Cunningham Brothers Pair Up for Altherm Enduro

Cunningham Brothers Pair Up for Altherm Enduro

High-profile kart-turned-car racers Wade and Mitch Cunningham have paired up to contest the inaugural Altherm 1000 endurance race at the Hampton Downs motor racing circuit on Saturday.

The pair will drive the Placemakers/Windward Properties-backed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Car Mitch drove to eighth place in the 2009/10 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship.

The event - a new one on the motorsport calendar - marks a number of firsts for the Auckland-born brothers.

For Wade, now 25 and fresh from winning the Firestone Indy Lights class support race at the Indianapolis 500 meeting for a record third time last weekend, it will be his first race in a tin-top (non single-seater) car. While for Mitch, 23, it will be the first race in which he has had a share a vehicle (car or kart) with another driver.

It will also be the first race for both at the new Hampton Downs circuit.

The brothers head a 24-strong field for Saturday's inaugural four-hour race with a combined competition CV the like of which has rarely been seen before in this country.

Wade won the World Karting Championship in 2003 before heading to America where he quickly forged a successful car career, winning the Firestone Indy Lights championship on debut in 2005 then returning each year either for a full or part-season as he sought a drive in the main Indy Car series.

Mitch followed his brother to Australia and Europe to race karts then the United States when he stepped up to cars before returning to New Zealand where he dominated the 2008/09 Toyota Racing Series, winning both the International series-within-a-series and the series overall, before graduating to the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship for the 2009/10 season.

Both see the Altherm race as a chance to get a first-hand feel for endurance-style racing, a bonus for Wade the opportunity to come 'home' for a couple of days from his long-time US base in Indianapolis.

"Because we planned this before I signed up to do the Freedom 100 it was a bit of a rush getting out of Indy and back down here, but you know, it's always nice to come home and if I can drive something when I'm here all the better."

The Cunningham 997 is one of five Porsche GT3 Cup Cars entered, with a second 997 in the hands of Andrew Bagnall and Ant Pedersen and a three-strong 996 model challenge with recent Pukekohe Six Hour endurance race winners Simon McLennan and Craig Innes in one car, teenage brothers Simon and Mitch Evans in a second and Allan Dippie and Mark Maddren in the third.

The race has also attracted entries from a number of other categories including Production, Suzuki Swift and Open, the latter a catch-all class for cars like the Carter brothers' modified Australian V8 Supercar-style Ford Falcon, Alexandra pairing Bruce Davidson and Dave Garden's Chevrolet Corvette and the Porsche GT3RS of Ian Hayr and Tim Martin.

The Altherm 1000 is a four hour endurance race which starts at 12.20pm and finishes and 4.45pm on Saturday.

ENDS

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