Fri, 27 Nov 2009 5:01p.m.
By Shaun Summerfield
New Zealand V8 driver Eddie Bell will be the man to beat at Ruapuna Raceway this weekend.
The Cantabrian goes into his home round as championship leader after surprising everyone in the season opener at Pukekohe.
He may have outshone his rivals, but there is no special treatment for Bell in the pits. In fact, a touch of reality suits the Christchurch driver just fine.
“I had this really vivid dream that I'd gone up to Pukekohe and beaten them all,” he says.
“I kept wondering whether I’d dreamt it or if it was real. So I went down the stairs in my unders to make sure there really was a trophy on the table.”
Bell, in just his second season of the BNT V8s leads the championship going into this weekend’s round at Ruapuna.
But Pukekohe, where he qualified on the front row and claimed his maiden victory, will be a hard act to follow – especially now he has lost his element of surprise.
“He knows what it’s like,” says V8 driver John McIntyre. “He has a big target on him. Being chased is a bit different.”
It was McIntyre’s blunder that opened the way for Bell to win after he was late to the grid, and had to start from pit lane.
So McIntyre will be going after Bell in a big way this weekend.
“After the first round we had, at least I’ve had three weeks where I can say I was the championship leader,” says Bell.
“Anything else from here on in is a bonus.”
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