucklander Mark Pedersen have each had two wins. Under a scoring regime introduced this season, the 150-point difference between Henshaw and Booth is the equivalent of two race wins.

Kerry Cooper, general manager of The MotorSport Company, the promotional arm of MotorSport New Zealand, suspects this weekend's round will produce plenty of fireworks.

"The championship gets pretty exciting from this point as we start to see the top guys stretch a points advantage over the rest of the field," he said.

He noted that last season at the same stage Booth was in the same position as Henshaw was now, but still had to deliver five more top-three placings to settle the fight.

The Holden versus Ford battle will be even for the first time, with 18 cars of each marque lining up. The top four cars to date have been Holdens.

- NZPA