Motorsport: McIntyre takes Taupo round of V8s

Auckland Ford driver John McIntyre qualified fastest, won two of the three races and took the Taupo round of the national V8 championship yesterday.

But Christchurch Holden driver Wade Henshaw still leads the championship by 89 points from fellow Holden driver Andy Booth, with McIntyre 80 points further back in third place. The last three races will be run next month at Pukekohe.

On the tight track, panel damage was inevitable and there were crucial incidents that affected the championship. In the second race Booth, running fourth, made a late bid for third but spun Brady Kennett off the track and was penalised 20s and 10 points. In the third reverse-grid race Booth profited from his lost places to start on pole and was never headed.

Behind him, Henshaw and McIntyre, who started ninth and 10th, raced up the field but after several touches at the hairpin, McIntyre was judged to have punted Henshaw out. He had a drive-through penalty, which relegated him to 12th and Henshaw limped home in the tail.

Some of the best racing was in the Formula Fords where Queenslander Shannon O'Brien and Christchurch driver Andy Knight swapped the championship lead a couple of times.

O'Brien came in as leader, lost points for a previous technical infringement but won back the lead after winning the first race. He seemed to be comfortably ahead in the second race but slowed dramatically, was passed by Marc Doran and then took Doran out on the last bend.

Katikati driver Russell Hartley went on to win his first race in the championship with Knight in second place regaining the championship lead as O'Brien lost extra ground with a penalty. After a race-long tussle, O'Brien beat Knight home in the third race but Knight will take a 24-point lead into the final round at Pukekohe with Simon Gamble 54 points away in third place.

Craig Baird wrapped up the Porsche GT3 crown with one round to go. He won the first two races and finished within a car-length of Matt Halliday, who won the third.