ANGUS FOGG ON POLE POSITION FOR BNT V8S ROUND 4 AT TIMARU
Auckland racing driver Angus Fogg has qualified his LG /
Drivers and teams arrived at the circuit this morning to be met with miserable and drizzly weather which made for a difficult first free test session. Although most were content to establish the best wet weather set up, the conditions caught out both Andrew Anderson and Fogg who both found the tyre wall at the end of the back straight.
A major talking point at the start of the weekend was the addition of BNT V8s debutant Chris Pither who was entered to drive the New Balance Falcon. The car arrived immaculately prepared and Pither immediately confirmed his competitiveness by setting the third fastest lap time in the opening test session and then went on to qualify in the top ten.
Another talking point was the rejuvenated performance of defending champion Kayne Scott (Fujitsu Heat Pumps Falcon) who showed he was now back on the pace after a fraught first half of the season as he worked hard to get his car handling competitively.
As the cars rolled out for the first 20 minute qualifying session, most drivers were venturing into the unknown as the first free test session was held in wet weather while the second was on a drying track. Teams were forced to analyse information obtained from the second session to find a set up to suit the now fully dry conditions.
As drivers swapped fastest lap times it was not clear until the closing stages who would be setting the pace in earnest and so it was a surprise to see Scott heading the time sheets ahead of Edgell, McIntyre, Craig Baird (Falcon), Eddie Bell (Falcon), Pither, Fogg, Andy Knight (Falcon), Andy Booth (Commodore) with Nick Ross (Commodore) completing the top ten.
The second 15 minute session saw teams making further changes to increase speed and it was McIntyre back on top ahead of a rapidly improving Booth, Scott, Baird, Edgell, Pither, Fogg, Knight, Simon Richards (Falcon) and Paul Manuell (Commodore) Clearly not all drivers were prepared to show their true colours until the top ten shoot out which was to prove a thriller. A notable omission from the top ten was
As cars made their way round one at a time for the single lap timed run, it was obvious this round was going to be a lot different to previous rounds. The driver most affected was Kayne Scott who had the most disappointing end to qualifying when his Falcon suffered a broken axle on his out lap, preventing him from setting a competitive lap time.
However, there was no such bad luck for Angus Fogg who scorched around to take pole position from Edgell, McIntyre, Baird, Knight, Booth, Manuell, Pither, Richards and Scott. For Edgell it was his best qualifying yet and his first time on the front row. Manuell is also a lot happier to qualify in the top ten having remedied the many problems he has been experiencing. Pither was also impressive for his first time out in the BNT V8s and could be the dark horse come race day.
Angus Fogg (
“It will certainly be all go into the first corner and it could be one of those tracks where it is better to actually be second on the grid. It looks like it might be a bit wet tomorrow as well so we have to keep our nose clean and try to get as many points as we can.”
Tim Edgell (
“It would be nice to sneak a win in tomorrow and we think we have a good race car which we will fine tune tonight. I want to take every opportunity for a win tomorrow or possibly even two.”
John McIntyre – Car No. 47 – Talleys Ford Falcon:
“It will be tough for us tomorrow but it is important to get more points than Craig Baird so that is what we are going to focus on.”
Race 1 for the BNT V8s will commence tomorrow morning at 10:05 am followed by Race 2 at 1:00pm and the reverse grid format Race 3 scheduled to start at 4:20 pm. All races will be screened on TV3 between 2:00pm and 6:00 pm tomorrow afternoon.
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BNT V8s Qualifying results:
| Pos | Car No. | Name | Best time |
| 1 | 6 | Angus Fogg | 01:05.8 |
| 2 | 26 | Tim Edgell | 01:06.2 |
| 3 | 47 | John McIntyre | 01:06.2 |
| 4 | 3 | Craig Baird | 01:06.2 |
| 5 | 97 | Andy Knight | 01:06.4 |
| 6 | 23 | Andy Booth | 01:06.8 |
| 7 | 15 | Paul Manuell | 01:06.9 |
| 8 | 77 | Chris Pither | 01:07.2 |
| 9 | 4 | Simon Richards | 01:07.4 |
| 10 | 1 | Kayne Scott | 01:33.9 |
| 11 | 20 | Haydn Mackenzie | 01:06.8 |
| 12 | 12 | Darryn Henderson | 01:06.9 |
| 13 | 7 | Nick Ross | 01:06.9 |
| 14 | 69 | Eddie Bell | 01:06.9 |
| 15 | 70 | Andrew Anderson | 01:06.9 |
| 16 | 57 | Clark Proctor | 01:06.9 |
| 17 | 89 | John Whelan | 01:07.1 |
| 18 | 25 | Dale Williams | 01:07.2 |
| 19 | 52 | John Hepburn | 01:07.3 |
| 20 | 22 | John Penny | 01:07.4 |
| 21 | 55 | Christina Orr | 01:08.1 |
| 22 | 33 | David Hopper | 01:08.6 |
From: The MotorSport Company
PO Box 3793
Wellington
Posted: Sat 23 Jan 2010