Andy Booth, in the #23 Big Ben Pies Holden Commodore put in a strong performance at the BNT V8 Championship finals in Taupo over the weekend to finish 4^th for the round and move up to 5^th in the final season standings.

After strong start to the championship at Pukekohe the Big Ben Racing team suffered several setbacks during the championship with heavy crashes at Ruapuna and Timaru dropping the #23 car down the points ladder.

Determined to improve their overall championship position, the team at AV8 Motorsport who prepare the #23 Holden Commodore put in a massive effort at the workshop and in testing leading up to Taupo. Their efforts were rewarded when Booth comfortably made it through to the top 10 shootout in qualifying, a feat achieved at every round this season, and then put in the fifth fastest time in the shootout with a smooth, conservative lap.

Confident they had the pace to keep with the lead Fords early in the race the question was could the Big Ben Holden maintain the pace over the race distance, something the Commodore’s have continued to struggle with this season.

Race 1 on Sunday saw Booth great a clean start and move up inside Tim Edgell through turn 1, ahead on the run to turn 2 but Booth was caught on the outside line and had to yield to the Falcon.

Very quickly the lead group of 5 cars comprising McIntyre, Baird, Scott, Edgell and Booth drew away from the rest of the field and settled into their own battle. Booth shadowed the Ford of Edgell, the Big Ben car quicker through the middle section of the track but the Chesters Falcon faster through the long turn 12 and down the long straight.

At the end of lap 3 Booth went slightly too deep under brakes at the end of the straight, locking the rear tyres at the turn in point he was forced to shortcut across the grass at the esses, in doing so opening up a gap to Edgell and the lead group that he couldn’t recover. At this point the focus switched to conserving tyres and brakes by driving as fast as was needed to maintain 5^th position from the advancing Andy Knight.

Booth crossed the line in 5^th place but more importantly he was 10 places ahead of Eddie Bell, the driver he needed to beat by more than 45 points to move up to fifth in the Championship.

Booth lined up for race 2 with only minor changes to the set up of the Holden, confident that with a clean start he could get up amongst the top Fords and challenge hard.

He was to be handicapped almost from the start when on the straight run to turn one Andy Knight began crowding across the track and then turned left into the Big Ben car not once but 5 times, the final hit resulting in severely bent steering before the cars even arrived at the first corner.

With the car tracking and diving all over the road Booth initially wasn’t sure if the steering was bent or broken or if he would even be able to continue. Pressing on the car seemed to be able to still turn both left and right, if a little unpredictably, after the race the crew would discover that the front wheels were toeing out by over 30 millimetres!

Accepting that any shot at the front was gone, Booth’s focus turned to acclimatising to his race car’s strange new behaviour and minimising how far back through the field he would drop. Not at all would in fact be the answer as he put in a hugely determined effort with a crippled car and despite race long pressure from John Penny, having a standout weekend in the Penny Homes Holden, Booth held off all attacks and brought the Big Ben car home once again in 5^th.

The 18 lap final reverse grid race was always expected to be full of fireworks being the last race of the championship and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Starting from grid 22 Booth had opted for a conservative approach to the opening laps to avoid any damage. Anything resembling conservatism was soon abandoned as the 1^st few laps became a blur of out of control cars, smoke, dust and gravel.

With several opening lap tangles Booth judged his way through the carnage to perfection and found himself in 10^th position by the end of lap 3. From here he continued to move forward through the field, catching and passing cars ahead and again being able to avoid the wayward cars of other competitors.

Up to 4^th position by lap 9 and closing on the lead group of 3, Booth then began to struggle with rear grip as the tyres began to overheat. New NZV8 Champion Craig Baird was behind the Big Ben car and with stronger car speed at this point of the race Booth had to relinquish position to him on lap 10.

Continuing to push on despite the car getting very loose Booth was closing in on the lead group of Williams, Lockwood and Booth’s former AV8 Motorsport team mate Paul Manuell now driving the Autotek Ford Falcon. With this group of 3 fighting tooth and nail for the lead Booth, along with most of the spectators at the track felt there was a high probability that there would be a tangle at some point. On all but the last corner of the last lap it happened. 3 cars all tried to fit themselves into the tight left hander off the main straight, a space designed for 1 car only. As Booth arrived under brakes, the falcons of Manuell and Williams were spinning off then back on to the track in a thick cloud of dust, almost totally blind in the chaos Booth followed the edge of the circuit around the mess and made the short dash to the finish line in 3^rd place.

With Eddie Bell suffering a non finish Booth’s podium result lifted him to 5^th in the final championship standings.

Comments from Andy Booth for the weekend:

“This weekend has been a really positive way to finish out what has been a tough season. With the  big crash at Powerbuilt Raceway we struggled to get back to form, 5^th is below the expectations we set for ourselves but after the challenges through the season we’ll take it with a smile”

“I was really pleased to be able to hold position in race 2, the car was behaving so bizarrely it would just change direction on its own. It was a shame about the damage as I believe we had the pace to challenge the front, I’m not quite sure why Knight felt the need to keep turning left on a straight piece of track, I guess he was lost!”

“I’m really pleased for the crew and all our sponsors that we could bounce back and finish the season on the podium. Despite the setbacks I’ve enjoyed such great support from all the AV8 crew and our great family of sponsors Big Ben Pies, Wynn’s, Ecom Corp, New Balance, Citizen, Precision Autowerk, Powerbuilt, Nanoshield, Orix, Boston Digital, Custom Autoglass and Advanti. Thanks to everyone”

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Andy Booth, in the #23 Big Ben Pies Holden Commodore came away from the latest round of the BNT V8’s Championship at Manfeild Park Raceway as once again the leading Holden competitor but still frustrated with not being able to seriously challenge the championship leaders.

The tight, banked Manuwatu circuit has proven to be a happy hunting ground for the rival Fords in recent years and round 5 of this year’s championship continued that as Booth qualified as the lead Holden in 6^th place after Saturday afternoon’s official qualifying sessions.

For the first time this season a weather rule allowing the cancellation of the top ten shoot out was used as rain began to fall just prior to the final qualifying session. This meant that grid positions would be determined by the final placings from the second, top 20 session. Booth felt he could have qualified higher but had elected to park the car for the rest of the second session knowing that he was comfortably through to the top ten.

Race 1 on Sunday morning was a reasonably quiet affair with the Big Ben car able to challenge on the opening laps but then seemingly unable to maintain the pace of the front 4 cars. When Angus Fogg spun exiting the hairpin, the result of a broken axle, Booth moved up into 5^th position but was then busy with a strengthening Andy Knight who eventually slipped past on lap 4 when the Commodore was slow off turn 6.

Booth would eventually cross the line in 6^th place.

Things got a lot more exciting in race 2 when Booth challenged Knight at the beginning of lap 2. The pair ran cleanly side by side from the exit of turn one all the way to the final turn 7 where Knight ran wide allowing Booth and Eddie Bell to slip by, this duo would then spend the next 5 laps locked in a close tussle, Booth battling severely fading brakes and Bell a worsening oil leak.

Lap 7 brought out the safety car to allow retrieval of 2 cars in the gravel trap. At the restart Booth timed it to perfection, able to leap ahead of the Fords of defending champion Kayne Scott and John McIntyre. McIntyre retook the position on the exit of turn 1 with the favoured inside line whilst Booth continued to hold out Scott.

By this stage Bell’s oil leak have become so severe that it was dropping large amounts of oil onto the circuit, affecting other competitors ability to control their cars. When Booth ran wide on the oil entering turn 1 at the start of lap 8 Scott took the inside on the run round into the infield, the Big Ben Holden held the inside for the lefthander but the Falcon moved across and squeezed him onto the curb allowing Scott back ahead.

Once again Booth finished where he began in 6^th place.

The 22 lap final reverse grid race was always going to be an interesting affair with the Manfeild circuit notoriously hard on brakes and many cars, including Booth, already suffering in this department in the shorter 12 lap races.

Booth got away to one of his typical scything runs in the opening laps moving from 18^th to 9^th by the 3^rd lap, picking up another spot on lap 5. Possibly using up his tyres and brakes early with this charge the Big Ben car then struggled to continue forward, challenging the Ford of Simon Richards repeatedly but eventually dropping back.

The real highlight of the race was the battle between Booth and Clark Proctor later in the race, dominating the television coverage for sheer entertainment the pair passed and re-passed each other several times per lap over 4 or 5 laps. Often running side by side through long sections of the track the pair entertained both the crowd and themselves right to the finish of the race as Booth’s brakes deserted him and he had to concede for 12^th position.

Following the Manfeild race, the Big Ben crew spent 2 days testing at the Taupo circuit, where the final round will be held on March 20/21, gaining valuable track time and testing new components for next season.

Comments from Andy Booth for the weekend:

“I don’t know what it is about this place but the Fords just seem to love it, we can compete over 1 or 2 laps but cannot maintain the race pace”

“Some of the racing this weekend has been the most enjoyable of the year, it’s a track that allows you to run side by side and pass in a lot of different places, that tussle with Clark (Proctor) was epic!”

“While we weren’t out the back door, this was not a competitive showing by our standards and we have to find more pace before Taupo, we’ll go testing there before and look for that magic tweak”

Andy Booth, the Big Ben Commodore and the AV8 Motorsport team next head to Taupo on March 20 and 21 for round 6 of the BNTV8’s.

All the action from the BNT V8’s can be viewed on TV3’s delayed live coverage on race day, or online at http://www.tv3.co.nz/TVOnDemand/tabid/890/Default.aspx

Andy Booth, in the #23 Big Ben Pies Commodore was back in action for round 4 of the BNT V8 series at Timaru’s Levels Raceway over the weekend and although top results were hard to come by due to external influences, he and the AV8 Motorsport crew gave a clear message that their front running pace was back.

Unpredictable weather and confusing officialdom would ultimately prove to be the strongest determining factors in the weekend’s results but Booth declared himself very happy with the improved speed in the Big Ben Holden with solid qualifying and race 3 results.

After a baffling lack of outright speed at recent rounds of the championship, some minor set up changes and a determined driver effort paid dividends in Saturday’s 3 stage qualifying session when Booth posted the 2^nd fastest time in the second session only 0.087 off Championship leader John McIntyre. This super quick lap would ultimately prove to hinder Booth’s attempt to take pole position in the top ten shoot out. Having set the lap early on in the second session and being the second last car on track in the shoot out there was a long time between runs and Andy felt that the tire temperatures had dropped off too much, especially on the left hand side which saw the Big Ben car lose valuable time in the right hand turns. Booth’s shoot out lap would place him 6^th on the grid.

Race one on Sunday morning evolved into one of the most controversial and influential (in terms of championship) seen in years.

 With almost the entire field formed up on the start grid on slick, dry weather tyres, the very light drizzle that had been in the air turned to steady rain, a lethal combination made worse with several ultra slippery new sections of tarmac around the track. The field moved off the race start seemingly in slow motion, the track surface resembling more that of an ice rink. As cars slid off and spun around through the first few turns Booth, at this stage running 3^rd on the road, gave serious consideration to retreating to the pits at the end of the lap for wet tyres. This option was to be rapidly withdrawn. As the first 3 cars entered the run towards the final corner onto the pit straight (and pit entry) they were meet with a truly zero grip situation on the new surface and became helpless passengers as all three cars impacted heavily with the outside tyre wall.

Chaos ensued behind them as the rest of the field skated every which way in avoidance. Most scrambling to the pits in recovery after the red flags were brought out to stop the race. Booth was able to free himself from the wall and pull forward to the control line where cars are required to stop in red flag situations. From here confusion reigned as race officials seemingly lost control of the situation as cars were worked on in the pits under red flag conditions, the Big Ben Holden was stuck out on the track with marshals not allowing him to move as they were receiving no instruction from the officials. Ultimately the crew members had to take the decision to cross the pit wall and push Booth’s car back to the pit entry so they could change to wet tyres and inspect the damage. Then in a truly bizarre twist the race was restarted with all the cars in the random order in which they left the pit lane as opposed to the original race order as the rules dictate.

At the restart Booth lined up 3^rd to last and given the chaos that had already taken place elected to simply drive a conservative risk free race to the finish. He would eventually be classified in 17^th.

Race 2 brought a welcome dry spell in the weather and a much more straight forward result, if still a little contentious as the starting order for race 2 is determined by the finishing order of the controversial race 1.

Further changes to the set up of the car where to Booth’s liking and despite the tough narrow nature of the Timaru track, the Big Ben car fought its way up to 10^th position passing team mate Andrew Anderson (ITM Holden) on the line by 0.066 of a second.

During the warm up period for the final reverse grid race 3, the unpredictable Timaru skies began to repeat their race 1 efforts. With light drizzle falling the AV8 Motorsport crew elected to call Booth in for wet tyres even though the track was still more suited to slicks. This proved to be the dead right call as Booth lined up on the grid with 2 minutes before the pit closure signal, the rain started to fall. As other cars poured into the pits to change tyres the Big Ben team were revelling in their early decision as now many cars simply would not have enough time to effect the tyre changes and would be caught in the pits at the race start. This advantage was then unwound as the race officials chose to do what they had not in race 1 and declare the race wet allowing all teams and additional 5 minutes to change tyres and line up on the grid.

Just like race 1 the action was halted before the end of the 1^st lap as the Ford of Angus Fogg was tapped into a spin which resulted in heavy contact with Booth’s AV8 team mate Paul Manuell. This result this time was only a safety car as opposed to a total race stoppage and racing resumed a few lap later with Booth in 3^rd position, the result of a successful 1^st lap from his 6^th placed start.

Initially struggling with a severe lack of rear traction Booth soon had to relinquish position to Andrew Anderson and then Andy Knight as they were able to put the power down better out of slow corners.

The positions stayed static for much of the race but as the track began to dry to a damp surface in the later laps the Big Ben Commodore began to grip up and find some pace. Booth caught up to the duelling pair of Knight and Pither, first capitalising on light contact between the pair to sneak past Knight and then getting his nose ahead on the inside coming onto the main straight he could out drag Pither in the New Balance Falcon into turn 4. This final pass moved Booth up to 3^rd at the finish line, the podium result some slight reward after the disappointment of the day’s earlier events.

Comments from Andy Booth for the weekend:

“The pace we showed in qualifying is seriously encouraging, after starting the year so strongly the speed has been hard to come by at the last 2 rounds. I feel like we’ve turned the corner now and will be hunting for race wins at Manfield”

“I’m just gobsmacked at the situation we had in race 1! It’s like someone misplaced the rule book, just unacceptable at this level”

“The podium finish in the last race was a positive way for all the crew to finish what’s been a tough old weekend, the weekend as a whole should have been a much stronger result for us”

“Our focus from now on, with the improvements we seem to have found, has to be on race wins, nothing else is good enough from here on”

 
Footage of the race 1 incident can be viewed on the following link:

 http://www.tv3.co.nz/NZMCS---Jan-24---BNT-V8s-Race-1---Part-One/tabid/742/articleID/62669/Default.aspx

Andy Booth, the Big Ben Commodore and the AV8 Motorsport team next head to Manfield in Feilding on Feb 13-14 for round 5 of the BNTV8’s.

On the way to 3rd in race 3 at Timaru View Image