Motorsport: Home town advantage minimal

Paul Radisich admits home town advantage is not what it used to be at the Pukekohe Raceway.

The V8 Supercars are arriving into town for the New Zealand round this weekend, with the spotlight once again on locals Radisich and Greg Murphy.

Team Kiwi's Radisich says while the two of them have been flying around Pukekohe for years, the rest of the field is now extremely familiar with the circuit.

He says it only takes a couple of laps there to know where the bumps are, so most of the advantage now comes from the hometown fans.

Radisich says he is aiming for three or four podiums this season, having claimed one at Shanghai last year, and he is after a podium finish this weekend after coming fifth in last season's Pukekohe round.

He is currently 15th in the championship after the Adelaide round, and the leading New Zealand driver in the championship.

Australian Jamie Whincup leads on 310 points.

Pukekohe is the second official round of the championship, following on from the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide and the Melbourne non-championship races at the Formula One weekend three weeks ago.

Radisich says the main alterations they will make before practice on Friday is to suspension, as the ride height will be a lot different because Pukekohe is far bumpier than the smooth Albert Park track in Melbourne.

- NEWSTALK ZB