The NZ Sportscar series is looking ahead to a bigger and better racing season with the NZRDL as more of the spectacular mini-prototypes join a growing field.

Several new cars are in the pipeline to race at some point during the season and a further number should rejoin the series after time out from racing. Organiser Dean McCarroll says the class is gathering pace all of the time.

“We expect to see a few more Hayabusa powered cars on the track this season and the return of a couple of cars mid-season,” he explained. “We could also possibly have a car from the South Island for the MG Classic round (a Radical SR3). Craig Sawyer has also rejoined us with his Beattie 2000 and will be running in selected rounds. It is also possible that a Formula Suzuki will join us for the season with Kev Addington driving.

“Several Juno drivers will be out there looking for top honours including  Bryan McConkey, John Ryall, Allen Barker at the AKL events and myself with a possible appearance from Iain Slight at some stage. Mark Galvin will be a force to be reckoned with in his home built and extremely powerful Hayabusa Turbo DeltaFX.  We hope to see more of Russell Burling in his highly modified and very quick Lotus.
“Mike Limbrick has been busy preparing his Mallock U2 for a run this season. Johnny Mines will be out there in his self built JRM and Robert Hulme will also contest this season in his Nemesis. All in all, it should be a very competitive session and we all look forward to some good racing, whilst not losing sight of the fact that the name of the game is to enjoy ourselves.”

One of the most interesting cars in the field this year will be Gerard Barker’s new Reynard Inverter – a car designed for entry level sportscar racing by the world renowned former Indycar and F1 designer Adrian Reynard. The chassis purchased by Barker was Reynard’s own and will run in the same Gulf livery that it ran with in the UK.

The car has a high degree of both sophistication and simplicity, which reflects the designer’s experience in motor racing at the highest levels as well as serving the needs of club racing. The body generates high levels of downforce, hence the name of the car, Inverter, reflecting the notion that the car could be driven on an inverted surface at speed.

Water jet cutting, CNC tube bending and plasma cutting have ensured economical and accurate construction. This car was the second built by Reynard and was successfully raced by him during the past three seasons in the Bikesports Championship against Radical and Spire sports cars.

It has carbon fibre bodywork, magnesium wheels, Farringdon steering wheel, Tillett seats and a Geartronics paddle shifter. The engine is a Suzuki Hayabusa ,which is coupled to a Radical chain drive differential. An unusual feature of the Inverter is the stainless steel chassis and aluminium honeycomb panels for bracing. Safety has been addressed with an electrically operated plumbed fire extinguisher system and side impact panels which are bonded to the aluminium honeycomb panels. Vinyl wrap has been used instead of paint as a measure to minimize the weight of the car at a remarkable 500kg.

 

Prowear NZ Superlap Series makes super strides

The Prowear NZ Superlap Series is gearing up for its biggest season yet, with confirmed dates and revised regulations that make it possible for circuit racers, track day warriors and even your daily driver to take part in the ‘driver vs. the clock’ series.

For the 2019 – 2020 Season, NZ Superlap Series competitors will be given FREE membership to the MSNZ-affiliated Historic Racing Club and will not require an MSNZ competition licence. In addition competitors will not be required to have an MSNZ logbook for their vehicles if they have a road registration and a current warrant.

 

Up for grabs are trophies and giveaways for the fastest podium finishers in each class, as well as all drivers competing for the series trophies that will be given away at the end of the 2014-2015 series.

“Anyone interested in racing themselves against the clock can be part of our series, whether they own a street car, a track car or a purpose built race car,” said series coordinator Kerry Perfk. “For the uninitiated, this is a competition where skill is first and foremost and the cars only compete against the clock. It’s demanding, but a lot of fun and we have a great community which is on an even keel and looking to grow significantly over the next couple of years. It’s great that the HRC have stepped in to embrace our current and future members, we have the dates and the regulations and are looking forward to a big season.”

“We’re excited to see all the epic cars hitting the track once again when the series starts in September. Lock the dates into your calendar and we’ll see you on track for the Prowear NZ Superlap Series.”

Further information on taking part in the series is available by contacting kaz@4androtary.co.nz

 

The NZRDL has confirmed dates available for race classes next season and it hopes to build on its first season with additional grids.

The NZRDL allows any category to run at its events subject to the availability of space in the programme. Some categories run all NZRDL events and others just use the dates to supplement existing core dates in their series calendars. Entry fees are amongst the lowest for the sport in New Zealand at $350.00 for the weekend plus MSNZ fees  and the League will not increase its prices for the coming season. The option for categories to buy a grid also remains.

 

Friday testing will be available to drivers at all of the two day NZRDL meetings planned for the forthcoming season.

“The League is all about working together as a sport and for drivers and friends to have a great weekend at the race track at an affordable cost. We are talking to a number of categories who want to run at one or more of our events, and would encourage any category looking for a date or dates to talk to us.

 

 

The third New Zealand Racing Drivers League event made its maiden voyage to the Manfeild Circuit in Fielding. Despite it’s relatively isolated location, many Auckland drivers and teams made the six hour trip down for three days of excellent racing, writes Simon Chapman.

The Rotary Racing Enthusiasts were the headline act for the meeting dubbed the ‘Rotary Revival.’ The Rotary field would be restricted to just five cars after late cancellations and a couple of cars sustained mechanical issues early on in the weekend. Arie Brooks and Simon Hetterscheid struck problems early on, both unable to finish the first race. Tony Bowman dominated proceedings in his extremely light rotary powered sports car, winning the first and second races by nearly forty seconds, and only just getting piped at the post by Stephan Dyke in his Mazda Cosmo in the final race of the weekend. Stephen Armstrong finished well in the first two races finishing

second and third respectively, but struck gremlins later on, unable to contest the final race of the weekend.

The Motul Honda Cup series fielded one of the largest grids, with twenty four cars in total. This was the first time the series had been to Manfeild since 2012, so many made the trip to the circuit which is the favourite of many. Regular front runners Shane Parsons and Richard Gee continued to dominate qualifying, going second and third respectively. South Islander Daniel Cropp was the surprise contender, qualifying third in his EG Civic. David Miller impressed going fifth overall, this was his first time at the circuit.

In the early stages of the first race, an incident at the turn five hairpin had left William Yu and several other competitors taking evasive action, trying to avoid a slowing car. Shane Parsons had battled gremlins in the recent rounds, and would find himself in trouble again and making the three hour trip to Tauranga to fix his CRX, bringing it back to race the following morning.

Richard Gee would take the opening race of the weekend in Honda Cup, ahead of series leader Martin Dunn, and Parsons. Gee, Dunn, and Parsons would jostle for position in the next two races, Parsons taking the win in the second race over Dunn by two seconds, Gee only just missing out on second position.

Garry Morrell’s weekend would come to an end halfway through race two when the engine in his DC2 Integra blew up in spectacular fashion sending smoke down the length of the front straight. Daniel Cropp who had previously shown pace in qualifying was unable to capitalize on his speed in the first two races, but came back to win in the final race of the weekend.

The crowd-pleasing 2KCUP series fielded a slightly depleted field than usual, with twenty seven street legal cars taking to the Manfeild circuit. With points tight at the top, finishing was just as important as winning. Tyson Jemmett went into the fourth round as the overall leader, but a DNF in race one effectively put him out of the run for the championship. Tyson, later decided not to contest the remainder of the season deciding instead wanting to focus on other motor racing ventures.

Paul Dunkley made the most of Tyson Jemmett’s misfortune, taking third place in race one, and second place in race two, taking the lead from Jemmett in the points. The same could be said for James Watson, who finished third and fourth in the two races respectively, further extending the battle for the lead in the points. In 1.6KCUP, Kent Dalziell extended his lead in the championship after the no.44 car failed to show for the racing.

The Custom Tee’s NZ Superlap series was again an all import affair with the Mitsubishi the obvious choice of machinery for competitors, with Scott Kreyl, Kat Benson, and Jaxon Sharp all competing in Mitsubishi Evolution’s. The event also featured one heavily modified Nissan Skyline r32 and a street sleeper EG Civic. The obvious favourite was Scott Kreyl in his Hell Racing Team Revolution Mitsubishi Evo. The car, which has been through various guises, once again struck mechanical issues as it had done in the previous round. Most of practice was spent getting the car to the point where it could run consistent laps. Fortunately, the team managed to get the car out for the final run, and taking the win setting a 1:10.988. Kreyl also won the Dial Your Own contest, coming within just 0.09 of his nominated time.

The New Zealand Superkart series had the most track time of all the classes, with a total eleven sessions over the weekend being held. The Superkarts as always proved to be an exciting class to watch, with just over twenty karts pilling into the first corner four times over the weekend. Andrew Hall proved to be the dominant driver over the weekend winning all but one race, only losing to Tony Gestro in the third race. Gestro and Hall battled it out, and were neck and neck throughout the majority of the races, but were notably closer in the final. Gestro and Hall were clearly the fastest of the field, managing to lap the entire field in the third race.

The New Zealand Sports Car series had a new runner in the form of three time New Zealand Grand Prix champion Nick Cassidy running in a Juno. Cassidy dominated proceedings taking three of the four race wins ahead of the speedy Dean McCarroll. Cassidy’s pace was evident throughout the weekend, often running two seconds faster a lap than the second places McCarroll.

The New Zealand Drivers Racing League heads north to Ricoh Taupo Motorsport Park for their fourth event which hosts the Motul Honda Cup, Rotary Racing Enthusiasts, 2KCUP, Superkarts, New Zealand Sports Car series, and Custom Shirts NZ Superlap

 

Round four of the Motul Honda Cup will feature most of the fastest cars ever to run in the series and a 20 lap feature race around the Hampton Downs track.

Shane Parsons manic CRX, reigning champion Mark Walters K20 Repco Integra, Martin Dunn’s K24 propelled Integra, Tim ‘Motul’ Pollard’s ex Japanese Production Racing Series car, Rob Sutherland in his awesome K20 powered DC2 Integra and Richard Gee’s black Civic EK will all line up for the weekend on February 15 and 16. Gary Wilson will also have the country’s fastest 1.6 powered machine – his screaming Surtees Trailers EG Civic and Rik Wakelin is another runner in his NZ Hondas 1.8 powered EG.

The fast group are also likely to be joined on pace by Jamie Wiggins and Brent Hay in their DC2s, both of which showed prodigious speed at Round 3 at Taupo in January.

Race lap times of sub 1.14 are expected by all of the major runners, and if conditions are right, the fastest cars may dip into the 1.11s or faster – putting them very close to the pace of the old NZV8 cars.

“It’s shaping up to be an awesome field at the front and it’s a weekend you should really be racing at if you are a Honda competitor,” said series director Alan Stewart. “There will be plenty of testing on the Saturday, and we will have a Saturday evening qualifying session before we do three races on Sunday, the last of which will be our 20 lap feature race. In terms of mileage vs entry fee (Around $230) – that’s great news for the Honda Cup racers and the VTEC fans should be in their element too.”

The meeting will also include the awesome Autosure Central Muscle Cars, the popular 2K Cup, the NZ Sportscars, the Custom Shirts NZ Superlap series and the Rotary Race Enthusiasts.

 

This weekend’s first New Zealand Racing Drivers’ League race meeting is set to be an epic, with huge grids and a top entry list from the feature class of the weekend at Hampton Downs – the BNT V8 SuperTourers.

 The SuperTourers are racing the first round of their endurance series and the teams have put together a stellar list of drivers. Greg Murphy, Chas Mostert, Alex Davison, Tim Slade, Shane Van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin, Jonathan Webb, Jonny Reid, Simon Evans, Ant Pedersen, Lee Holdsworth are just some of the names on the SuperTourer entry and the fans have three mini enduro races complete with driver changes to look forward to.

Packed grids of support classes are also a feature of the first NZRDL meeting – with a full grid of 46 2K Cup cars, 26 Motul Honda Cup vtecs and 17 rotaries from new category RRE sure to provide a huge amount of racing action. The V8-powered Cogent Challenge Cup cars are also on the weekend bill, as is a small but interesting combined field of Formula Ford and Formula Libre cars.

Practice and racing for the support categories, and testing and practice for the SuperTourers, takes place on Saturday with Sunday all about the racing with non-stop action from 8.30am onwards.

You can follow the action by downloading the Race Monitor app for your smart phone, pad or lap top and keep your eyes on the SuperTourer facebook site and the NZRDL facebook site for regular updates during the weekend.

Don’t forget, you can get your tickets on the gate on either day.