Waikato Warriors Face Off At Hampton Downs

In this weekend’s Ferodo NZV8 Utes racing at Hampton Downs, several prominent Waikato racers are set for an epic battle. Coming into Round Two of the series, Hamilton’s Brad Kroef currently sits 2nd with Cambridge’s Phill Ross in 4th; each assisted by local crews and sponsored by a raft of prominent home-grown businesses.

Current V8 Utes champion Glen Collinson, also from Hamilton, sits 3rd in the series despite suffering a gearbox failure last round. However, a family commitment prevents his attendance this weekend. Yet with several talented newcomers joining the series and 2023 enduro-winner Stu Montieth returning from Europe, there’ll be plenty of pressure up front.

Rookie and former karting champion Mitch Sparrow, while just 19 years old, made quite an impression in his first outing last month at Manfeild in his Holden ute. Qualifying 2nd fastest then backing that up with 3rd and 4th place race finishes, he’s an exciting new talent to watch. Morrinsville’s Jeremy Hunt is steadily rising up the ranks in his Holden VE ute. Newcomer Cam Vernon racing a Ford FG Ute achieved a 2nd placing in just his second round in the utes. After setting the lap record in Timaru last season, Blair Gribble-Bowring has stepped up to a Ford FG and is ready to challenge the leaders. With the round supported by performance brakes supplier Ferodo, stopping these 1800kg 400-horsepower utes won’t be an issue.

Something quite refreshing about V8 Utes is how new talents can compete - and win - against seasoned racers, thanks to strict limitations on technical specs such as power & weight. So it’s a battle of raw skills and big egos, rather than big budgets, making it one of the purest motor racing categories. And since there are only Ford and Holden utes competing, V8 Utes keep alive the tribal Ford vs Holden rivalry that has been a mainstay of motorsport on both sides of the Tasman for decades.

The ‘Omnigraphics Waikato Challenge’ event, hosted by motorsport promoter and NZ grand prix organizer NZIGP, has a comprehensive line-up of categories - from supercarts & Mazda rotaries, to BMWs and big V8s to keep race fans on their toes. Well worth the earlybird $15 weekend admission price. Test sessions on Friday 21st will allow drivers to fine tune their utes and sharpen their reflexes. Saturday’s program starts at 8.30am, while for the Ferodo NZV8 Utes, Qualifying will be mid-morning then Race One Saturday afternoon. There’ll be a 10-lap reverse-grid Race Two on Sunday morning with the final race, again 10-laps, mid Sunday afternoon.

© Scoop Media