With Easter fast approaching, the Classic Cover 2013 NZHRA Street Rod Nationals are only 7 weeks away! To date there are over 200 nationwide entrants, with strong showings from; Christchurch, Invercargill, Kaikoura, Blenheim Balclutha, Wellington and Palmerston North.

The events progress is coming along terrifically, with everything booked, lots of boxes ticked and abundant activities arranged to ensure each entrant and attendee has a fantastic time. All event and safety plans are completed, including attending to curve ball issues, such as the increased fire risk from the recent warm weather. The Taupo Rod and Custom Club have back up plans in place to cope with whatever weather the Easter break brings.

Buses will be available to take entrants to visit Taupo’s fantastic attractions, with discounts available to some. We encourage everyone to walk the streets of central Taupo, enjoy the shops, cafes and our sponsors establishments, including the Taupo Cosmopolitan Club, Lone Star, Finn MacCuhal‘s Irish Bar, The Shed and The Merchant of Taupo.

As it is the 40th anniversary of the Street Rod Nationals Taupo Rod and Custom Club have decided to have a cake to celebrate the occasion. A special guest (still to be announced) will perform the cake cutting duties. In addition movies of past events and photos will be on display.

The Show and Shine takes place on the Saturday. The Recliner Rockers will be playing with displays from our local drag racers and invited guests. Food caravans will be available, including the famous Mussel Madness caravan. Rocker Cover Racing will be held as well. A special competition will take place on the Saturday for all entrants. Five winners from this competition will get the chance to win their entry money back, further details to follow. That night there will also be a band playing at the evening function for all entrants.

The Hot Rod Olympics takes place on the Sunday and as always, is a must see. Taupo Rod and Custom Club have secured an ideal venue for the Hot Rod Olympics with great grass cover.

After the Hot Rod Olympics all entrants will be able to enjoy the Classic Cover 2013 NZHRA Street Rod Nationals Dinner and Prize Giving. The theme for the evening is ‘Best 50’s Look’. There will be prizes available for; best pony tail, best duck tail, best baby in leather, and a rocker fashion competition along with a band playing the night away.

NZHRA and the Taupo Rod and Custom Club would like to thank the sponsors of the Classic Cover 2013 NZHRA Street Rod Nationals for their support. There are a large number of sponsors supporting the event including local business who are providing discounts for our entrants. Very special thanks must be given to the main sponsors;

• Classic Cover Insurance – www.classiccover.co.nz (naming rights sponsor)
• Century Yuasa – www.cyb.co.nz (Gold Sponsor)
• Taupo District Council – www.greatlaketaupo.com (Gold Sponsor)

As NZHRA is a not for profit incorporated society, we rely on financial support to assist in putting these great events on for the Rodding community and appreciate all support provided.

There is only 28 days left till close off for entrants, so make sure you fill out an entry form today. Visit www.hotrod.org.nz/events to complete your entry form and to see a full itinerary. The Taupo Rod and Custom Club will turn it on and rev it up for everyone who enters and attends, so make sure you put the Classic Cover 2013 NZHRA Street Rod Nationals in your diary.

For more information please contact
Rhian Hodgetts
NZHRA Marketing and Sales Officer
rhian@hotrod.org.nz
07 5157606

With a host of new changes planned for the upcoming season at Taupo Thunder Dragway and the Summer season starting to roll in work could begin in earnest on the myriad of jobs to be completed before the season kicks off in late December.
The first official working bee proved hugely successful even if the weather didn’t exactly come to the party. Through driving rain Saturday the huge grandstand previously situated at the back of the Taupo Motorsport Park Venue was systematically dismantled into six huge pieces by the willing bunch of volunteers who turned up and battled the rain and enormous task ahead of them. With shear manpower the Grandstand was lifted onto a trailer and each piece driven around the circuit to its new home a few hundred feet out from the startline on the Broadlands Road side. Along with the huge new addition a smaller grandstand was erected on the pit side just behind the startline. More grandstands will be installed at a later date to create a better viewing experience for everyone involved. With rubber peeling from the concrete part of the race surface a well overdue scrape was performed, an arduous task taking the best part of both days but ultimately providing the best base possible for the Yanks when they arrive here for the Nitro Nostalgia Reunion on the December 29.
With the new scoreboards having now arrived and a few other upgrades and improvements planned the venue is set for a whole new look come summer as a new era begins at the venue, set to provide the ultimate race experience for everyone. For all the info on what is planned this summer head on over to www.taupodrags.co.nz.

Wellington’s only V8 SuperTourer team – M2 Motorsport – will be ready to go at the forthcoming Father’s Day 400 at Taupo and number one driver Simon McLennan is revved up and prepared to take on the country’s very best drivers in the endurance rounds of the category’s first full season.

The build of the Holden Commodore V8 SuperTourer car – at the barn next to the family home – is progressing well under the guidance of father Colin McLennan and the team is also well advanced in terms of extending the M2 Motorsport team originally set up to run cars in the BMW Mini Challenge. Several mechanics from the team’s time during its Porsche campaigns will be retained, and there are also new recruits coming on board.

McLennan is an acknowledged top performer in the globally-used GT3 Porsche 996 and 997 Cup cars and in a recent trip to Mount Panorama in Scott O’Donnell’s 997 GT3 Cup car finished fifth overall and second in GTB, beaten only by Steve Johnson, Steve Richards and Nathan Tinkler.

He also won the Pukekohe 6 Hour race in the 996 GT3 Cup car with Craig Innes and has competed in two Bathurst 12 Hour events.

He hopes to be able to transfer many of the skills he has learned in endurance racing and the Porsche series into the V8 SuperTourer car but acknowledges the challenge of joining the championship with the majority of the teams already established and fine tuning set-ups is a significant one.

“I hope the Porsche experiences do help though I have never driven a V8 and never driven a race car that’s a right hand drive either,” said Simon. “So if there are similarities I will be holding on to them tightly and anything that I can transfer from the Porsche to the V8ST will be helpful. However, I am prepared to learn as much as I need to and I know there will be plenty to learn.

“Having said that I do enjoy longer style races so will be happy whether that is longer sprint distances or endurance events. I find the endurance events really bring the team together and I think that is important in racing.

“The sprint races in V8ST are a step up in race length from what I am used to so I am looking forward to that too. Honestly, I am just very excited to join the series in the endurance rounds and we are quietly confident we can make our mark. Both the team and I are more pumped than we have ever been prior to joining a racing series and we’re just itching to get out there and be part of it all.”

TAUPO REVVED UP FOR FATHER’S DAY 400

Unique format is brand new to New Zealand motorsport

The forthcoming FATHER’S DAY 400 at Taupo on the 1st and 2nd of September is set to break new ground in New Zealand with a unique qualifying format and back-to-back races on the Sunday, both featuring compulsory driver changes. It will also be V8 SuperTourer’s biggest field to date, with 20 cars and 40 drivers scheduled to take part.

Testing on Saturday morning will comprise two one-hour sessions. In the first session either regular driver or the co-driver may drive the car, however, in the second session only the co-driver is permitted out on track. In the afternoon two qualifying sessions – one for each driver – will be run with a short 20 minute break in between.

Each driver must complete a qualifying session and times set by each will denote the team’s starting position for the two races on Sunday. In the races themselves, each driver must start a race before a compulsory driver swap between laps 30 and 40 occurs. Both races will be in excess of 200km and the teams can decide how much of that distance each driver completes within the defined 10 lap pit window. Whilst teams may change wheels, no refuelling is permitted.

“This will be a format that will give the public a chance to see both drivers in action in the car, and one which will put pressure on both drivers to put in a good qualifying lap,” explained series Managing Director Mark Petch.”It all adds to the excitement and the show and puts an emphasis on teams to make sure their co-drivers are prepared and competitive and not out there just to play a minor role.

“Both drivers must start a race in their respective qualifying position, adding further to the excitement – plus, of course, there is the compulsory driver change, which is always one of the focal points of an endurance race. There are lots of new strategies for the teams and drivers to get their heads around, but one thing is for certain -there is going to be a huge amount of track time for the V8 SuperTourer cars and drivers and what true petrol head Dad and his family wouldn’t just love that!”

The event will be one of the most significant on the Taupo calendar as circuit CEO Geoff Langham explained. “The Father’s Day 400 will have a much broader appeal both in and outside of the Taupo area for families and race fans especially with the unique and exciting new format,” he commented.

“This means people can pick and choose the parts they want to watch. It means fans and families can come and go to enjoy everything a holiday resort such as Taupo has to offer such as day spas, shopping, dining, adventure tourist attractions and hot pools.

“We’re going to have so much going on around the whole event it will be like a festival weekend and with Johnny Mac being based at the track we expect – and need – plenty of local interest and support. Outside of Taupo, we regularly see enthusiasts and families at the circuit from Tauranga, Hawkes Bay, Hamilton, Wanganui and even Palmerston North and the Father’s Day 400 is an event which will definitely appeal to all of those fans.

“We’ve seen some spectacular racing so far in V8 SuperTourers and that will undoubtedly continue at the beginning of September at Taupo with the added excitement of pit stops, team tactics and driver changes – all of which make the whole race exciting and can change the dynamics in minutes if not seconds.”

Early Bird tickets will go on sale on Eventfinder this week with weekend passes starting at just $30. Organisers will also offer a GA upgrade along the bank on the back straight so that fans can watch from their cars. Under 12s, as at all V8 SuperTourer events, will be free.

With the family emphasis, hot lap competitions will run throughout the build-up on local and regional radio and on the V8 SuperTourer Facebook site encouraging families to treat Dad with a day out at the V8s on Father’s Day.

Supercheap Auto Powercruise hit Taupo Motorsport Park for the third time over the weekend, and as we’ve come to expect it was a mammoth event. Turnout was well up on last years event, with over 420 cars were entered of all makes and models.

For the full event report, check out the next issue of NZV8, which will be on sale Monday next week.

Taupo is cementing a global reputation as the home of one of the longest, fastest and toughest endurance races in the world with the Taupo 1000 offroad race taking place later this month.

Almost 100 offroad race teams from Australia, North America and New Zealand will compete in the two-day 1000 kilometre forest endurance race that has become the sport’s Australasian flagship event. The race will take place on the weekend of the 19 – 21 August.

International teams from the USA and Australia head the strongest entry list for the in many years.  Many in the sport are convinced this year’s entry will be a record-breaker with 92 or more cars and trucks taking their place on the grid when the race starts.

Race organiser Tony Saelman says though records of entries in the first couple of events are not available, the 2011 entry is certainly the biggest in the years he has been involved in the race. (more…)

The champions of the 2010/11 IRC Series have been decided after a hard fought final round at the Taupo Motorsport Park over the Easter weekend break.

After six hard-fought rounds of motor racing across ten classes and spanning the length of the North Island, the majority of the victors were still undecided until the very last lap of the final race around the technical and challenging 3.3km Taupo circuit.

Michael Shepherd went out on a high in the Formula First category, scoring a blistering poleposition lap – over 1.3 seconds clear of his nearest rival – and winning all three races by convincing margins from the chasing pack of squabbling youngguns including Ryan Hellier, Kyle George, David Ruthven and Matt Higham.

In doing so, Shepherd retires as a five-time New Zealand Formula First champion – the most successful driver in the history of the class.

Nick Chester upset the GT1 field in claiming pole position in his Holden V8 Supercar and winning the opening race by ten seconds, but all eyes were on Craig Corliss and Andy Greenslade, who were never far from one-another all weekend long.

Corliss’ consistent run was enough for him to take the title from Greenslade’s Jaguar TranZam, with Clark Proctor scoring three solid finishes in GT2 to round out his championship challenge in the Metalman Escort.

Phil Kerr consolodated his handy points lead heading into Taupo to win the Pro 7 Series One title, while the battling Pro 7 Plus trio of James Parker, Dean McMillan and Myles Fothergill picked up in Taupo where they left off at Hampton Downs. (more…)

All it took was a faulty $22 steering joint to cost Andy Booth, any chance of challenging for a top 3 championship position at round 6 of the BNTV8 series held at Taupo Motorsport Park last weekend. The tie-rod pin snapped little more than 1 lap from the finish of race 2 as the two-time champion held a comfortable 6th position ahead of current NZV8 champ Craig Baird sending the #23 Holden Commodore straight off the track into retirement.

Booth started the weekend qualifying 8th in Saturday’s top ten shootout continuing his record of making every qualifying shootout this season, the crew later discovered a faulty front shock absorber so confidence was high for much improved race pace on Sunday.

Race 1 started with the expected biff and bash into turn 1 with several cars getting turned around in front of the field. The Rock Commodore settled into 6th position as part of a trio of cars chasing down the fast starting John Penny. On the second lap Booth shot down the inside of Penny into turn 1 but locked the rear brakes and ran wide, losing the position plus 2 more. The order remained unchanged for the rest of the 10 lap race and Booth crossed the line in 8th position.

The ill fated race 2 started well with Booth moving up into 6th position after more 1st corner niggle. The first lap jostling created a 2 second gap between the lead group and The Rock car, with improved handling Booth was able to match the pace of the lead group but could not close the gap. Half way though lap 9, the steering joint snapped going through turn 7 and Booth’s race was done.

“I couldn’t believe it when the steering broke but hey, that’s motor racing” Booth said after the race “We had ball joint break on the same corner of the car in practice so it may well be that the steering component was damaged at that time but really it’s just one of those things”

The opportunity to end the weekend on a high came with the 20 lap final race and Booth was determined to make the most of it. After chasing initial race leader Nick Ross for 6 laps The Rock Commodore seized the lead when Ross was slow onto the straight. Booth then lead for the next 6 laps whilst engaging in a thrilling wheel to wheel battle with emerging star Scott McLaughlin who had been devastatingly quick all weekend. The battle had the crowd on their feet for several laps but with the grips level on his car starting to fade Booth struggled to hold off the Supercheap Auto car of McLaughlin and ultimately had to relinquish the lead after a fierce braking duel at the end of the main straight. (more…)