Capacity field for SI Endurance opener at Teretonga

Capacity field for SI Endurance opener at Teretonga this weekend

This Saturday 10th September will see a bumper field journey South to Teretonga Park, Invercargill for the opening round of the three round Carters Tyres One Hour Race Series. Run alongside the Carters Tyres South Island Endurance Series, the 2016 Series is also a qualifying series for the New Zealand One Hour Endurance Championship where the top 20 cars in the Carters Tyres One Hour Series get invited to the New Zealand Endurance Championship event that will be held at Ruapuna Park in March 2017.

Once again the One hour Series is a real mixed bag with a big number of new cars for 2016. This, along with seasoned campaigners making modifications & upgrades, means that Series organizers can promise that fans will again witness some outstanding racing. Entries are wildly varied and range from near new Porsche & Ferrari race cars, through to little Toyota’s & Honda’s that are more commonly seen at the local supermarkets. So no matter if you’re a fan of V8’s, turbo's, rotary’s, 2wd, 4wd, big, small, Japanese or European cars you will definitely be able to cheer on a favorite!

The driver line-up is equally as varied as the cars, with drivers ranging from young guns to old heads and the Series is also thrilled that female drivers are represented with both Sue McLaughlin (Porsche 997 GT3) and Vicki Curzon (Holden NZ6 Commodore) lining up in a race that will see drivers ranging from novice level to highly experienced.

The glamorous GT class is likely to be where both the race and outright series battle will be, and pre series favourite will be current New Zealand 1hr Endurance Champion Hugh ‘Ace’ Gardiner in his Porsche 997 GT3 who will take on the latest spec Porsche 991s of Danny Whiting and Russell McKenzie as well as the Ferrari 458 of Tim O’Connor. This class will also feature Porsche 997 GT3’s for Jarrod Owens and Sue McLaughlin, and a Porsche 997 Cup S for Steve Parker & Matt Jackson. However, watch out for the thumping Falcon V8 SuperTourer of Grant Williams & Brent Buist and although downplaying their chances the V8 muscle could well take it to the precision Euro’s for both GT class & overall honors.

It is likely that last season’s Class 1 Champion Brian Scott, who has now supercharged his immaculate Corvette C5, will again be the one to beat in Class 1 (3501cc +) however he will be in for some stiff competition from the super-quick Toyota AE86 V8 of Dunedin’s Chris Henderson. However a couple of dark horses could be the newer Corvette C6R of Bruce Davidson who is stepping back from the 3hr to the 1hr for 2016 or the older Porsche 996 GT3, now reclassified into Class 1, of Noel Simons & Roger Townshend. Class 1 also sees the classic V8 v. Turbo battle and leading the turbo brigade will be 2015 class 1 runner up Johnny Waldron, who will debut a new Skyline R32 GT-R chassis this season, along with young guns Johnny & Chris Small also in an R32 GT-R. Add to the Class 1 mix a couple of Rotary Turbo RX7’s for Lee Rhodes and Ben Coffin and also a supercharged C32 AMG of Formula Ford pilots James Dicey & Steve Heffernan, plus Commodores for Kieran Roberts and Derek & Vicki Curzon, who could easily take class honors through reliability if not outright speed.

The competition will be as fiercely fought throughout every class in the Series and Class 2 (2001cc-3500cc) is no different. Class speedsters are likely to include the AE86 Turbo of Pat & Ryan Heagney as well as the Starlet Turbo of Michael & Rodney Parkes. Class 2 also has a hoard of the supercharged Mini Challenge cars for Matt O’Donnell & Kieran Grace, Graham & Lee McDermid, Steve Grant and Stewart Callaway while BMW is represented by Warren Good, Andrew Wright and Adam Glass. Other cars in Class 2 range from the 2.4 Integra of James Mitchell to the giant killing Pro 7 RX7 of Russell Burgess and the Neil Allport Motorsport prepared WRX of Nick Archiblad & Warren Leach who will be praying for some Teretonga rain.

Class 3 (0-2000cc) also has an incredibly strong field of entries and picking a favourite here is impossible. Contenders include current 0-2000cc New Zealand 1hr Champion Daniel Cropp (Civic), as well as Stu Black (Starlet), Bradley Dawson (AE86), Jeremy Dawson (Starlet) Sam Bushell (Starlet) and Gary Ponting (Civic). Newcomers who could possibly upset the establishment include the Lotus Exige of Mark Meadows and the immaculate DX Corolla of series rookie Dan Yeoman, and also look out for seasoned campaigner and 2015 class champion Grant Aitken (Toyota 86) and entries in this class are wildly varied, and also include Ian Wooster (MX5) Geoff Clear (Suzuki Swift), and the 2K Cup spec Toyota Trueno of Vaughan Moloney.

After next weekend’s opening round, the Carters Tyres One Hour Race Series then heads to Mike Pero Ruapuna, Christchurch on October 1st before the grand finale at Levels Raceway, Timaru on 15th October. The Carters Tyres One Hour Race Series is seen as a fun and affordable way to enter endurance racing but still experience the thrill & strategy of the old fashioned tortoise and the hare battles that endurance racing is renowned for.

Thanks to Series sponsor Carters Tyres Service as well as class sponsors Allied 24/7/Fuel the Series will again have a significant prizemoney pool that will be paid out across the One Hour classes, as well as major spot prizes that can be won by either 1hr or 3hr competitors.

Both qualifying and the race are on Saturday 10th September, with the 1hr race expected to start around 11:30am, followed by the 3hr race. For more information on the South Island Endurance Series, entries, or to be added to the Club’s e-mailing list, please contact Chris Dunn via e-mail at sierdc@xtra.co.nz ph 021-107-9293. Club information can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/sierdcnz, for more information on the series sponsor Carters Tyre Service, please visitwww.carterstyres.co.nz

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