While Kiwi drivers have won most of the V8 Supercar races this year, Aussie Jason Bargwanna is set to win the NZV8 TLX championship.
Former Bathurst 1000km winner Bargwanna today qualified fastest for this weekend’s final round of the NZV8s championships, where the Kiwi cars are supporting the headlining V8 Supercars. And with a 61-point lead over young Hamilton driver Martin Short, he is well on track to win his first national championship in 20 years of motor racing.
Qualifying was fraught for the Fujitsu Heat Pumps-backed NZV8s as they had only one 20-minute session to learn the revised track and try to set their cars up for it, and then in the single qualifying session there were 27 cars on the track all jostling for position and trying to set a top time.
Bargwanna said he and his new-generation Holden Commodore could have gone faster than his pole-winning time of 1 minute 06.3730 seconds.
“On my second run I was heading for a 6.1 but I ran into traffic at the last corner,” he lamented. “It was a real challenge to get a clear lap.”
He was pleased with the changes to the track, which include two new corners off the back straight.
“They’ve kept the fast character of the track but there could be new passing opportunities and it’s safer,” he said.
It would probably be possible for two cars to go into the new turn five side by side, after some heavy braking because although the back straight is now shorter it is still pretty fast.
“With our diff ratio we’re hitting the rev limiter in sixth [top gear],” Bargwanna said.
Cambridge driver Nick Ross was second fastest in his Commodore, ahead of the Toyota Camrys of Brent Collins and Martin Short, and the Ford Falcon of Haydn Mackenzie.
Short’s effort to overtake Bargwanna in the championship was blunted as he was also held up by traffic.
“It was quite hard to get a clear lap,” he said. “The tyres overheated so I pitted to change them but then I just had time for one last lap and I didn’t manage to pull off a top lap time.”
Triple champion John McIntyre was fastest in the TL Gold Star championship for the original-specification NZV8s, driving his old Falcon in a one-off return to the class. Following him were two other experienced drivers, Andrew Anderson and Kevin Williams, who both drove Commodores.
Series leader AJ Lauder from Turua would not be worried by the speed of these three, as they are not contenders for the championship.
Lauder, 18, qualified sixth in his class and his 16-year-old brother Brad, who lies second in the championship, was 14th. The Lauders both drive Falcons.
The NZV8s have one race tomorrow and two on Sunday.
