Father & Daughter Combination For Motor Racing Enduro

MEDIA RELEASE
12 SEPTEMBER 2013 

Father & Daughter Combination For Motor Racing Enduro

Amongst the huge number of entries for the opening round of the ASKO Appliances 3 Hour South Island Endurance race at Teretonga Park on Saturday 21 September is a father and daughter combination - Ian and Alyssa Clapperton of Dunedin. While it may not be totally unique in the world of motorsport it is still a rarity in a sport where sons frequently follow their dads into the fray. However Alyssa, now aged seventeen and in her last year of study at Taieri College, has always been 'mad on motorsport' and is totally focussed on the sport. 

Ian is a well known competitor having raced in karts before taking to the track, initially in a Mazda RX7 before stepping into a Holden Commodore in recent times. He won his class in the South Island Endurance Series in 2011 at the wheel of the Mazda and this will be his second attempt at the series and the first time he has paired with his daughter for a race.

Meanwhile Alyssa is a relative newcomer having come through karting like her father before starting out in club racing in a Toyota Starlet. Alyssa's initial season was to allow her to get to grips with racing and Ian say's she did very well, particularly at the annual Classic SpeedFest at Teretonga where she was racing in a field of forty cars. "I was very proud," he says although he also admits to having been very nervous when she did her first laps in traffic at a test day in the Commodore recently. However she handled it well and now the duo are looking forward to the four round series which starts at Teretonga in Invercargill followed by rounds at Powerbuilt Raceway in Christchurch, Levels at Timaru and the new Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell.

"I have told Alyssa I don't care where we finish, I am just happy to be able to achieve this milestone with her. It has been a long term goal and I am happy if we just circulate and keep it on the track," says Ian. The achievement is particularly poignant for Ian who had a life threatening brush with the flesh eating disease, necrotizing facciitis in 2006. "I have looked at life a bit differently since then," he says.

Ian is particularly grateful to those who have helped Alyssa with her initial steps in the sport. "I can't value enough the support that high profile people like Jono and Richard Lester from Vortex Racewear have given." Total Oil has also come on board with support for the pair as they tackle the Endurance Series, something they are both very grateful for.

Ian has two other daughters, one is twenty, the other fifteen. They are supportive of the family motor racing effort but it is Alyssa who has embraced the sport and is following it with a passion. While they are Dunedin based both Ian and Alyssa are members of the Southland Sports Car Club. 

The South Island Endurance Series 1 Hour and 3 Hour races take place at Teretonga Park on Saturday 21 September. The following day will see Pro 7 Saloon's, Honda Cup, Noel McIntyre Drainage Clubmans Saloons and Sports & Racing Cars on the track.

The action, presented by Downer, will start at 9.30am each day. A weekend pass costs $20, Saturday only $15 and Sunday only $10. Children 12 and under are free.

Keep up to date with what is happening at Teretonga Park this summer at www.teretonga.org.nz

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PHOTOGRAPH - Ian and Alyssa Clapperton with the Holden Commodore

CALENDAR 2013/2014 SEASON - TERETONGA PARK

21/22 September 2013: Motor Racing presented by Downer - ASKO Appliances 3 Hour Endurance Race, ASKO Appliances 1 Hour Endurance Race, Pro 7 Saloons, Honda Cup, Noel McIntyre Drainage Clubmans, Sports & Racing Cars

3 November 2013: Motor Racing presented by Downer - Noel McIntyre Drainage Clubmans, Sports & Racing Cars, Honda Cup 

7/8 December 2013: Motor Racing presented by Downer - OSCA, Pre 65 Saloons; Mini 7 South, NZ Six, Pro 7 Saloons, South Island Formula Ford, Noel McIntyre Drainage Clubmans, Sports & Racing Cars

10-12 January 2014: NZV8s, Toyota Racing Series Formula Ford and more

14-16 February 2014: Evolution Motorsport Classic SpeedFest featuring top class classic motor racing 

14-16 March 2014: Motor Racing presented by Downer - NZ Super Trucks, NZ Six, Honda Cup, Pre 65 Saloons, Noel McIntyre Drainage Clubmans, Sports & Racing Cars  

ENDS

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