Newspaper Article 1994 – Hastings driver still third

Hastings driver still third

Promising Hastings motor racing driver John McIntyre consolidated his third place standing in the New Zealand Nissan GT series after another strong showing at Pukekohe last weekend.

In a repeat of the qualifying session for the Wellington street circuit, McIntyre qualified second for the first race grid after being only one-tenth of a second slower than Phil Hellebrekkers, who took pole position.

McIntyre’s quick and skilful driving took him past Hellebrekkers on the second lap, making McIntyre’s race rival lose concentration and Hellebrekkers went off the circuit and ended up on the grass.

Hellebrekkers responded by getting back on to the track and forcing McIntyre off instead.

“Him pushing me off at that stage was crucial because by the time I got back on the track I didn’t have the speed needed for the straight and so I got passed by a number of cars,” McIntyre said.

“It was unfortunate but that’s racing I guess, and I enjoyed battling my way back into the race and eventually ended up in fourth position at the chequered flag.”

In the second race of the meeting run with a reverse-grid start, McIntyre made good progress through the field but was inevitably held up on a couple of occasions by slower drivers and finished eighth.

The Hastings youngster now lies in third position in the Nissan GT series behind Aucklanders Robbie Francevic and David Simpson, with the next two races to be held at Tauranga’s Bay Park circuit on December 28.