New Formula Suzuki Championship Draws Interest

New Zealand
Formula Suzuki Championship 2009

www.FormulaSuzuki.co.nz
 
=SPECIAL INAUGURAL ROUND=
  Pukekohe Park Raceway
13-15th February 2009

Taupo Motorsport Park 22nd February

Media Release and image links
Tuesday 17th February

Formula Suzuki Championship 2009
Inaugural meeting
Pukekohe Park Raceway
13-15th February 2009

Brand New Formula Suzuki Championship Draws Much Interest

At the weekend the all-new Formula Suzuki Championship of New Zealand got underway with much success and with it many enquiries into where the cars came from and where they can be seen next.

Founder of the New Zealand Formula Suzuki Championship Kevin Varney was pleasantly surprised by the attention the new formula received at the first ever meeting of the open wheel class in this country.

"Every man and his dog wanted to talk to me about the cars and the class - some who I had heard from before but an awful lot of people who were just at the meeting."

"They all agreed the cars looked and sounded great so wanted to know more about them." he said.

The cars have been imported from Asia for the local series by Mr Varney where they were being used in a very prestigious championship.

"We got our original 12 cars from Malaysia where they were running along with Formula One at Sepang as a class known as Formula Malaysia." he said.

The cars are a front and rear winged chassis designed and developed for Suzuki Motorsport by internationally renowned driver "Monster" Tajima.

The power plant comes from the exceptional Suzuki Hyabusa motorcycle which lends the race cars a very handy 175 horsepower at an exciting 9,800 revs and also a six speed sequential gearbox.

With a chassis weight of only 425kg that power can be translated into 400hp per ton and all on slick tyres!

At the weekend Mr Varney was pleasantly impressed by the comraderie displayed in the opening meeting with everybody coming together to make the meeting, and hopefully the season, a very successful one.

"Just watching people when they came across problems and the amount of help which descended on them from the others in the way of tools and parts - I tell you what it was just like the old days - everybody shared information, everybody helped out and I would like to foster that spirit in the series for as long as I can." he said.

Experienced open wheel driver Caine Lobb was the man to claim victory in the opening round albeit undergoing some tough battlling with Daniel Bray who took the win in race one.

Lobb took pole position in very wet conditions on Saturday morning but when the sun came out he placed second in the first race that afternoon and won both race two and three on Sunday.

The Whangarei driver was most impressed by the car especially at how responsive it was when adjustments were made to the suspension and aerodynamics on the Suzuki.

"The car feels and sounds really good and I think that when we all get used to them and start working on the setups we will see the times start to come down." said Lobb.

Auckland driver Bray placed second for the weekend with his win and two second places.

Although suffering some teething problems at the weekend keeping him off the pace of the leaders, talented driver Gene Rollinson can be expected to be a strong contender in the championship.

Probably the most experienced driver in the pack as a member of Team Kiwi Racing and season's in the NZV8s and the Fujitsu Development V8 Supercar Championship he is also the only one to have driven the cars competitively before the weekend.

Rollinson was the pace setter in the Suzuki a few years back when driving as support to Formula One at Sepang International Circuit.

"I have been driving touring cars a lot lately so it's good to be back in an open wheeler - in Malaysia I was winning my race before I had trouble with my diff so hopefully I will have better luck this time around." said Rollinson.

Gene Rollinson's two brothers Royce (21) and Kieron (15) are also competing in the Suzuki's and will be keeping their older brother honest.

At Pukekohe Mr Varney stayed off the circuit to be on hand for any teething problems which may have arisen however this weekend at Taupo Motorsport Park will be hopping into his second car.

"I will probably just be making up the numbers this weekend, I don't expect to be on the pace of Caine Lobb who is driving my other car." he said.

This weekend is actually the first of a five round championship all held at Taupo Motorsport Park where the class can take advantage of the Taupo National Series.

"For us we get the A1GP circuit to run on plus there are plenty of run off areas so our drivers will be safe as they get used to the cars and also it must be the hardest track in the country to set up for."

"If we can use the Taupo circuit during the year to practice our set ups I think that is huge which is why I grabbed the opportunity when they offered it to me." he said.

This weekend expects to be an exciting round after the drivers have one round under their belt and feeling more confident.

Adding to the excitement is the addition of two sports cars who will run on the circuit with the open wheelers.

"This weekend we have ten cars coming to Taupo plus two Radicals so we expect another good weekend." said Mr Varney

The 'Radicals' are a Hyabusa powered sports car which use a space frame chassis and a fibre glass body.

Running on slick tyres with the same Hyabusa motor as the open wheelers they weigh only about 40kgs more and could well be a perfect match on the circuit put in the right hands.

"They are the perfect car for us to run with - Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear was blown away when he had a drive in one!" he said.

As well as the five round championship held at Taupo Motorsport Park the Formula Suzuki Championship will be part of an upcoming meeting at Manfeild Autocourse.

As part of Motorsport New Zealand's Tier Two series the Suzukis will be at the Feilding circuit over the weekend of 27-29th March.

Further enquiries can be made by visiting the official Formula Suzuki website at www.FormulaSuzuki.co.nz or by contacting Kevin Varney at gpracing@clear.net.nz

ends

© Scoop Media