KEY POINTS:
Australian David Besnard showed the benefit of his more than 60 races in V8 Supercars across the Tasman when he dominated the opening round of the New Zealand V8 championship at Pukekohe yesterday.
The 29-year-old from the Gold Coast came second in the first race on Saturday and
won both races yesterday - the second after starting 26th in a full reverse grid.
Besnard's success highlighted Ford's domination as the Holden drivers struggled to match the pace of their rivals. John McIntyre, who won Saturday's race, and Angus Fogg, who was top qualifier, completed the all-Ford podium.
Defending champion, Hamilton's Kayne Scott, was so far off the pace in the first two races that his Holden started the reverse-grid finale in pole position. He held everyone but Besnard at bay to finish ahead of another former champion, Andy Booth, in another Holden.
The Ford drivers were quick to suggest that their dominance in a series built on parity between the marques was unlikely to last.
"On a twisty track like Ruapuna I think parity will be reversed the other way," said Fogg.
Despite his feat in driving through the field to win the reverse-grid race, Besnard was not enthusiastic about the concept.
"I had a dream run and that's not going to happen every time," he said. "This is the most open circuit we've got and it won't be the same elsewhere."
There were several safety car interventions but no serious accidents in perfect conditions on one of the country's fastest tracks. A harder tyre compound introduced this season provided less grip but lasted better.
The Toyota single-seaters had plenty of incident but for the first two races Aucklander Daniel Gaunt was in control on lap-record pace and never seriously threatened.
He looked likely to make it three out of three until he lost patience with a lapped car and spun out to finish sixth. Englishman Ben Clucas, who won the Australian Formula Three title this season, took the victory.
In the previous race another visiting driver, Hamad Al Fardan, was taken to hospital with a rib injury after crashing.
Fabian Coulthard won the first two Porsche GT-3 races comfortably but trailed home in the pack with a broken gearbox in the third. Matt Halliday won the third race but Craig Baird, with three second places, leads the points.
Michael Burdett won two of the three Formula Ford races with veteran Nick Buxeda from Pukekawa taking the third. German Peter Scharmach proved quickest in the debuting Mini Coopers.
The next round is at Ruapuna on November 25-26.
