Porter Prominent In Hamilton

MEDIA RELEASE
30 APRIL 2009

Porter Prominent In Hamilton

Andrew Porter completed his successful 2008/2009 BNT V8s campaign with a brilliant performance on the streets of his old hometown at the recent Hamilton 400.

Porter, originally from Hamilton but now based in Manukau in South Auckland, was one of the frontrunners throughout the non-championship BNT V8s Trophy Races around the daunting 3.4 kilometre circuit on the streets of the Frankton area in Hamilton.

Porter was on the pace immediately, setting a time good enough to place the Hyundai/Hydraulink Falcon fifth on the grid for the opening race of the weekend.

After getting underway in sixth place in that race Andrew was soon making progress towards the front of the field as he climbed to fourth place by the sixth lap. Four laps later he gained another position, crossing the line at the conclusion of the 14 lap race in third place.

In the second race of the round he was in second place early before coming under pressure from Aucklander Tim Edgell. Edgell got past on the sixth lap and Porter then held off the challenge of two-time V8 Champion John McIntyre until the more experienced McIntyre slipped past right on the line. However, at that stage of the weekend Andrew's results of third and fourth had him placed third overall for the weekend.

Brake problems prevented Porter and the Hyundai/Hydraulink Falcon from maintaining their charge to the podium in the third and final race. The Hamilton circuit is notoriously hard on brakes and Andrew had cracked all the rotors leading up to the final race. New rotors were fitted and Porter hoped to bed them in the warm-up prior to the start. However, at the first corner of the race he struggled to avoid hitting the rear of Kayne Scott's car and when the field arrived at the second turn he pinched the brakes. Porter managed to miss everyone but spun, dropping to the rear of the pack. Throughout the remainder of the race he managed to make up places to bring the Hyundai/Hydraulink Falcon home in fourteenth
place, still good enough for seventh overall for the weekend.

"It was good to carry on where we left off in the championship," said Andrew. As usual there was plenty of support for Porter as he put together his impressive performance. Another huge contingent of sponsors and guests cheered him on throughout the weekend. "I have to thank my sponsors and supporters for tremendous support all season," he said.

Looking back at the season, Andrew said he was "pretty happy." "Speed wise I think we jumped a couple of steps forward from last year. All we need now is consistency. We will work on the chassis and finetune both myself and the car under brakes. Hopefully we can gain another step or two and have a fast car again for next season."

Andrew's pace at Hamilton reinforced the form he demonstrated in the championship which finished at Pukekohe in March. When the Hyundai/Hydraulink Falcon was on song Porter was frequently inside the hotly contested top ten. Only a miserable run of bad luck at the South Island rounds prevented him from finishing several places higher than his fifteenth spot in the championship standings.

Andrew Porter was supported during the 2008/2009 BNT V8s season by Hyundai Construction Equipment, Hydraulink and Porter Hire while he is happy to have the support of subsidiary sponsors, Caltex, Haulotte Group, Century Batteries, Blacks Fasteners, PPG Industrial Coatings, Abernethy Civil Ltd, Ward Group, Metalman, Diffs R Us, Tait Communications, Fairview Motors, Stevenson's, Custom Glass and Bay Engineering Supplies.

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