i w i k g n i y l F THE # UGUST 2013 ISSUE 3: A
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HEARTBREAK AND EXCITEMENT ALL AT ONCE! Hi, and welcome to the third 2013 Issue of The #FlyingKiwi, an e-Magazine put together to share the latest news, race reports, pics, videos and other interesting stuff from my world of motorsport. Since the last issue, I’ve been through a long mid-season break before winding into what will be a busy end to the year in the Merc, the V8 SuperTourers, and in Fastway Racing’s awesome new Porsche GT3. We’ve had two heartbreaking events in Japan in the last month, backed up with an exciting announcement that I’ll be running in PETRONAS Syntium Team Car #1 for the Sepang 12 Hour race at the end of August. Even better, Mercedes-AMG legend Bernd Schneider will be alongside me. If his 2013 record of winning the Bathurst 12 Hour and all three 24 hour events at Dubai, Nurburgring and Spa are anything to go by, there will be a thing or two one can learn from this guy! Catch up on it all in the following pages. I hope you enjoy the read!
Jono Lester
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Super Taikyu 5-Time Champions 2008-2012 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race 2009, 2011 & 2012 Champions
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lester teams with mercedes-benz amg brand ambassador bernd schneider for malaysia merdeka endurance race Official Press Release • “The biggest opportunity in my career to date,” says Lester • PETRONAS Syntium Team seeking third consecutive win at home event • Schneider unbeaten in 2013 Bathurst, Nurburgring, Spa and Dubai endurance races Kiwi endurance driver Jono Lester has been named in the PETRONAS Syntium Team’s line up for the 2013 12hour Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER) at Sepang International Circuit, paired with Mercedes-Benz AMG Brand Ambassador Bernd Schneider and regular Super Taikyu team mate Dominic Ang. Driving the team’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 #1, the trio will seek PETRONAS Syntium Team’s third consecutive win at their home event against a world-class field of 15 GT3 cars. 23-year old Lester considers the opportunity as “the biggest in my career to date” and is excited about the opportunity to race alongside a driver of such caliber as Schneider, who led first raced with the PETRONAS Syntium Team in 2011.
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The 49-year old German has a golden resume that includes no less than five DTM titles, 32 Formula One Grands Prix with Zakspeed and Arrows, and an unprecedented unbeaten record of wins so far in 2013 winning the Bathurst 12 Hour and all three 24-hour events at Dubai, Nuburgring and Spa-Francorchamps. “Bernd intimately developed the SLS AMG GT3 from the ground up with Mercedes-Benz AMG, and his knowledge of the car and obvious skills are proven in his results this year alone,” an excited Lester said. “I’m in awe of his achievements in motor racing and it’s an honour for both Dominic [Ang] and I to be able to challenge for the MMER win with him, and soak up as much of his knowledge and experience we can in the process.” Held in the home country for title sponsor PETRONAS, the MMER hold lots of significance for defending champion PETRONAS Syntium Team, who made the debut of the highly sought-after Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the region in 2011 and successfully inked the books of history by clinching the overall victory of the MMER, along with third place as well. The team first won MMER in 2009 with the BMW Z4M This marked the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3’s first ever victory in long-distance endurance racing worldwide and PETRONAS Syntium Team was rewarded for its achievement with the “Best Racing Performance” award at the AMG Customer Sports Season Finale. The 2013 MMER race has adopted the unusual approach of a midnight race start time on Saturday night, allowing for teams and their machines to make the most of the cooler evening temperatures with daytime temperatures regularly topping a stifling 40 degrees at 100% humidity. “Racing night to day is a new concept for me and at least half the race will be in darkness, which will be a new challenge. I know from visiting Sepang that the temperatures are suffocating during the day so the format will certainly help the drivers, crew and cars last the distance.”
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With Round Five of the 2013 Super Taikyu Series falling on the same weekend, Lester’s regular team mates Tatsuya Kataoka and Fariqe Hairuman will compete at the three-hour race at Okayama in Japan in the usual SLS AMG GT3 #28. “My heart will be in two places over the weekend, for sure. We have a Championship to fight for in Japan and I know the boys will be motivated to turn our fortunes around after two heartbreaking runs for the #28 at Motegi and Fuji.” The 12-hour MMER race on the 5.543km Sepang circuit begins at midnight on Saturday, August 31 and ends at noon on Sunday, September 1. In 2012, at the annual AMG Customer Sports Season Finale held at AMG’s headquarters in Affalterbach, the PETRONAS Syntium Team was awarded the coveted ‘CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE’ for its achievement in the Super Taikyu Series (of a five-time consecutive title) with their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 cars #1 and #28 coming in overall first and second respectively. Lester is supported throughout the 2013 season by key partners including Vortex Racewear, Lero Global, R Redpath Limited, Opti-Flex, Fastway Couriers, Robbie Bird Wines, CRC MotorNews.co.nz, Mako Networks, iSign it, Sony New Zealand, Sony Xplod, ThrillPledge and Webdesign.
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who is bernd schneider?
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS VIDEO CLIP ABOUT BERND AND HIS ACHIEVEMENTS CAREER OVERVIEW 1987 German Formula 3 Champion 1988-1990 Formula One with Zakspeed & Arrows 1995 International Touring Car Champion 1997 FIA GT Champion 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006 DTM Champion 2008 Retired from Professional Race Career 2009 Becomes Mercedes-AMG Brand Ambassador 2013 Bathurst 12hr winner 2013 Dubai 24hr winner 2013 Nurburgring 24hr winner 2013 Spa 24hr winner
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“No tune from the fat lady at Motegi” Jono’s Blog from Round Three of Super Taikyu QUALIFYING: 3RD RACE: 2ND It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings. We’ve all heard the saying a million times, and this weekend the true meaning of it was realised at the Motegi 5 Hour race for the 2013 Super Taikyu Series. The anticipated heat wave subsided prior to us getting on track leaving us with a more bearable mid-20s temperature, and it became quickly clear that this would work in our favour with the tyres on the PETRONAS Syntium Team #28 working well in cooler temperatures. We didn’t have the pace of the Nissans or the Porsches, and this was evident right from practice one. Working instead on our race strategy, we found a nice balance and went into qualifying knowing that taking pole position would be a big ask from either of our team cars. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 particularly struggled with torque and acceleration – something that was very important on the stop/start Motegi circuit. So, to miss out on pole and manage third on the grid wasn’t a big surprise, but to be so far behind the Nissans was. They were absolutely rapid out there!
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Into the race, and the first stint was a blur of the awesome battle for the lead between Nissan, Porsche and myself, cutting a swathe through traffic sometimes just centimeters apart. When the Taisan Porsche passed and began to gap the GTNET Advan Nissan, we continued on with our battle until the first round of pit stops where we jumped them into second and Fariqe, then TK, chased got us into a handy lead heading into the final hour. With a handy gap I maintained our lead and worked to save the fading brakes in the latter part of the stint, but it was too little too late when with just four minutes remaining I had total pedal loss at 245km/h and flew off the circuit into the sand trap. It was the scariest moment in all my time racing and we were very, very lucky to avoid any damage to the car. In fact, I was able to rejoin and circulate the final lap to finish in second place, which was a massive get-out-ofjail-free card for the Championship. And yet, it’s still a very bitter pill to swallow. That’s the ingrained competitive nature of a driver. We aren’t there to flank the left and right sides of the podium. Looking ahead, we have the Fuji 7 Hour in 3 weeks. A chance to redeem ourselves and consolidate our points lead further!
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#BTS with Jono
a four part behind the scenes look at the motegi super taikyu event!
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AE 2: JU :U 3S IS 3EIS 1U 0S 2
gallery from super taikyu at motegi
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“This cat has no lives left!” Jono’s Blog from Round Four of Super Taikyu QUALIFYING: 8TH RACE: 40TH This is a weird title for a blog post, I know. But let me explain! A day of drama at the seven hour Fuji round of the Super Taikyu Series ended with our #28 SLS AMG GT3 classified in a lowly 40th position overall, some 57 laps shy of the race winner (our team mates, no less). But this big, dark cloud – much like those which descended with ferocious thunder and lightning today – has a silver lining. Super Taikyu has this year added a ‘drop round’ clause to the series format, meaning your worst round can be erased from this record. Think of it as a ‘get out of jail free card’, or in this instance, the pusscat using up the last of its nine precious lives. Now, of course, the remaining three rounds of the Championship are of vital importance. Put simply, we need to translate our clear race-winning pace into results. Okayama will be the key, in three weeks time. But back to Fuji for the moment! We struggled right up until race day with the balance of Car #28, and were unimpressed with our speed, especially in qualifying where we only managed fourth position. This was compounded when I was slapped with a 4-spot grid penalty for crossing the ‘blend line’ entering the pit lane, making for more work for us in the early phase of the race.
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We had seven hours to get to the front, though, and Sunday’s warm up had us relieved that our balance issues were solved and we had a good race car beneath us. Race time and after an hour the top five were split by just 8-seconds. The battle was on! Ten minutes later and TK [Tatsuya Kataoka] took the lead for us and built a nice gap before handing over to Fariqe [Hairuman], who showed great pace and consistency to build a buffer on the chasing pack. A technicality during the second pit stop had an extra ‘pair of hands’ from the team landing us with yet another penalty. After a 20-second stop/go, I rejoined in third, charged on and passed the second placed Nissan GT-R soon after. With our team mates within sight, I had my next target, but just moments later the fan belt broke on the car, forcing me into the pits for repairs. Over 30-minutes later, we were still up on jacks, and any hopes of a podium let alone a victory had all but slipped away. Then the rain came. And it came in typical Japanese fashion, with thunder and lightning and golf ball sized rain drops, and the drama that ensued was expected by many up and down pit lane. With further car troubles as the race drew to a close, the team elected to err on the side of caution and run our car only to the minimum required number of laps to be considered a finisher, which was 160. As our team mates took another win, we were left wondering ‘what if’. But as I say, the contingency of the last of the cat’s ‘contingency lives’ really helped us today. Let’s hope our troubles are over and we can get ourselves back on the right track.
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AE 2: JU :U 3S IS 3EIS 1U 0S 2
gallery from super taikyu at fuji
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my recent highlights PETRONAS Syntium Team, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 • Being named alongside Bernd Schneider for the upcoming Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race. No pressure! • The race pace and consistency of Car #28 in the Super Taikyu Series. Despite average qualifying results our strength in the races has been unprecedented. • The early race battle at Motegi with Porsche and Nissan. One of the most adrenaline-filled stints I’ve ever had in a race car! • Never giving up. Perseverance helped us to hit our straps at Fuji in time for race day, despite a frustrating build up in practice and qualifying. • Learning the lesson that ‘it’s never over til it’s over’, as proved at Motegi and again at Fuji. A good life lesson... • The weather in Japan! While NZ freezes, we’ve been treated to 30-38 degree temperatures at both of the last two events. T-shirt and flip flops were the order of the day!
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ON THE AIRWAVES The latest interviews with the team at Radio Sport: D’Arcy Waldegrave, Clint Brown, Jamie McCarthy and Bob McMurray.
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i w i k g n i y l THE F2: JUNE 2013 ISSUE
recent print & web media North Shore Times - July 4 2013
NZ Performance Car Magazine - June 2013
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recent print & web media 2013 NZ Motorsport Yearbook - Column
CRC MotorNews.co.nz (headline) - 16th August
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recent print & web media New Zealand Herald + Driven - 20th July
Speedcafe ‘Crimsafe Pole Position’ - 15th August
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i w i k g n i y l THE F2: JUNE 2013 ISSUE
closing notes Next Event: Sepang 12 Hour Race Sepang, MAL PETRONAS Syntium Team Car #1 August 31 - September 1, 2013 My next event is the Sepang 12 Hour race at alongside Bernd Schneider and Dominic Ang in PETRONAS Syntium Team Car #1. We will be taking on the world’s best while across in Japan our team mates continue our Super Taikyu Championship charge at Okayama!
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i w i k g n i y l THE F2: JUNE 2013 ISSUE
a big thank you to my partners for the 2013 race season...
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