Motorsport: Kiwi team get old car back

SYDNEY - Team Kiwi Racing have secured a car to take them through the last three races of this year's Australian V8 Supercars championship, avoiding a mass of fines in the process.

TKR lost their Holden Commodore when it crashed into a tyre wall in the Bathurst 1000 race on Sunday.

Driver Paul Radisich broke an ankle and his sternum in the crash, but has recovered sufficiently to leave hospital today.

TRK owner David John gained a dispensation to miss the next race, the Lexmark Indy on Queensland's Gold Coast next weekend, but was faced with A$450,000 ($512,700) in fines if the team missed the last three races in this year's series.

He has been able to avoid that by securing a car his team used in 2004, a Holden Commodore "Astro".

"We will run it at Bahrain, Tasmania and Port Philip in Melbourne and that gets us out of the problem of having to pay any fines," John said.

"It is reasonably close to what we had but it is a 2004 model versus 2006," he said.

"We still aiming for a good showing."

John said he had not yet decided on a driver for the remaining three races, but two or three drivers had approached him. Radisich is out of action for the rest of the year.

John's efforts will now centre on raising enough money to pay for the new Ford his team plan to run next year.

The Holden Commodore that was wrecked on Sunday had been sold for just under A$400,000, with the money to go towards the purchase of the new Ford.

That sale has been voided and John now has to stump up the shortfall before December 1.

"We are chasing dollars, and we are used to that."

John said Radisich left hospital in Sydney this morning and was heading home to Melbourne to recuperate.

"He is still very sore but in good spirits."

John and other members of his team will attend the funeral in Hamilton tomorrow for Mark Porter, who died on Sunday as result of injuries sustained in a second tier race at Bathurst last Friday.

- NZPA