The VIP Petfoods team fought against difficult conditions to top a Porsche-full podium in the 9-1/2-hour endurance race at Hampton Downs last weekend.

The race was originally scheduled to be 12-hours in duration but lost almost a fifth of its time after thick early-morning fog covered the 2.8km North Island circuit.

When the event finally got underway at 9.30am, two and a half hours after the scheduled start time, Australians Klark and Tony Quinn and New Zealander Stefan Webling dominated the race from the outset in the VIP Petfoods 997 RSR.

The trans-Tasman trio qualified on pole position and led all but three of the 471 laps. When Tony Quinn crossed the finish line at 7pm, he had a 29-lap lead over the second-placed 997 GT3 of Australians Malcolm and Brett Niall and Clint Harvey.

Completing the trifecta for the German manufacturer were New Zealanders Denis Roderick, David Glasson and Aaron Harris in their 996 TT. (more…)

Turners Auctions upcoming prestige auction takes place this Saturday (11 September) and crossing the block are some interesting machines including a 2005 Dodge Ram SRT-10 Viper.

The Ram ute comes with a colour coded hard lid and towbar fitted. Unfortunately the vehicle has never been registered and or complied for NZ roads, it’s in Left Hand Drive and there’s no import paper trial for this vehicle.

The rest of the auction is about European prestige and features two Rolls Royce Phantoms, three Porsche Carreras, and a host of rare luxury vehicles, Turners is describing the catalogue as their most prestigious yet.

The centrepiece of the auction catalogue is a 2003 Rolls Royce Phantom; bought brand new in 2003 for $1,000,000 this car is one of only three in New Zealand and is estimated to sell for upwards of $300,000.

“We’re pretty stunned with the prestige collection we have up for auction this time around, and the 2003 Rolls Royce Phantom is the pinnacle of every luxury car-lover’s aspirations. We expect interest in this car to be extremely high, both here and overseas,” says Graham Roberts, Chief Executive at Turners Auctions.

The other Rolls Royce Phantom going under the hammer is a classic 1967 model, which was once one of the Lord Mayor of London’s official town cars. This stunning piece of motoring history is a collector’s dream, and is expected to fetch between $75,000 and $100,000 under the hammer.

Another highly iconic entry up for grabs is the 1971 Mercedes-Benz 600 Landaulet. A vehicle of choice with the much-loved playboy Hugh Hefner, this example was originally built as a hardtop, but was subsequently converted to the rarer soft-top ‘Landaulet’ model at great expense by a very determined owner.

Another star on offer is a very rare 1989 Lamborghini LM002. One of only 25 in the world, this 5.2L V12 beast was designed and built for the Italian Army and would be perfect for anyone who wants to make a statement. The car has been through a leg of the Thailand Gumball 3,000 with a disused AK47 mounted on its back, a throwback to its unsuccessful military career.

(more…)

In-car at Tsukuba Circuit, Japan

1969 Tran American Road Racing Series promotional film

Compilation of crashed exotic cars

From a Lamborghini Gallardo to a Brabus Mercedes, Lotus Exige and Porsche 911, if you’re trying to get away from the police, you wouldn’t want one of these on your tail

Yesterday marked the first day of official racing out at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. While the facility is unfinished as yet, the 2.8km-long circuit (which will expand later next year) is fully operational for racing purposes.

If you’ve never seen the track, or are planning a trip to the track soon, then check this cheeky little insider video of what line to run on the track by ex-A1GP New Zealand and Porsche GT3 driver, Jonny Reid. It’s a great way to learn the lines if you’re planning a trip there soon, or just a great way to take a look at what is New Zealand’s premier motorsport track.

Check out the video below.

The ASKO Appliances South Island Endurance Three hour Series moves into its second round at Levels Raceway, Timaru this weekend with both the race and the series wide open. This weekend will also be the first round of the Two round One Hour series.

The two pace setters from the 3hr Series’ opening Teretonga round both step up a gear for Round Two with the Teretonga winning Carter/Carter BA Super Supercar receiving a fresh 6 litre V8 engine from SBR in Australia whilst the Porsche GT3 RSR of Scott O’Donnell is joined by gun South Island driver Andy Neale as co-pilot for the Levels round. These two cars are closely matched for pace with less than a minute separating these two cars at the end of the Teretonga race. Although the tighter & twistier Levels circuit is more likely to suit the Porsche, as everyone knows with Endurance Racing so much can happen and it is impossible to rule out anyone as a potential podium finisher.

With all the Turbo cars suffering major issues at Teretonga, the V8 brigade really showed their reliability and the Teretonga 3rd placegetters & class 1 leading Davidson/Garden C5 Corvette will be again looking for a podium finish. However they will again have the 427ci v8 powered XR8 Ute of Scarfe/Black and the Wade Henshaw fettled Wadsworth/Croft VY Commodore V8 breathing down their necks.¨¨The turbo cars will certainly be looking for some revenge at Levels with the Swaney/McDermid Supra powered Corolla car getting a fresh engine after being forced to run low boost at Teretonga and Cliff/Knighton are also back with the 911 4WD Porsche after falling foul of a blown turbo with 4 minutes to run at Teretonga.

Levels will also see the first rotary’s join the 2009 season with Tracy Mann’s RX7 which will be co-driven by classic competitor Bruce Tinnelly going up against the Rotary RX3 of Dean McGuigan/Pavlos van Aalst.

After this weekends round, the ASKO Appliances SI Endurance Series moves to its Grand Finale at Powerbuilt Ruapuna Saturday 31st October 2009. The overall 3hr series champion will be awarded the ‘South Canterbury Toyota Cup’, plus the Club has been donated an original watercolor painting by High Country artist Norman Sinclair valued at approx. $10,000-00 which will be given away as a spot prize. The overall One Hour series champion will receive the new SIERDC 1 Hour Champions trophy and the Club also gives away prizes and prizemoney throughout the five classes being McFarlane Group Developments Class 4 (0-1600cc), Burnside Contractors Class 3 (1601-2000cc), Hagley Building Products Class 2 (2001-3500cc), Southern Finance Class 1 (3501cc and over) and the new ASKO Appliances GT class.

Entries are still available for both the Three Hour and One Hour Series’, and for information on the South Island Endurance Series, entries, or to be added to the SIERDC e-mailing list, please contact Series Secretary Chris Dunn via e-mail at sierdc@xtra.co.nz or ph 021-107-9293.

Photo Credit: SouthSpeed

It’s been just over a year since Cadillac took the honour of fastest production four-door car when John Heinricy circulated the Nürburgring’s north loop with a CTS-V in under eight minutes. Now, Porsche has outrun the supercaddie CTS-V.

After the recent unleashing of the Porsche Panamera, it was only a matter of time before one the Porsche test drivers brought the crown back to Germany. The 500-horsepower Panamera Turbo lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes, 56 seconds, 3 seconds faster than the Cadillac.

When Heinricy set his 7:59 time last year, it was done in an automatic CTS-V in a single hot lap at the end of a test session. It’s possible that Heinricy or perhaps one of the Corvette C6.R drivers will head back to the Eiffel mountains for another go at the record.

Lamborghini, Ferrari, Pagani, Koenigsegg, Porsche and Aston Martin. Take a look at each one – we’ve linked the names to their sites. They love America because America makes crap supercars. OK, it’s got the Corvette and the Viper (the ACR is apparently really good). And it had the Ford GT. Umm, well that’s about it. Everything else is a thinly disguised race car (Saleen S7, Mosler MT900). The Brits, Germans and Italians have the market pretty much sewn up. Yes, we know Aston Martin is owned by Ford, but it started in England, so that doesn’t count.

So along comes Saleen with its S5S Raptor concept, which debuted at this year’s New York Motor Show. That’s an American company debuting a well conceived supercar on American soil! Wow!

Not only that, but Chris Theodore, the man behind the Ford GT, is now the Vice Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of Saleen. Cunning.

Saleen is the largest independent automotive design facility in the world, according to Theodore, and Saleen wants a part of the sweet spot in the supercar market to cement the brand as America’s answer to European supercar dominance.

The mid-engined Raptor sports a 650hp 5-litre V8 – a modification of the 620hp one it puts in its Extreme Mustang.

Theodore has said recently that if Saleen decides to put it in production it will be beyond 2009. Based on the positive publicity it generated at launch, we’d be surprised if its consigned to the annals of one-off supercar concepts. Watch this space.

A green car for the Green Hell, Gumpert will be entering an electric-petrol hybrid race car into the next 24 Hours Nurburgring this May. The race car is based on the Gumpert Apollo and will be piloted by ex-Formula 1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Dirk Muller.

The Hybrid Apollo uses both an 100 kW electric motor and a 3.3 litre V8 bi-turbo petrol engine and produces 630 hp. The electric motor will be recharged when the car brakes. On its maiden race, the hybrid-concept will be taking on race cars like the Porsche 911 GT3, Dodge Viper, Lamborghini Gallardo, BMW Z4 and Chevrolet Corvette.

Gumpert is fully aware of the 2009 Formula 1 rule that teams must use hybrid engines and has therefor formed a team around the former F1 driver Frentzen. “Motorsports can not ignore the necessity to save energy. I see a chance that our sport will go back to the forefront of technical development, making cars outside of the ractrack much more energy efficient,” said Frentzen.

The 24 Hours Nurburgring will take place on 24 – 25 May 2008.