KEY POINTS:
Former New Zealand V8 touring car champion Paul Manuell says consistency is what's needed to win the NZV8 series.
"If you're in the top five and you're consistent, then you're in with a chance," says the 2001 NZV8 winner.
"We've been fast out of the box this season,
despite the car being five or six seasons old.
"Mind you, we've had a couple of DNFs [did not finish], one of which was completely out of my control."
Manuell is sitting in 9th place overall after after two rounds of the seven-round NZV8 series.
"There is also an element of luck in winning the series, as well as making sure you stay out of trouble," he says.
"I think I've matured a heck of a lot over the past few seasons and make better racing decisions."
After 12 seasons of building and running his own car - he's the only current driver to have raced in this class every year since its inception in 1994 - Manuell, 38, has sold his car and NZV8 racing franchise to Wayne Anderson, a former race driver who runs AV8 Motorsport from his Kumeu workshop.
Anderson prepares three of the top NZV8 Holdens - one for his nephew, Andrew Anderson, one for Manuell and the other for two-time champion Andy Booth.
"It's really great being onboard with Wayne Anderson," says Manuell, who has teamed with Booth for the past few seasons.
"It was the right thing to do, to step back from running my own team so I can focus on my racing, business and family.
"Now when I'm at the races I'm focused on what I'm meant to be doing rather than the logistics of transporting the car, the spare parts and so on."
As one of only a handful of top Holden drivers, Manuell is keen for the NZV8 series officials to recognise the seriousness of the Holden v Ford parity issues.
"We're beside ourselves about it," he says.
"It's so disheartening to see what's sneaked through the system over the last two years to give Ford the power advantage.
"It's largely due to old parts being superseded by new versions. The Holdens run a 1970 block and 1989 cylinder head, but the Fords run much newer exhausts, cylinder heads and manifolds.
"The technical guys know all that and if they don't do something about it then soon we'll have a Ford-only class. If things aren't changed, we won't be back next year - not in a Holden."