John McIntyre Racing - Valuable podium points for McIntyre; Under steer dogs Richards effort

Saturday, 07 April 2012 17:56

Valuable podium points for McIntyre; Under steer dogs Richards effort

A hard fought for second place in race one at the latest round of the V8 SuperTourers Series has given John McIntyre valuable points at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway, Christchurch this afternoon. John McIntyre Racing team mate Steven Richards has had a frustrating day finishing twelfth with an under steering car, impeding his on track efforts in both the race and earlier in qualifying. The race was led from start to finish by super-sub Fabian Coulthard who replaced Greg Murphy who is recovering from back surgery.

McIntyre went into the weekend sixth on the points table and with the intention of hauling back the deficit and moving up the ladder in his Blackwoods Protector Falcon. However after a very positive qualifying effort and starting third on the grid he found that the car just didn't have race pace. A superb start saw him get by Jonny Reid coming out of the first turn, placing him second behind Coulthard. He was able to withstand constant pressure from Reid until the chequered flag, who in turn had to defend from Craig Baird who finished fourth.

"We just didn't have the pace (today). There were a couple of spots on the track where we were better than the other guys but it wasn't enough over a whole lap so they were always able to catch up. Jonny Reid was looking pretty good but we were able to hold him out for some hard fought for points."

A frustrated Richards will be spending time tonight with the team trying to solve an constant under steering problem that has dogged his #556 CRC FG Falcon today.

"We still have a massive amount of under steer and can't get the car to turn in the middle of the corner. Once that happens you are at the mercy of everyone else. Something is not right with the car and until we find it, it will be hard to improve on this position. We will try and get this sorted over night."

Sunday sees McIntyre and Richards on track for a 20 lap race at 11:45am and the final race of the second round, 25 laps at 2:45pm.

Results, V8 SuperTourers, Round 2, Powerbuilt Tools Raceway, Christchurch, Saturday 7th April 2012,

Qualifying, 30 minutes,

1 Fabian Coulthard, Holden, 1:23.764

2 Jonny Reid, Ford, 1:24.054, +0.290

3 John McIntyre, Ford, 1:24.362, +0.598

4 Craig Baird, Ford, 1:24.416, +0.652

5 Scott McLaughlin, Holden, 1:24.432, +0.668

6 Richard Moore, Holden 1:24.498, +0.734

7 Ant Pedersen, Ford, 1:24.507, +0.743

8 Kayne Scott, Holden, 1:24.544, 0.780

9 Andy Knight, Ford, 1:24.608, +0.844