BNT V8s Championship, Hamilton

Angus Fogg Racing
Media statement
Seventh and final round of the BNT V8s Championship, Hamilton, 15-17 April 2011
16 April 2011

Winning Start To Bnt V8 Championship Points Leader Fogg's Weekend

Series points’ leader Angus Fogg enjoyed a winning start to his weekend on the first day of competition at the final round of New Zealand's BNT V8s Championship in Hamilton this afternoon.

After setting the fifth quickest time in qualifying then the second best time in the top 10 shootout on Friday afternoon, the LG-ZB Ford Falcon driver overcame slippery track conditions to lead the first of three BNT V8 races on the bill at the big ITM 400 V8 Supercar meeting this weekend from start to finish with pole sitter John McIntyre second and Craig Baird third.

Before the race, Fogg - who joined McIntyre on the front row of the grid - had a 32 point advantage over defending NZV8 champion Craig Baird with former series champion John McIntyre third a further 12 points back.

After the 12 lap race, Fogg's advantage has grown to 47 from Baird with McIntyre now just five points adrift of Baird.

“It doesn't get much better than that, does it?” said Fogg as he worked through the various points permutations in the LG-ZB pit afterwards. “We had a bit of a sleepless night last night thinking about how we were going to get through the first turn from the outside, because when you start there it can end in tears, but for some reason Johnny didn't get the best of starts and I was able to get away.”

Though the appearance of the safety car on the seventh lap meant Fogg lost the advantage he managed to eke out early on, he was able to maintain the same pace when the track went green again, a fact he attributed to the tyres he was running in the race.

“They were an older set and a bit harder than the newer ones. If it had rained hard they probably wouldn't have been too flash but the way the track was they worked well.”

After Fogg beat McIntyre to the first corner McIntyre had to fight a rearguard action to keep young gun Andy Knight and defending champion Craig Baird at bay.

After the first two laps the order was Fogg from McIntyre, Knight, Kayne Scott and Baird, but by lap five Knight had got past McIntyre, who was not looking particularly comfortable in the slick conditions, and Baird had managed to find a way past Scott. Knight then set his sights on Fogg, only to have the safety car come out while track workers moved the prone cars of Simon Richards and Haydn Mackenzie. Knight was again super-aggressive at the re-start, but ended up losing second place when he ran into the back of Fogg at the end of the ninth lap.

Though the contact sent the LG-ZB Falcon into a lurid slide, Fogg controlled the car and the lead as Knight went wide, allowing McIntyre to re-claim second place and Baird and Andy Booth to relegate Knight to fifth.

Over the next two laps Fogg was able to re-establish the lead he held earlier, crossing the finish line just over four seconds ahead of McIntyre with Baird third and Booth fourth.

Today's race was the first of three at the ITM 400 meeting round the streets of Hamilton this weekend, with a second 12 lapper tomorrow (Sunday) morning and a 16-lap grand final in the afternoon.

The LG-ZB Falcon team is supported by LG Electronics, Newstalk ZB, Mount Shop, Strapping Systems (NZ) Ltd, Fromm Packaging Systems, Q-West Boats, Pit Stop, Arnott’s Shapes, Affordable Partsworld, Segedin’s Auto Spares, Porter Group, Hydraulink, NZV8 Magazine, Suzuki NZ, Brenics Transport, Transvisual Panel & Paint, Punch Advertising, Delo, Waitemata Hydraulics & Engineering Supplies and iSign it.

Follow the team’s progress on: http://www.foggy.co.nz or search for Angus Fogg Racing on Facebook.

Ends

RESULTS
BNT NZ V8s
Qualifying
1.. John McIntyre (Ford Falcon) 1:31.1905
2.. Andy Knight (Ford Falcon) 1:31.4573
3. Tim Edgell (Ford Falcon) 1:31.4617
4. Paul Manuell (Holden Commodore) 1:31.7902
5. Angus Fogg (Ford Falcon) 1:32.2401
6. Kayne Scott (Ford Falcon )1:32.3455
7. Andrew Anderson (Holden Commodore) 1:32.4688
8. Craig Baird (Ford Falcon) 1:32.6543
9. Martin Short (Ford Falcon) 1:32.8085
10. Eddie Bell (Ford Falcon) 1:32.9030
Top 10 Shoot Out
1.. John McIntyre 1 1:30.9702
2 . Angus Fogg 1 1:31.3011
3 . Tim Edgell 1 1:31.8338
4. Andy Knight 1 1:31.9334
5. Kayne Scott 1 1:32.1968
6. Paul Manuell 1 1:32.1975
7. Eddie Bell 1 1:32.4399
8. Craig Baird 1 1:32.5674
9. Andrew Anderson 1 1:32.7382
10. Martin Short 1 1:33.2016

Race 1 (12 laps)
1.. Angus Fogg 23:37.7016
2.. John McIntyre 23:42.2520
3. Craig Baird 23:42.6364
4. Andy Booth 23:44.4976
5. Andy Knight 23:44.4999
6. Wade Henshaw 23:45.3232
7. Eddie Bell 23:45.3787
8. Andrew Anderson 23:49.8610
9. Paul Manuell 23:55.2088
10. Matt Lockwood 23:55.3910
Championship Points after Race 1 of 7th and Final Round
Pos, Name, Car, Hometown, Total
1, Angus Fogg, Falcon, Auckland, 1050
2, Craig Baird, Falcon, Gold Coast, 1003
3, John McIntyre, Falcon, Nelson, 998
4, Andy Booth, Commodore, Auckland, 869
5, Andy Knight, Falcon, Christchurch, 851
6, Tim Edgell, Falcon, Auckland, 745
7, Paul Manuell, Commodore, Pukekohe, 738
8, Scott McLaughlin, Commodore, Gold Coast, 653
9, Jason Bargwanna, Falcon, Victoria, 603
10, Andrew Anderson, Commodore, Auckland, 538

2010-11 BNT NZV8s Championship Calendar
Round 1: Pukekohe Park Raceway, 5-7 Nov 2010
Round 2: Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park, Christchurch, 26-28 Nov 2010
Round 3: Teretonga Park, Invercargill, 14-16 Jan 2011
Round 4: Timaru International Motor Raceway, 21-23 Jan 2011
Round 5: Manfeild Park, Feilding, 11-13 Feb 2011
Round 6: Taupo Motorsport Park, 11-13 Mar 2011
Round 7: Championship final, ITM 400 V8SC support races, Hamilton, 15-17 Apr 2011

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