KEY POINTS:
Aucklander Jonny Reid will be keen to avoid a repeat of his last outing when he races in this weekend's fourth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Malaysia.
Reid takes over from Matt Halliday in the New Zealand car for his second drive of the season. Last time, he crashed before the first corner after starting from pole position in the sprint race at Brno in the Czech Republic.
The 23-year-old topped the charts in pre-race testing and qualifying at Brno, but his collision with German teenager Nico Hulkenberg prevented the New Zealand team turning pace into points.
New Zealand is 14th in the championship with seven points, 17 points behind leaders Mexico. Germany is second on 22 and Britain third on 20.
Tight finish for Drift King title
Whangarei driver Fanga Dan Woolhouse won the national Drift King title after the closest possible finish at Pukekohe last Sunday. Challenger Gaz Whiter from Dargaville needed to win the final round but finished second and the two were level on points. Woolhouse won the title with a greater number of round wins, and will represent New Zealand in Super Drift Australia.
Bright quickest at Bahrain
Ford driver Jason Bright topped the testing times when the V8 Supercars took to the Bahrain track for the first time yesterday. Points leader Rick Kelly was fourth in a Holden, and his closest pursuer, Craig Lowndes, was sixth in a Ford.
A fine way to finish up ...
Young English rally driver Matthew Wilson's Rally New Zealand had extra costs. Wilson was caught doing 89km/h in a 70km/h zone last Saturday, and WRC stewards fined him €3800 ($7360).
Too slow, too Italian for French
The Italians and French are sporting rivals much like Australians and New Zealanders. So it was no surprise to find the reporter from French sports newspaper L'Equipe , pouring scorn on the efforts of Italian hero Valentino Rossi in Rally NZ. He said Rossi was 2s a kilometre slower than winner Marcus Gronholm and should stick to the track.
Big recovery, big payday
Jimmie Johnson picked up a cheque for US$6.2 million ($9.2 million) when he finished ninth at Homestead, Miami, and won Nascar's season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was a remarkable comeback for a driver who was in eighth place after five of the final 10 races. Formula One refugee Juan Pablo Montoya was taken out in a crash.
Veteran's silver comeback
Taupo veteran Darryl August earned a silver medal on his Kawasaki at the International Six-Day Enduro in his home town. The 47-year-old had contested events in Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia but his last ISDE campaign was 15 years ago.
