Defending New Zealand V8s champion John McIntyre made sure he took every possible opportunity to score maximum points and extend his lead with a win in the first of three races at Taupo.
Starting in third with the more advantageous inside line going into opening left-hander, McIntyre was quick to move into second place behind pole-setter Andy Booth, forcing Kayne Scott, who started second, back into third.
Booth and McIntyre quickly established a gap over the chasing pack of Scott, Paul Manuell, Paul Pedersen and Paul Radisich. From his qualifying position of seventh, having been hampered by an ill-performing carburettor during qualifying, Radisich passed Pedersen, while Tim Edgell, who'd scored a V8 career best when he qualified in sixth, appeared to be pushed off the circuit and dropped well down the field.
Having set a blistering time during Friday's qualifying sessions, Booth was determined to keep the Tasman Motorsport Holden in the lead, but despite Booth's best efforts, on lap five McIntyre snatched the inside line at the hairpin to give himself the full distance of the long main straight to sling-shot the BP Ultimate Ford past Booth. With Booth now providing a Holden-sized buffer between McIntyre and Scott, McIntyre pulled out quite a lead as Scott battled to get past Booth.
Meanwhile Angus Fogg, who had qualified his brand-new Havoline Ford in the unusual position of eleventh, climbed several places to duel with his team-mate Paul Pedersen who was driving Fogg's old car in his first V8 race this season in sixth and seventh until Manuell had a big lock-up in the Orix Holden at the end of the main straight which allowed Radisich, and then Fogg past. Booth also appeared to have issues, dropping from second to fifth in a matter of seconds.
Unable to set a qualifying time on Friday as his team waited on the delivery of a new engine, V8 Supercar driver David Besnard started the 14 lap race from the back of the 32 car-strong grid.
Besnard gained one or two places every lap to put the SCG Motorsport Ford in a very credible eleventh place by the second to last lap until a heart-breaking miscalculation of fuel usage saw Besnard's car run out of fuel.
Determined to cross the line, Besnard used the starter motor to propel the car forward at barely walking pace for nearly half a lap, but the slight uphill slope to the finish line ultimately defeated him. Besnard's team-mate John Penny suffered the same fuel-shortfall and also was unable to finish.
After 14 hot and very dusty laps, McIntyre took a well-earned win, the maximum 75 points and a new lap record of 1:36.928 to earn himself pole position for Sunday's 18 lap race. Scott finished second, holding second in the championship behind McIntyre. Radisich was third to close up on Fogg in the points' table. Fogg was fourth, Booth fifth, Paul Pedersen sixth, Manuell seventh with the hard-battling trio of Mark Pedersen (no relation to Paul), Dean Perkins and Clark Proctor rounding out the top ten.
McIntyre said that after seven or eight laps, the wind and cars going off the circuit meant there was a lot of dust moving across the racing line. "You'd come into a corner and get a surprise, but there isn't major tyre wear on this circuit so we're in a pretty good position for Sunday's two races."
Scott said: "Andy Booth certainly had some pace, but when he locked it up, I was able to get past. We seemed to have a different setup and our car really came on better towards the end as tyre pressures change."
