NZV8: Caltex Racing Round 4 Saturday notes

WINNING MOMENTUM CONTINUES FOR CALTEX RACING TEAM

The Caltex Racing team's winning momentum continued at the the fourth round of the 2005/06 Parker ENZED NZ V8s championship at the Timaru International Motor Racing circuit today with Caltex Star Mart Ford Falcon driver Angus Fogg again setting pole position in qualifying and winning the first Parker ENZED NZ V8s Championship race.

The pole - a scintillating 1.06.803 - was the third in four rounds for former Cambridge, now Auckland-based Fogg, and the win in today's first V8 race of the weekend was his second in less than seven days.

That said, the conditions could hardly have been more different, with the wild weather of last weekend's third 2005/06 Parker ENZED NZ V8s championship at Invercargill's Teretonga Park replaced with hot sunshine and a welcome light westerly breeze at Timaru.

After winning the start and leading into the right first corner in today's race Fogg came under concerted attack from second fastest qualifier John McIntyre. But through the middle part of the race Fogg edged ahead.

McIntyre then remained safe in second place until he was slowed with just two laps to go by a gearbox problem.

Talking to journalists after this afternoon's win Fogg said that his ability to be on the pace in testing on Friday and in qualifying today had as much to do with the team's positive finish at the third Park ENZED series round at Teretonga last weekend.

"It all started there because we were lucky to get away with very little panel damage, "he said, "That meant we were able to spend the week in between the two rounds working on making the cars faster rather than simply repairing them."

While they were close during the early part of the race Fogg and McIntyre pulled out a handy gap on the third placed Holden Commodore of championship leader Kayne Scott, with Australian Kent Youlden, young Christchurch driver Adam Brook (both Ford Falcons) and the second of the Holden Commodore drivers Andrew Anderson line astern.

Caltex Havoline Ford Falcon driver Paul Pedersen qualified fifth fastest but struggled with a reoccurrence of the fuel starvation problem which plagued him the morning qualifying session.

Early on he was caught and passed by Brook, Anderson and Mark Pedersen but once the race settled down he maintained eighth place until he slipped wide, clipped a curb and rolled the left-hand rear tyre of its rim.

As the tyre slowly deflated Pedersen found the Caltex Havoline car harder and harder to hang on to, eventually crossing the finishing line in 15th position.

"I actually got quite a good start, " he reported," but when I got to the back straight the car just wouldn't accelerate. Adam (Brook) got up the inside of me there then I got boxed out at the corner off the end (of the straight). That didn't worry me too much but after I caught up on the bunch I got a bit of a slide going and I hit the curb on the outside of Turn 2, rolled the tyre off the rim and that pretty much was the end of my race."

-fast company-