Pole to McIntyre in NZ V8s season opener 

Source: PhotosportJohn McIntyre in his Ford Falcon

John McIntyre blitzed the opposition in qualifying for this weekend's opening round of the BNT V8s Championship at Pukekohe.

The two-time New Zealand V8 touring car champion secured the first pole position of the season with a time of 1:01.027, a handy 0.099 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor for the first of three races on Sunday.

"It was an awesome lap," said an elated McIntyre as he climbed out of the Protector Safety-backed Ford and greeted the equally-delighted John McIntyre Racing team.

"When I came out of the hairpin, I could see from the on-board data that it would be good."

This season the qualifying programme for the V8s has changed slightly with the top ten drivers

doing a flying lap shootout to determine grid placings.

McIntyre, from Nelson, came through the first twenty minute session comfortably in eighth with a time of 1:01.925. The second session saw McIntyre leap to the top of the field with a blistering time of 1:00.996 before he waited patiently in pit lane for his flying lap after the other nine drivers.

"The car's been good from the start. We've made some small changes today, but the car's as good as it's ever been here.

"The car - one that our team built for the start of last season - is quite different; it's lighter and we've gone through it from top to bottom during the off-season. So this is a very pleasing start, for sure."

Saturday's schedule also saw McIntyre dominate the two official test sessions for the BNT V8s field. In the morning session, he set the fastest lap time; his time of 1:01.234 was 0.114 seconds ahead of his closest rival. During the early afternoon session, his time of 1:00.942 was 0.277 seconds faster than any other competitor.

Following the test sessions, McIntyre commented that the team had made very few changes to the car since it rolled off the trailer. "We're certainly in the window, in terms of set up and speed."

McIntyre will start from pole for the first of three races on Sunday ahead of Eddie Bell and Andy Booth. This 12-lap race starts at 10am with a second 12-lap race scheduled for 12:55pm. The full reverse grid, 22-lap race takes place at 15:35pm