Pitstop: Rally champ Mason to consolidate lead

National rally champion Richard Mason will go for it when the third round of this year's championship begins in Whangarei this morning.

The Masterton driver has a 26-point lead in the standings thanks to his impressive performance in the Rotorua Rally, but knows that he must consolidate that lead before the final round in Nelson in September.

After leaving Whangarei at 8.30am, competitors will tackle seven special stages in the Kaipara district, with a service park at Paparoa. Tomorrow the championship field will contest a rallysprint on Wearmouth Rd, near Paparoa, from 8am to 3pm.

Prumm recovers for final round

Katherine Prumm has recovered from a hand injury to ride her Kawasaki KX250F in the final round of the women's world motocross championship at Uddevalla in Sweden this weekend. The teenager from Bombay, south of Auckland, is tied for first place with Livia Lancelot of France.

Hamilton Hero Of British Press

With Jenson Button's Formula One fortunes fading with the inconsistent Honda team and David Coulthard reaching the veteran stage, the British press have found a new hero in Lewis Hamilton, the runaway leader in the GP2 championship. With Kimi Raikkonen rumoured to be heading for Ferrari and Juan Pablo Montoya out of favour, McLaren are under pressure from the media to promote Hamilton to drive alongside Fernando Alonso next season.

Rotax Max drivers in Thailand kart race

Six of New Zealand's top Rotax Max kart drivers are in Thailand preparing for an international 24-hour kart race.

The team consists of Bradley Tyrrell from Tokoroa, Neil Foster and Anthony Pedersen from Rotorua and Simon Evans, Paul Cameron and Tony Chambers from Auckland. The New Zealand team will be one of 33 competing at the Birakart International Circuit at Pattaya.

Cunningham's shot at US F1 glory

Aucklander Wade Cunningham has a chance to enhance his reputation in a support race to the US Formula One Grand Prix at Indianapolis. The defending Indy Pro Series champion was forced to sit out the second and third rounds of the 2006 series because of an appendectomy. He is up to eighth place in the standings with 115 points, still 66 behind leader Jay Howard but only 44 behind second-placed Bobby Wilson.

Halliday wins feature race in Malaysia

New Zealand A1GP driver Matt Halliday has completed his first weekend of racing in the inaugural Formula Renault V6 Asia series with a win in the feature race at Malaysia's Sepang circuit.