Second Best for Baird in China

New Zealand’s Craig Baird remains upbeat at still holding second overall in the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series despite being taken out of the weekend’s first race at Zhuhai International Circuit in China.

The two-race weekend in China’s Pearl River Delta region covered rounds five and six of 11 on the 2010 calendar.  With Baird having been fastest in early qualifying, his run of bad luck began with being baulked on his last flying lap despite having set fastest sector times.

Relegated to third for the opening 12-lap race the 39-year-old Queensland based Kiwi was gridded behind Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila and Red Bull Racing’s Marchy Lee, but ahead of series leader Christian Menzel.  Getting a better start than his rivals, he’d moved to second by the second lap.  That dropped pole sitter Rodolfo Avila to fourth, when the Macau racer made a dive-bomb move on Baird and Menzel.  Out-braking himself, he drilled in to the right-side of the Baird VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and then Menzel, to force all three in to the retirement of the gravel trap.

Surprised at the move, Baird said it was the bigger picture that mattered.  “Having Menzel alongside as a retiree meant the championship was still alive,” he said.  “I’ve had to moderate my thoughts on what happened; we’re here for the title – so have to take each race as it comes.” Starting from the back of the grid for the second 12-lap race with championship leading rival Menzel, it was a case of collecting as many points as possible.  Void of the earlier race antics, Baird finished fourth overall, one behind Menzel.

“It was the best of a bad situation – the Triple X Motorsport guys worked tirelessly in the two-hour timeframe between the races to get the car ready after the accident.  The impact was so severe there is quite a shift in the chassis.  So while they got the wheels straight, they didn’t have time to try getting it balanced and setup as they’d have liked.  It was a great result to only lose two points on Menzel’s lead following the afternoon race.”

“And it was hot – humid – every bit of uncomfortable you could imagine.  The cool suit and helmet blower got a great test.” At the calendar half-way mark, Baird is second overall in his first full season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series, 18 points behind defending champion Christian Menzel (GER).

With a two-month break until the seventh and eighth rounds for the 2010 title, Baird and his Auckland based crew will again have a new venue to learn – the Korean International Circuit, based in Yeongam County, South Korea (27 – 29 August).

VnC China & Sina.com World Cup Challenge

Sina and VnC Cocktails are organizing 16 football teams in Beijing, each week there are 4 games, each game a finest player is selected and this player will get the top prize of one bottle of VnC.

On 14th July the final game will decide which team is overall winner, then each player in the winning team will get a bottle of VnC, and second placing will get a VnC carafe.

..VnC Cocktails now available in Russia..

Mid Winter Summer Party!

http://rockstarnz.co.nz/events/mid-winter-summer-party

• Date: Friday, June 18th
• Time: 9:00pm
• City: Mid Winter Summer Party in Chrischurch
• Venue: Iconic Bar
• Age: R18+

Free  VNC Cocktail on entry

Plus $5 Woodstock’s Cruisers and VNC Cocktails: Margarita, Mojito, Strawberry Daiquiri & Mai Tai

Come in a Mankini, Buggie Smugglers, Boardies, Bikinis as we will have sand, spa pool, palm trees, VNC Cocktails…. Everything to do with summer!!

And since it is a mid winter summers party we will give you a dble pass to Mt Hutt for skiing as well as mini-van camper for the week end.

Third time lucky for Baird in China

For the third time in as many months Kiwi Craig Baird heads to China for another learning weekend as the under-dog in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race series against a German defending champion.

Currently second after two race events totalling four rounds, the 39-year-old Baird and his VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car again head to a venue new to the New Zealand based team.  Rounds five and six (of 11) are being contested at the 4.3 kilometre Zhuhai International Circuit in China’s Pearl River Delta region this weekend (18 – 20 June).

“It’ll be about hitting the setup from the get go,” says Baird of the plan to win races and close in on the 16-point championship lead.  “We need to be ahead of the pace and Christian Menzel (the series leader).  Getting pole position is goal number one.  Once we’ve done that the racing becomes a lot simpler and it’s really the start and tyre strategy that become variables.”

“We’ve got a good handle on the setup and are now just fine-tuning our plan on how the Michelin tyre works in these hotter climates.”

“At Beijing we had the car working better early in the race, but didn’t have enough toward the end when Menzel was making mistakes from the pressure I was applying once I’d made up the start-grid gap difference.”

With the additional reward of a championship point for setting fastest time in qualifying, Baird says the start grid illustrates the difference between first and the rest.

“The starting position between the cars is a diagonal and car length behind, so starting anywhere but on pole is a huge backward step.  Even with a mega start you’re not going to make up that gap by the first turn – you need to start from the front if you’re going to do anything but win.”

“Qualifying at Beijing showed how we could influence the opposition.  With three sets of new tyres available for the weekend we had Menzel’s team sitting in the pits having used two sets already in setting fastest time.  They were ready to run their last set just to keep us from starting ahead of them.  So we know we’re all but caught up to a defending champion who’s prepared to try anything.

The weekend’s Pan Delta Super Racing Festival will feature a 12-lap Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race on Saturday and Sunday, following an intense 30-minute qualifying shootout on the Friday.  Part of the record 23-strong field, Baird says the identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars have made his job a lot more rewarding.

“We’re right out of our comfort zone.  With different cultures, new venues and the extremes of temperature and humidity it’s a whole lot tougher than anything else you could do.”

The Queensland based Kiwi is joined by Triple X Motorsport’s Todd Bickerton and Ian McNabb who prepare and run the New Zealand funded VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

VnC Porsche takes on Beijing

Kiwi Craig Baird MNZM has moved to second overall in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia standings, following a pair of second placings in the VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car at Bejing’s Goldenport International Circuit on Sunday.

Climbing another step toward the top of the series podium, Baird’s result was again at a circuit he’d never previously driven.  The two races counted toward rounds three and four (of 11) in the 2010 series, with Baird pleased at their forward progress compared the series opener at Shanghai in April.

“In some ways it’s been a great weekend – we went back to basics here, and the car is good in terms of setup, now we can concentrate on beating (Christian) Menzel,” said Baird.

On 66 points – 14 behind series leader Christian Menzel (GER), Baird’s best result was in qualifying when he was 0.128 second off the fastest time around the 2.4 kilometre circuit.  Unable to capitalise on the front-row position alongside the defending series champion at the start, Baird instead had to follow Menzel’s bumper for the accident shortened 14 lap race (of 25).

In a repeat result for the afternoon 25 lap race, Baird could but follow the German, finishing 1.717 seconds behind at the chequered flag.

 “I had a better start than in the first race, but still not good enough to get the advantage over Menzel.  My car was probably better than his at the start of the race but you could see his team’s strategy of it coming on late-race is what kept him out of reach.”

Adding to his weekend, Baird was notified he’d been awarded the prestigious Jim Clark Trophy at the MotorSport New Zealand’s premier awards on Saturday evening.

“That was great news and is a very special award for any driver to have hold.  So to me, to win it for the second successive year, makes it a very rewarding weekend – it’s just a shame I could be in New Zealand to uplift it.  But it’s also a tribute to my team – the Triple X Motorsport guys, here with me, and the rest back home for our Porsche title.  Plus the United Video PSR Racing team, including my father-in-law Gary Pedersen – who helped me to that V8 title.”

Returning to his Queensland home for a few weeks, Baird will reunite with his Triple X Motorsport team in China mid-June for round’s five and six, being raced at the Zhuhai International Circuit (18 – 20 June).

Cocktails, fashion and oysters

Cocktails will be flowing on Friday night as we kick off the weekend with a Fashion Extravaganza.

The Ascot Park Hotel will be showcasing an event of the latest trends from local boutiques.

To keep the cocktails flowing we can count on VnC Cocktails who are supporting the event.

As we sip away on our cocktails and oogle over the fashion we can feel good that it’s for a great cause.

The occasion is a fundraiser for the Conductive Education Southland.

http://craiglawson.net/2010/05/19/cocktails-fashion-and-oysters-this-is-how-southland-does-fashion-darlings/

VnC Featured in the latest IWSR

NATURAL FUN WITH A TWIST

Distil, London

VnC Cocktails shoook up a storm at Distil, the world’s dedicated spirits trade exhibition held at ExCeL in London from the 18th – 20th of May.