Full grid for ASKO One Hour opener at Teretonga this weekend

MEDIA RELEASE
18 SEPTEMBER 2013

DISTRIBUTED ON BEHALF OF THE SOUTH ISLAND ENDURANCE RACING DRIVERS SERIES 

Full grid for ASKO One Hour opener at Teretonga this weekend

This weekend sees a capacity field journey to Teretonga Park, Invercargill, for the opening round of the 4 round ASKO One Hour Race Series, which is run alongside the ASKO Endurance Series, with a full 42 car field lining up on the starting grid, the first time that a MSNZ Sanctioned Series has overfilled the Teretonga grid.

The One Hour Series is a real mixed bag for 2013 with 60% of the cars & drivers new to the Series, so the crowd is in for a real treat, and as so many of the entries are unknown quantities the Series organizers are promising some great racing. Entries are wildly varied and range from late model Porsche 997 & Ferrari race cars to little Starlets & Civic’s, so no matter if you’re a fan of V8’s, turbo's, rotary’s, 2wd, 4wd, big, small, Japanese or European cars you will definitely be able to cheer on a favourite!  One guarantee is that a new One Hour Series champion will be crowned, as 2012 champ Paul Kelly will not race in 2013, preferring to concentrate on his 3 Hour Series campaign.

The driver line-up is equally as varied as the cars, with drivers ranging from 16yo Josh Perkins through to one of NZ’s oldest competing drivers, John Cottier who is closer to 80 than 70. Female drivers are also represented with Sue McLaughlin (Porsche 996 GT3) lining up in a race that will see drivers ranging from novice level to highly experienced.

The GT class is likely to be where the race and Series battle will be, as the Porsche 997 GT3’s of George McFarlane, Hayden Knighton and Danny Whiting take on the Ferrari 458 of Tim O’Connor, but the surprise last minute entry of Highlands Motorsport Park owner Tony Quinn in his Aston Martin GT3 could well shake up the pecking order.

Class 1 (3501cc and above) will see the powerful RX7 V8 of current race record holders Grant Williams/Brent Buist lining up against other V8 creations including Brian Scott (Corvette C5), Mike Robb (Mustang Cobra), Chris Henderson (Toyota AE86 V8) and the turbo cars of Johnny Waldron (R32 Skyline), Tony Head (Altezza turbo), a pair of Mazda RX7 turbo’s for Rick Matheson and Hamish Frew/Darryl Barrett  and the twin turbo BMW 135i’s of Barry Kirk-Bunnand and Todd Murphy, which could easily win the class through reliability if not outright speed.

The competition will be as fiercely fought right through each class within the Series and Class 2 (2001cc-3500cc) is huge with over 20 cars registered for this class alone. This includes a hoard of BMW M3’s for Warren Good, Chris White, Anthony Tucker, Adam Glass and Michael O’Dea. There are turbo cars for Hamish Ellingham (Evo9), Andy Giles (AE85 turbo), Nathan Blomquist/John Peplow (Silvia) Malcolm Jones (DX Corolla) and cars through to the Classic Porsche 911SC of Chris Fleury.

Class 3&4 (0-2000cc) also has a strong field of entries with the race debut of a Toyota 86 driven by past 3hr Series champion Grant Aitken. He will be chased hard by the highly modified 1600cc Starlets in the class including 2011 Overall One Hour Series Champion Jeremy Dawson, 2011 Teretonga One Hour race winner Stu Black and also Jamie Hodgins. Add in Honda Civic’s for Rhys Turner and Warren Walker/James Mitchell and picking a class winner is impossible. This class saw some fantastic, down to the wire, racing in 2012 and expect nothing less in 2013.

After this weekends opening round, the ASKO One Hour Race Series then invades Powerbuilt Ruapuna, Christchurch, on 5 October and then Levels Raceway, Timaru, on 19 October before the Series grand finale at the new Highlands Motorsport Park circuit in Cromwell on 9th November. The One Hour Race Series is seen as a fun and affordable way to enter endurance racing but still experience the thrill & strategy of the old fashioned tortoise and hare battles that endurance racing is renowned for.

Thanks to Series sponsor ASKO Appliances as well as class sponsors Mobil 1, Southern Finance, Paul Kelly Motor Company & Hagley Aluminium the Series will again have a significant prizemoney pool that will be paid out across the One Hour classes, as well as major spot prizes that can be won by either 1hr or 3hr competitors.

Qualifying and the race are on Saturday 21st September, with the 1hr race expected to start at 11:30am, followed by the 3hr race.  For more information on the South Island Endurance Series, entries, or to be added to the South Island Endurance Racing Drivers Club’s e-mailing list, please contact Chris Dunn via e-mail at sierdc@xtra.co.nz  ph 021-107-9293. Club information can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/sierdc, for more information on the series sponsor ASKO, please visit www.asko.co.nz

 Jamie Hodgins (Toyota Starlet) leading Bradley Dawson (Toyota Trueno) at Teretonga. Pic by SouthSpeed.

ENDS

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