Gurr: Everything just seemed to be against us.

IRWIN Racing's Alan Gurr got his first and last taste of racing a V8 Supercar at Pukekohe Park Raceway south of Auckland over the weekend.

On a weekend that included technical problems, fines and his race engineer being taken to hospital, Gurr was happy to bring home a straight race car.

His first ever practice session at Pukekohe was hampered on Friday when race engineer Greg Foletta was struck down with gastro problems and spent the day at Auckland Hospital.

Lead technicians Kevin Carney and Gerard McLeod took up the engineering duties under the supervision of Fujitsu Racing chief engineer Geoff Slater.

Foletta returned for Saturday and Sunday, but the disruption saw Gurr qualify in 29th position for the opening race. Gurr was forced to the pits early with a throttle problem. Despite completing the race, he was not classified as he didn't complete the minimum number of laps.

In race #2 the IRWIN Racing Falcon had an engine box fire on the start line, which hampered his early going. Gurr did recover to finish in 24th position. However, he was judged to have not re-entered pitlane correctly during his compulsory tyre stop and was fined $1000.

In the final race of the weekend he narrowly avoided a massive crash involving Brad Jones and Paul Morris. Morris ended up on his roof, but was not injured. Gurr finished the final race also in 24th position.

"Considering all the dramas it was good to have a car without a scratch," said Gurr. "It was a very challenging weekend. I had not been to the track before and it seemed from the outset everything was against us.

"Friday was difficult without having Greg. The others stepped up, but in this game you can't afford to slip behind at any time. The races themselves didn't go our way, but after avoiding the big accident with Jones and Morris, I felt that we finally had some luck.

"I know that I won't have to race a Supercar here again. Next year we are off to the streets of Hamilton and for me that's good news."

Another to close the 2007 Pukekohe book is race engineer Foletta: "A long way to come to get sick and not have a good weekend on the track," he noted. "It's disappointing, but you have these types of weekends in this game.

"We can look forward to the next round at Winton. We are planning a test before the event and that is sure to be beneficial. "Importantly it's a track that our team knows very well. It is also a bonus for Alan and I, as we will go there in the full knowledge of what we should expect. I plan on having an iron stomach for that one!"