EVENT GUIDE V8SuperTourers round two Powerbuilt International Raceway, Christchurch 7th-8th April 2012
BOOTH AND CO. READY TO RUMBLE IN THE SOUTH! Driver profiles, Tech section, behind the scenes and more!
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
INTRO: Bringing you closer to the action By Speedstuff Welcome to the first Speedstuff Event Guide of the 2012 V8SuperTourer season.... Speedstuff is New Zealand’s fastest growing motor sport website and our aim is to get YOU - the fans closer to the action. We believe the V8SuperTourers is one of the best things to happen to New Zealand motorsport which is why we’ve chosen to put this guide together so that you have an in depth and Page 2 Page 3 Page 6 Page 8
behind the scenes understanding of this great series. We’ve got some great features for you over the next 40 pages, and we look forward to seeing you back when we preview round three at Manfield at the end of the month. Our next issue will be out Thursday 26th April. Speedstuff.co.nz
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: Your guide to the weekend ahead SEASON RECAP: we look back at the inagural V8SuperTourers round at Hampton Downs POINTS TABLE: Greg Murphy left Hampton Downs with a healthy 128 point lead, but the drivers in 2nd to 6th positions are seperated by the smallest of margins TRACK WALK: M3 Racing’s Richard Moore takes us for a look around his local track; Powerbuilt International Raceway
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NEWS IN BRIEF: Catch all of the latest news from in between rounds
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FEATURE PIC: Booth, Murphy and Scott celebrate on the podium at Hampton Downs
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THE ULTIMATE KIT CAR: How to Build a V8SuperTourer in 21 days
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TECH SECTION: We chat with Jason Liefting, engineer for John McIntyre
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FEATURE PIC: The grid forms up ahead of race two at Hampton Downs
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DRIVER PROFILES: Everything you need to know about the drivers in the series FEATURE PIC: Kayne Scott and Greg Murphy lead in front of an audience of thousands SUPPORT CLASSES: We talk you through the other classes you’ll see racing this weekend TEAM PROFILE: International Motorsport have grown from a one-manband into an icon of New Zealand motorsport over the last 51 years; we talk to founder Lyall Williamson and find out how he’s done it.
The Speedstuff Event Guide is written and published by Speedstuff (NZ). Additional text supplied by V8SuperTourers and Richard Moore. Design and photography (except where noted) by Andrew Bright/Championship Digital. This publication is Copyright 2012 Speedstuff (NZ). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored or transmitted without permission of the publisher. We accept no liability for omissions or errors contained in this guide.
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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: Round two, Ruapuna, 7th to 8th April 2012 Saturday 7th April 08:00
Support Categories Qualifying
10:00
V8 SUPERTOURER practice
11:10
Support Categories Races
12:00
Lunch Time Activities – Big Ben Drifters 20 Minutes
12:30
Driver Signing Session – Public Pit Lane Walk 30 Minutes
13:15
V8 SUPERTOURER Qualifying
14:00
Support Categories Races
15:35
V8 SUPERTOURER Grid Walk 10 Minutes
16:00
V8 SUPERTOURER Preliminary Race 1 (15 laps)
Sunday 8th April 10:00
V8 SUPERTOURER HOT LAP RIDES
10:35
Support Categories Races
11:30
V8 SUPERTOURER Grid Walk 10 Minutes
11:45
V8SUPERTOURER Preliminary Race Two (20 laps)
12:30
Lunch Time activities – on and off track 35 Minutes
12:30
Driver Signing Session - Public Pit Lane Walk 30 Minutes
13:10
Support Category Races
14:20
V8 SUPERTOURER Pre-Race Grid Walk 20 Minutes
14:45
V8 SUPERTOURER Feature Race (25 laps)
TV times New Zealand - TV3
Sunday 8th April 2:30pm – 5pm
Australia – SPEED TV
Sunday 8th April 6pm – 8pm
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
RECAP: Round One, Hampton Downs By Speedstuff The inaugural round of the V8SuperTourer series was one of the most anticipated motorsport events New Zealand has seen for many years. With over 30,000 spectators rolling through the gates at Hampton Downs and TV ratings through the roof, the pressure for the series to live up to its hype was on. No-one knew which driver or which team would feature at the top of the time sheets. Here is a quick review of how the weekend played out. Qualifying Kayne Scott took the inaugural pole position in the V8SuperTourers first ever qualifying session. Multiple NZV8 champion Scott, driving the #99 Holden Commodore which which was only completed days before the event had not featured strongly in Friday practice and surprised a few with his pace. “We were late in the build, and too be honest, we’ve only just finished building it. We’re pretty pleased with this.” Scott said. Andy Booth, Scott McLaughlin, Jonny Reid, Andy Knight, Andre Heimgartner, Ant Pedersen, Eddie Bell and Steve Richards rounded out the top 10 and were covered by a mere half a second.
Once in front, Murphy was untouchable and went on to claim the race win. Behind him, Booth also succumbed to a recovering Scott who passed Booth to claim second place on the podium. Booth soon had his mirrors full of a hard charging Jonny Reid but was able to keep the former A1GP driver at bay who was showing impressive pace in the later half of the race. Craig Baird recovered from a lowly starting position to work his way through the field and finish fifth in the United Videos Ford. He had some contact with Steve Richards in the CRC Ford on the way, but Baird came off best eventually finishing fifth, with Richards sixth. The top ten was rounded out by Christchurch drivers Knight and Bell, with Pedersen and McIntyre. Andre Heimgartner became the first driver in the V8SuperTourer series to receive a drive through penalty when he bumped Scott McLaughlin’s Supercheap Holden into a spin at the downhill sweeper. McLaughlin recovered and charged back through the field to finish tenth, clocking the fastest lap on the way. Heimgartner was also quick during his recovery drive, but with the cars so
Tyre management was to play a large part in this race as track temperatures reached 41 degrees. Murphy clawed back the gap to Booth who had ‘cooked’ his rear tyres and made his way past the Woodstock Bourbon driver on lap 13 after a number of unsuccessful attempts the lap prior.
PHOTO: Andrew Bright
Race one Andy Booth made a fast start from third on the grid and led front row starters Kayne Scott and Greg Murphy through the first corner. Murphy found his way past Scott but Booth extended his lead to over three seconds in the early stages of the race.
Rivals: Murphy passes Scott on his way to victory
PHOTO: Andrew Bright
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A man of many talents: Former A1GP star Jonny Reid suits up prior to race two. Despite a lack of V8 experience so far, Reid performed well over the weekend and should enjoy success during the series. evenly matched, the drive through put him out of contention for a decent result. Race two The grid for race two was decided by finishing positions from race one which put Murphy on pole. The race was highlighted by an extra level of panel rubbing which pleased the 20,000 strong crowd. Murphy again made a sluggish start dropping as low as third and ran behind the leaders until a safety car was brought out on lap 6 for debris on the circuit. At the re-start, Murphy tried an inside move on Scott which was unsuccessful, but he would only have to wait another lap to get the job done at the same point of the circuit. Reid, fourth at the re-start, moved past Booth to third, but when he attempted an move on Scott on Lap 14, he lost his place to Booth.
Reid, an Australian Carrera Cup driver, used his superior car pace to eventually get past the pair again, holding second position until the finish Scott, Booth and Bell rounded out the top five, while behind them, there was action. Scott McLaughlin again had a race to forget after putting himself in a vulnerable position and being spun around. Baird collected Pedersen at ‘The Dipper’. The contact dropped Pedersen out of contention and Baird out of the race due to steering damage. Baird copped a drive-through penalty for the incident but did not take it due to the damage and retiring from the race. Andre Heimgarter also experienced an off-track excursion, rejoining without drama. McIntyre, Knight, Paul Manuell, Pedersen and Richards filled the remaining top 10 positions.
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
RECAP: Round One, Hampton Downs (continued) Race three The grid for the 25 lap feature race was formed using points earned in both the first two races and qualifying putting Greg Murphy and Kayne Scott on the front row with Jonny Reid and Andy Booth lining up behind them. Murphy and Scott made a clean getaway, with Scott taking the lead followed in hot pursuit by Jonny Reid, Andy Booth and John McIntyre who was starting to find some form. Richard Moore and Colin Corkery made heavy contact on lap one leaving Corkery with no option but to retire. By lap six Murphy had reeled in leader Scott and attempted a pass at the long and fast Turn 6, but Murphy overcooked it slightly and hit the back of Scott tipping him into a spin. The decision of the race stewards was instant and Murphy was ordered to serve a drive through penalty which relegated him down to the tail of the field.
It stayed nose to tail until Lap 19 when debris on the track forced out the Safety Car. It stayed out for three laps whilst the mess was cleaned up but on the restart Richard Moore had a spin exiting Turn 4 and backed the car into the wall, though he was able to get going again. The safety car was brought out again late in the race as Geoff Emery’s car shed its rear fender on the front straight. At the restart, Pedersen got the better of Reid to lead the field into Turn 1 with only a couple of laps to go. McIntyre made a great move on Reid to take second and a huge scuffle behind saw Murphy spin and Reid lose his rear diffuser and come into the clutches of Steven Richards and Craig Baird, both featuring for the first time over the weekend. Pedersen held on to the lead and came home to an unexpected but hugely popular victory followed home by McIntyre and a relieved McLaughlin. Richards, Heimgartner, Baird, Murphy, Knight, Reid and Emery rounded out the top 10.
PHOTO: Andrew Bright
Two laps later McIntyre was passed by Booth at Turn 1. Eddie Bell tried to follow him and tagged Booth pitching him into a high speed spin. Out of all the
carnage Jonny Reid led, from McIntyre and Ant Pedersen.
Great Scott: Kayne Scott leads Greg Murphy on lap one. Ant Pedersen was stuck in 11th place at this stage, but a series of Safety Cars and skillful driving helped him fight his way through the field and take the win.
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Driver
Points
Greg Murphy
625
Kayne Scott
497
Jonny Reid
471
Ant Pedersen
455
Andy Booth
445
John McIntyre
411
Scott McLaughlin
380
Andy Knight
375
Eddie Bell
339
Steven Richards
328
Andre Heimgartner
285
Craig Baird
267
Geoff Emery
198
Paul Manuell
166
Richard Moore
133
Colin Corkery
102
On fire: After lacklustre results during Qualifying, triple NZV8 champion John McIntyre redeemed himself with a hard fought second place in the 25 lap feature race.
PHOTO: Andrew Bright
PHOTO: Andrew Bright
POINTS TABLE: Championship positions after round one
All smiles: Ant Pedersen’s win was a welcome result for the hard working 23 yearold and his band of vocal supporters who made the trip up from Hamilton to see him race.
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PHOTO: V8 ST
TRACK WALK: Powerbuilt Tools Raceway By Richard Moore The Canterbury Car Club has operated from what was known as Ruapuna Park since 1950, initially as a dirt then gravel track, until the formation of a sealed track could be funded. The extension to the existing track that we see today was formed in 1993 to provide for seven different configurations for training and club events through to the 3.33km grand prix track that will be used by the V8SuperTourers. Richard Moore from M3 Racing takes us for a closer look at the track and how best to approach it.
Turn four: Turn four is a very slow, very tight hairpin where you must be very patient with the car and apex quite late, again avoiding the kerb. Turn six+seven: The Fulton Hogan Esses are quite technical and the way you manage your car speed and placement on entry will define how you exit, balance is key through this sector. Turn eight: The infield sweeper is another technical part where many people differ on their idea of the ‘correct line’. The sweeper seems to be very long and
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11 9
8 2
10
4
7 5 6 3
Turn one+two: Turn one comes after a long front straight, which they often use as a Dragstrip. Turning the car early and braking in a straight line is important as you carry a lot of speed on entry. The exit of turn two is very smooth and the concrete pads allow you to take full advantage of the track. Turn three: Pothole is the fastest corner of the track and takes a lot of guts. The car only requires a short brake and turn in to apex nicely in the middle of the kerb, but not on the kerb as I did during qualifying in Mini Challenge, rolling the car over. Since then the inside kerb has been shaved down so not to ‘throw’ cars on their roofs, but it will still unsettle the car.
again you can use the concrete pad on exit to take advantage of the full width of track. Turn nine+ten: The second set of Esses are much faster then the first and you can carry a lot of speed into them. Ideally you don’t want to come in to quick or you will lose exit speed coming onto the straight heading to the final corner. Turn eleven: The final corner is another long sweeper. The braking zone is very deep and you want to stay wide through the first part of the corner. A late apex will ensure you don’t run too wide and collect the concrete wall on exit!
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
NEWS IN BRIEF: Catch all of the latest news from in between rounds
PHOTO:: Andrew Bright
11th March: Fogg confirms V8SuperTourer switch After winning his first NZV8 championship, Angus Fogg confirms that he has taken the 19th V8SuperTourer license and will compete in the endurance races later this year.
19th March: Tasman signs Lockwood Tasman Motorsport were in the news again, announcing the signing of V8 Challenge Cup round one winner Matthew Lockwood as a development driver. It was not made clear whether Lockwood would partner Gaunt in the endurance races. 20th March: V8SuperTourers to run bonnet scoops V8SuperTourer administrators confirm all cars will run bonnet scoops on their cars from round two onwards to manage engine temperatures. Also confirmed was a slightly higher and further set back rear wing.
PHOTO: Keiran Grainger
PHOTO:: V8SuperTourers
8th March: Tasman signs Daniel Gaunt Tasman Motorsport signs Porsche Carrera Cup driver Daniel Gaunt to drive the the teams car when they enter the final four rounds of this years series.
22nd March: Davison signs with Knight for endurance races Former V8Supercar driver Alex Davison signs with Andy Knight to compete in the three endurance races later in the year.
PHOTO: AV8 Motorsport
PHOTO:: Andrew Bright
20th February: South Africa eyes V8SuperTourers South African motor racing identities confirm discussions with V8SuperTourer administrators about starting a similar series in South Africa.
PHOTO: Geoff Ridder
By Speedstuff
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
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Everyone’s a winner: The podium for race one at Hampton Downs in February hosted Bathurst winner Greg Murphy, two NZV8 Champions in Andy Booth and Kayne Scott, and had a WTCC Champion in Paul Radisich cheering them on. V8SuperTourers has truly attracted the cream of N.Z. driving talent. PHOTO: Andrew Bright
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
THE ULTIMATE KIT CAR: How to build a V8SuperTourer in 21 days By Speedstuff A V8SuperTourer is a full blown race car but just like a flat pack kitchen you might buy from IKEA, it starts out as a whole bunch of parts in boxes and bags with an accompanying instruction manual. There are a few differences however. This particular flat pack is not so flat, the instruction manual is over 200 pages long and you’ll need about 400 man hours to put it together..... not to mention a lazy $200k.
“It all started with a concept, and that was to build a car that is really enjoyable to drive but also has a great spectator appeal in how they go and how they sound. “Our goal was to try and design a car that would restrict the build cost to $200k.” The starting point was to design and build a prototype car which Anderson and fellow V8ST founders Mark Petch and Garry Pederson set about doing early in 2011. A prototype chassis was supplied by Australian firm Pace Innovations and development work began
PHOTO: AV8 Motorsport
Wayne Anderson, one of the founders of the V8SuperTourers and co-owner of AV8 Motorsport - the team that prepares and runs the Holden Commodores of Andy Booth as well as teenager Andre Heimgartner - took us behind the scenes of what’s actually involved in building one of these cars.
So, how did it all start?
Power trip: 16 race engines sit waiting to be shipped and delivered to new teams around the country.
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“The engine package is from America, the Quaife gearbox from England, the clutch assembly is from America, the shocks are from Germany.
PHOTO: AV8 Motorsport
“We buy a blank diff housing from the states then go about putting all of the brackets on it, the floating kits and straighten it.”
The V8SuperTourer kit: Door frames piled up and ready to be shipped
“The wiring loom comes totally complete in a box with all of the relays and wires. There is a central harness which you clip into the car. The same thing happens with all of the fluid lines. All of the dry sump hoses, brake lines and all of the fittings and brackets. They come with a list of instructions and labels of where it all goes.
which was a matter or trial and error until the right combination of quality and affordability was found.
“The prototype that you see today is probably the fourth evolution. Over the evolution process, we changed the brakes on it, the steering rack, the position of the radiator, different pedal box, we put bigger wheels on it. Although the prototype is race spec now in terms of the bits and pieces on it, it will never race because it runs a different chassis.” Once the team were comfortable they had the formula right, then came the enormous task of sourcing and manufacturing all of the parts to supply to the teams. Anderson estimates there are approximately 280 parts to each car. “The whole bare chassis comes from Australia unpainted with the roll cage, floor, c-sections and that’s it.” The majority of components are manufactured in New Zealand however some parts are brought in from overseas.
PHOTO: AV8 Motorsport
“We probably spent 1500 – 2000 hours on that car.” Anderson says.
The SuperTourer Supermarket: Pick a diff, any diff “The exhaust system is all done, you just bolt it in the car. All of the lexan side windows are predone. All of the trim in the boot is done and cut out ready to install. The plastic wheel arch liners are all provided and ready to go in.” Are you getting the picture? A V8SuperTourer is literally a kit car. The teams are not required to fabricate any of their own parts, not to mention not being allowed to under the regulations. “We do everything. Right down to the hook that holds your helmet on the roll cage.”
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
THE ULTIMATE KIT CAR: How to build a V8SuperTourer in 21 days (continued) All 16 cars have been dispatched through the Anderson’s workshop where an entire section of the shop is allocated to pre-delivery. Anderson’s wife packages and labels all of the parts up before the car goes through a final check. “We do a pre-delivery check which takes about a day and a half making sure all of the holes and are all in the right place.
Whilst the teams current freedom in regards to setup is restricted to shock absorber adjustments, ride hide changes, tyre pressures and sway bar adjustments the V8SuperTourer has been designed to allow more freedom as the teams become more familiar with the cars. “There’s a whole lot of different holes in the car which can be used to mount bits and pieces differently to get for example different suspension angles but at this point in time we’ve locked all of that down. You have to use a specific hole. Later on we will probably free that up but the reason we’ve locked it down is because everyone has rushed to get the car ready and had minimal testing, we need to learn the car without trying to figure out what the best positioning etc is at the same time.” It sounds pretty easy right? Well we couldn’t just take Wayne’s word for it. We caught up with Tom Heywood, crew chief for Kayne Scott whose team, depending on which way you look at it, were the lucky or unlucky ones to receive their chassis and accompanying parts last. “Anyone with a decent mechanical background would be capable of putting the car together.” Heywood said.
PHOTO: AV8 Motorsport
“Theoretically, when the team receives the car, they could put it together in the garage.” Anderson continues.
The pressure’s on: The team working hard to assemble Kayne Scott’s car in time for the first race. “It’s not like putting a puzzle together in the lounge with the kids but along with the instruction manual and a bit of common sense it’s pretty straight forward.” Scott’s car, run under the Farmer Racing Services banner was completed only days before the first round leaving the team very little margin for error. “We did ours in about 21 days. We had one man on it full time, one guy did probably 3 hours a day and I did some full time and some part time.” The order in which the team went about assembling the car was the most important factor in having the car ready in time. “Once we received the chassis, we didn’t need to do anything to it. It was pretty much all ready to go to the paint shop. All of the radiator mounts for example are done, the cuts in the firewall for the
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bulkhead fittings have already been made. The paint shop seals it all up, epoxy’s it, paints it and sends it back to us.”
order that makes it easy for example the seat goes in last, the dash goes in before the windscreen, the roof goes on last so you can stand up in the car..”
“Building the car in the right order was probably the most challenging thing. You might want to put the motor and the box in the hole but first but you’ve got to make sure you’ve got everything else in order.
“To cut a long story short, 21 days later the car was ready to be fired up.”
“First up we fitted all of the wiring loom and started doing all of the plumbing which comes in the kit set bags.”
“It fired up first pop, no dramas at all.” A couple of days later, Kayne Scott took that very car to the very first pole position in V8SuperTourer history.
PHOTO: AV8 Motorsport
“Once we got the motor and box in it was a matter of chipping away at everything else. You’ve got a whole lot of boxes of bits ready to be bolted on to the car. The key here was to do everything in an
“We left finishing off the wiring loom until very last day. We had the auto electrician come and install that at the last minute. He wired it and fired it in the same day.
The devil is in the detail: You can see the different mounting points for the rear end linkages
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
TECH SECTION: Chat with Jason Liefting By Speedstuff Jason Liefting is John McIntyre’s engineer. His job, among others, is to fine tune the performance of the car using feedback provided by McIntyre and experienced gained across a multiple of motorsport disciplines. He took us behind the scenes into what really makes a V8SuperTourer tick.
JL: Compared to a V8Supercar they’re more of a purpose built race car and you’ve got to remember that a V8Supercar is a very refined piece these days. To me the V8SuperTourer is a real race car compared to a V8Supercar because there’s a lot more room for adjustment. On these cars there a lot of options provided to you for the purposes of going racing whereas on a production car performance is near the bottom of the list. Although these might look like a VE Commodore or a FG Falcon, it’s really only a skin. We’re dealing with a space frame chassis like the TraNZam’s. We’ve got a 3-link rear and double wishbone front suspension. These cars are a lot more like a single seater in terms of the front suspension layout and there’s rod ends everywhere. There’s not a rubber bush in the thing. Everything’s solid mounted so it’s very direct which is certainly more what I’m used to with my single seater experience which is probably why Johnny got me on board. speedstuff: What setup changes can you make to the car? JL: Everywhere that a suspension member bolts to at the moment, we have a choice of 2 or 3 holes that are possible. As of round one and two, we’re told which hole that has to mount to so in terms of moving roll centres, anti-dive, anti-squat and everything like that we’re yet to explore it.
PHOTO: Geoff Ridder
speedstuff: You’ve worked on a range of race cars from Formula Fords to V8Supercars. How would you describe a V8SuperTourer as a race car and compared to others you’ve worked on.
The Man in Black: Jason keeps the JMR Falcon in tune at Hampton Downs. We’re still in the realms of learning the tyre and the aero. Once that learning curve tapers off and we know more where we’re at and we can deal with more variables come race weekend I think those options will be opened up to us. speedstuff: Tell us about the tyre and what work you are doing to optimise it’s performance. JL: The tyres are the biggest part of it when you’ve got everything else so tightly controlled. It’s a matter of getting everything in the chassis right to make the most of that tyre for the longest time possible because if you run out of tyre come Sunday afternoon you’re going to be in a power of trouble. With qualifying, the challenge is getting it working in a 3 lap window. It’s so important because if you miss that, your weekend won’t fall into place.
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A lot of it is about monitoring temperatures and pressures, just the basics and then we go on to monitor and optimise wear rates across the tyre and front to back. Where we generate that heat is important as well. There’s a temperature gradient across the tyre that we aim for and that still really is a work in progress. We still haven’t had enough days on the tyre to really know what it likes and more importantly what it dislikes.
from the exit backwards. You’re not going to get a good exit if the middle of the corner is no good and you’re not going to get a good balance in the middle of the corner if the turn in is no good and you’re not going to get a good turn in unless the car stops properly.
JL: Early on the brake package and brake balance and more specifically we were really working on corner entry. A lot of that comes from brake balance or lack of it. We’ve found the rear of the car is almost too good in terms of brake application and the front needs to be better. You’ve got to work the corner
JL: We get very accurate GPS information so we have a position on the track that we can actually compare drivers lines rather than the traditional time vs distance. We can divide down to as many distances as you want. It’s no longer restricted to beacons. We can drill right down to the metre. We get a lot
PHOTO: Andrew Bright
speedstuff: What were your major areas of focus for car setup at Hampton Downs?
speedstuff: We understand there were some issues with the transmission of data from the cars back to the pits at Hampton Downs. When it is up and running, what level of data do you capture and analyse?
Smooth operators: With Campbell Little and Jason Leifting forming an impressive combination of engineering expertise, John McIntyre will be looking forward to a season free of mechanical gremlins.
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
TECH SECTION: Chat with Jason Liefting (continued) of brake data – rotor temp front and rear, brake pressure front and rear. We get the feed from the ECU so all of the vital temperatures and pressures in the engine bay. We also get steering angle and a speed trace. speedstuff: What’s been happening at the workshop since Hampton Downs? JL: Fixing a bit of panel damage! That takes a bit of time to build templates to make things go back on the car faster. The engines stayed in the cars but that was about it. Drive trains, dampers have all been checked. Gearboxes, diffs, hubs etc all of that stuff gets crack tested. Because it’s all quite new in terms of the learning curve as well as new hardware it’s going to be a year of over servicing. Pulling things apart to find nothing’s wrong. Until we get a good history and a profile for a normal life it’s a case of doing that work and getting to the point where you find an issue before it fails or we sort of compare it to something similar which in our experience is a V8Supercar. For example, we know how long an axle lasts, you know how far to go on a steering rack. Instead of finger crossing we’re going to have a year of shelving stuff when we’re not brave enough to put it back on the car when the km’s get to a point that we think is enough. We can also cycle some of that stuff back through on test and ride days as time goes by which will give us a more accurate reading on life cycles. speedstuff: The next round is at Ruapuna where the team has some NZV8 experience and data. Are you able to use that? JL: A little bit. It’s not directly comparable. The thing that is most relevant is the driver experience. In terms of Johnny who has always been competitive down there his knowledge in terms of where you need to be fast on the circuit and where you can sacrifice time will be very useful. With Ruapuna, you’ve got to get on and off the straights fast because that’s where a lot of the passing is done. There’s a little bit of tyre data that we can use but
we’ll be relying on our Hampton Down’s data a lot. speedstuff: How different is a qualifying car from a race car setup wise? JL: Without a tonne of testing under our belts it’s not massive. Over time I think the gap will widen but at the moment, there’s a little bit of aero stuff, a little bit of damper stuff. Really the main difference is tyre pressure leaving the garage. In qualifying trim you’re a fair way up on pressure because you need the tyre to peak quite early and it doesn’t matter if it fades after lap five or six whereas in a race that’s not going to be acceptable. For us it’s about getting the tyre in the window for both trims and knowing where to start that. In qualifying it’s about working towards a peak and in a race the driver needs to know when the peaks will come so that he can make the most of it. speedstuff: What is it like to have an experienced campaigner like Campbell Little in the team? JL: It’s insanely valuable. He’s got a lot of experience with this sort of car – you’ve got a lot of horsepower, a lot of torque the weight and power delivery is very similar – all of those things he’s just hugely familiar with from his V8Supercar experience. Everything we go to him and ask he’s got an answer for and data to back it up. His depth and broadness of knowledge is hugely valuable. speedstuff: With the V8Supercars going down the path of a Car of the Future from 2013, do you see more opportunities opening up for NZ engineers wanting to work in Australia? JL: Their COTF is very much like a V8SuperTourer so the gap is closing so I can see the relevance between what we are doing here and what they’re doing there is going to become more meaningful I guess with more drivers crossing the ditch and hopefully more engineers doing the same thing. We’ve seen a few Australian guys coming over, hopefully we will see a few kiwi guys going the other way.
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
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History in the making: When sixteen V8SuperTourers lined up on the grid for round one in February, it marked the opening of a new and exciting chapter of New Zealand Motorsport history; Greg Murphy’s round win completing a dream weekend for fans and organisers alike. PHOTO: Andrew Bright
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
DRIVER PROFILES: Some things you might not know about the drivers Jonny Reid: Car #2 Team
International Motorsport
Major successes
2003 Formula Ford Champion
Town/City of origin
Auckland
2003 NZGP winner
Currently living in
Manukau
06/07 & 07/08 A1GP second in championship Favourite racing driver
Ayrton Senna
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
28
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Andy Knight: Car #5 Andy Knight Motorsport
Major successes
2007/08 Toyota Racing Series champion
Town/City of origin
Christchurch
2008 NZGP winner
Currently living in
Christchurch
2008/09 NZ Motor Cup
25
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Favourite racing driver
Ayrton Senna
PHOTO: Andrew Bright
Team
Page 25
Richard Moore: Car #10
Town/City of origin Currently living in
2009 National Open gokart title
Auckland Christchurch Favourite racing driver
20
Ayrton Senna
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Major successes
M3 Racing
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
Geoff Emery: Car #12 Melbourne Performance Centre
Town/City of origin
Melbourne
Currently living in
Melbourne 39
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Major successes
02-07 Australian C’dore Cup Champion
Favourite racing driver
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
DRIVER PROFILES: (continued) Paul Manuell: Car #15
Town/City of origin Currently living in
Major successes
2001 NZV8 Champion
Christchurch Pukekohe Favourite racing driver
43
Dave Oxton
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
M3 Racing
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
Andre Heimgartner: Car #22 AV8 Motorsport
Town/City of origin
Auckland
Currently living in
Auckland 16
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Major successes
Favourite racing driver
2010 South Island Formula Ford Champion 2010-11 NZ Formula Ford Champion 2011-12 NZ Formula Ford Champion Scott Dixon
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
Page 27
Andy Booth: Car #23 Team
AV8 Motorsport
Major successes
2000 NZ GP winner
Town/City of origin
North Shore
2004 NZV8 Champion
Currently living in
North Shore
2005 NZV8 Champion Favourite racing driver
Alex Zanardi
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
37
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Craig Baird: Car #27
Currently living in Age
Major successes
Hamilton Gold Coast 41
Favourite racing driver
1994-1997 NZ Touring Car Champion 2006, 2008, 2011 Aust. Carrera Cup Champion 2005-2010 NZ Porsche GT3 Champion Jim Richards
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Town/City of origin
PSR Racing
PHOTO: Geoff Ridder
Team
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
DRIVER PROFILES: (Continued) John McIntyre: Car #47
Town/City of origin Currently living in
Major successes
06/07 NZV8 Champion
Hastings
07/08 NZV8 Champion
Nelson
10/11 NZV8 Champion
35
Favourite racing driver
Juan Manuel Fangio
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
John McIntyre Racing
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
Greg Murphy: Car #51
Currently living in Age
Major successes
Hastings Melbourne 39
Favourite racing driver
1996, 1999, 2003, 2004 Bathurst winner 1994 NZGP and Gold Star winner 1995 NZ Gold star winner Bruce McLaren
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Town/City of origin
M3 Racing
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
Page 29
Colin Corkery: Car #66 Team Town/City of origin Currently living in
Major successes
Auckland
2008 Australian V8 Utes round winner 2008 Australian V8 Utes fifth overall
Sydney 27
Favourite racing driver
Michael Schumacher
PHOTO: Keiran Grainger
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Racing Projects
Eddie Bell: Car #69 Bell Racing
Town/City of origin
Christchurch
Currently living in
Christchurch 38
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Major successes
Favourite racing driver
Inaugural Mini Challenge winner NZV8 Race and round winner
Ayrton Senna
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
DRIVER PROFILES: (Continued) Scott McLaughlin: Car #93
Town/City of origin Currently living in
Major successes
Christchurch Gold Coast 18
Favourite racing driver
Youngest ever V8 Supercar driver (16 yrs) Youngest ever V8 Supercar winner (17 yrs) Youngest ever NZV8 race winner (17 yrs) Greg Murphy
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Melbourne Performance Centre
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
Ant Pedersen: Car #96 International Motorsport
Town/City of origin
Rotorua
Currently living in
Hamilton 23
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Major successes
Favourite racing driver
2009/10 NZ Endurance driving Champion
Jeff Gordon
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
Page 31
Kayne Scott: Car #99 Team
Farmer Racing Services
Major successes
1991-94 NZ Tranzam Champion
Town/City of origin
Hamilton
05/06 NZV8 Champion
Currently living in
Hamilton
08/09 NZV8 Champion Favourite racing driver
Ayrton Senna
PHOTO: Matthew Hansen
43
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Age
Steven Richards: Car #556
Currently living in Age
Major successes
Auckland Melbourne 39
Favourite racing driver
1994 Australian Formula Ford Champion 1998 and 99 Bathurst winner 2002 Bathurst 24 hour winner Sir Jack Brabham
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Town/City of origin
John McIntyre Racing
PHOTO: V8 SuperTourers
Team
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
Page 33
The traffic’s a nightmare: Kayne Scott and Greg Murphy lead a train of sixteen V8SuperTourers through turn one at Hampton Downs. in front of a crowd of 20,000 on Sunday. PHOTO: Andrew Bright
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
SUPPORT CATEGORIES: Southern stars on show this weekend By Speedstuff Being a South Island round, the V8SuperTourers will not be supported by the regular V8ChallengeCup or Honda Cup competitors but there will be a very healthy support program in place with over 100 cars entered across three different race categories.
When the rotary brigade kicks in expect Blair Robertson to be a leading contender while Case Wortel will be trying to emulate his Son in Law Eddie Bell’s exploits in the Independent Fisheries SuperTourer.
Rennsport The Rennsport category (German for ‘Racing Sport’) was started in Christchurch three years ago and has grown into one of the largest & most popular classes of motor sport in the South Island.
In the Minis, look out for Ryan Charles, Geoff Holland, Doug Drake and Barry Wilson.
It is an all-comers class for German cars with minimal rules and regulations and a key focus on racing with your mates and enjoying a mutual passion together. The series is unique in that there are no points or championships on offer, but rather a selection of chocolate fish awarded after each meeting. The field is made up of predominantly BMW ‘s and Porsche’s in their various guises, both classic and modern plus a VW ex British Touring Car and a superbly presented German engineered Zakspeed Escort.
Mainland All Comer Saloons A jam-packed field of saloon cars from throughout the South Island will line up this weekend with close racing guaranteed. This mixture of OSCA, Sports and Club saloons range from highly tuned V8’s to wildly tweaked turbos and rotaries and everything in between. Russell Mortimer in his Nissan180SX will be a real contender along with Laine Etwell in his Pontiac. There are also a couple of very rapid RX7’s of Grant Williams or Rick Matheson plus Guy Stewart in the Porsche GT2.
South Island Saloons This race class represents competitors from Pre 65, Mazda Pro 7’s and Mini 7’s from throughout the South Island. Pre 65 are a mixed class of cars powered by eight, six and four cylinder engines while both Pro 7 and Mini 7 classes compete as a controlled class racing where in theory, all cars are capable of similar lap times and delivering close exciting racing. Keep an eye out for Dunedin’s Brian Scott and Wayne Patrick in ancient Falcon guise while Gareth Hall will entertaining in his Chevy Nova. Greg Stewart has traveled all the way from Lumsden and is driving one of four very nice Mustangs lining up on the start grid.
World class: Allan McCormick’s BMW M3 GTR
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
TEAM PROFILE: International Motorsport By Speedstuff International Motorsports is arguably New Zealand’s most successful and accomplished motorsport team....... ever. With over 3000 race starts, eight New Zealand Touring Car championships, multiple New Zealand single seater and saloon car championships including Toyota Racing Series (three) and NZ Porsche championships (seven) to name a few, and home to drivers such as Denny Hulme, Jim Richards, Craig Baird and Shane van Gisbergen, it’s hard to argue with that statement.
detail that was required in order to be successful. I had a belief that if a company focused on absolute detailed preparation of a race car and matched this with driver talent that would be successful in winning races.” One of International Motorsport’s first national championship titles was in the infamous PDL Ford
We caught up with team owner Lyall Williamson to find out where it all began and what the team looks like today. “I started in motorsport in 1960 while doing my apprenticeship at Archibald’s Garage.” Williamson recalled. “In those days the Tasman Series was very strong with top International race car drivers like Clark, Moss, Brabham, McLaren and Hulme all competing in the Series from time to time.
Williamson cut his teeth in the early days in the world of speedway, learning how to keep a race car going for five or six nights. It was from this experience that Williamson began to understand the importance of car preparation and ultimately became the founding principals of International Motorsport. “This era taught me so much about the attention to
PHOTO: International Motorsport
“Archibald’s always made the workshops available for the international teams to prepare their cars and it was in those early days I struck up my relationship with Denny Hulme that lasted until his untimely death in 1992. Denny’s encouragement was instrumental in me making an early start in motor sport and to make it my profession.”
Take your pick: The diversity of projects underway in the International Motorsport workshop is testament to Lyall Williamson’s long association with motorsport in New Zealand. In fact, 2010 marked Lyall’s 50th year in business.
PHOTO: International Motorsport
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The delivery suite: Another fire-breathing V8SuperTourer comes to life in the International Motorsport workshop, Mustang that went on to reign supreme in the 70’s and 80s. That success was followed by numerous touring car race wins and championships in the 80’s and 90’s including an Australian Touring Car Championship and a Bathurst win in the two litre era.
looking for a championship to run in.
International Motorsport started in the Porsche GT3 Cup Series in 2001 with a two car team but by 2009 the team had grown and on one particular weekend ran 15 Porsche GT3 Cup cars from the one team, not to mention two NZV8’s, two Toyota Racing Series cars, and two minis - 21 cars in total! It was in that period that the team collected its seven Porsche championships.
After speaking with the teams backers, an opportunity arose through Williamson’s long time friend and supporter Paul Pedersen to purchase 2 of the new franchises with the team fielding FG Falcon V8SuperTourers for young rising star Ant Pedersen who has been driving for International Motorsport since he moved up from Karting, and Johnny Reid another of International Motorsport’s long list of drivers.
In 2011 Porsche New Zealand decided to wrap up the Porsche GT3 Cup Series meaning International Motorsport with its highly trained Technicians were
Which brings us to the V8SuperTourers. At about this time, the new series had been announced and after seeing the car in the flesh they knew this was the class for them.
The team operates from a purpose built workshop in Grey Lynn, Auckland where they prepare their cars
SPEEDSTUFF EVENT GUIDE: Round 2, Ruapuna, 7th-8th April.
TEAM PROFILE: International Motorsport
The team have a full time staff of 15 and a number of part time staff who join in on the race weekends or if workload increases. The team allocate between 3 – 6 full time staff to work on the V8SuperTourers while they are in the workshop. The factory has it’s own engine and gearbox shop, lathe room and all of the facilities that allow it to be very much self sufficient when it comes to working on the cars. Come race weekend, Mark Johnston who has a wealth of V8Supercar experience oversees the operation while each car is headed up by an engineer who is supported by three race mechanics. Sean Hayes engineers Jonny Reid’s car and Neil Scott (son of Jim) looks after Ant Pedersen’s. The cars were built in house and the team was rewarded with success at Hampton Downs with Ant Pederson winning race three and both drivers sitting inside the top 10 in championship points with Reid third and Pedersen fourth. PHOTO: International Mtrsprt
Jonny Reid Reid comes from a wellknown New Zealand racing family. Both his grandfather and his father were known kiwi drivers. His father, Clayton Reid, was a New Zealand champion in karting. Like his father and many drivers in the V8SuperTourers field, Reid got a start in go-karts from a young age, making his competitive debut at age nine. Reid has multiple NZ karting titles to his name as well as a Formula Ford NZ Championship and New Zealand Grand Prix title. He has spent time overseas initially in Formula Holden in Australia with great success as well as in Europe with Formula 3000 and Formula 3 in Japan.
Reid shot to notoriety in New Zealand when he received a call up to drive New Zealand’s A1GP entry scoring a fourth place on debut. Reid followed this up with multiple pole positions and race wins driving ‘Black Beauty’ between 2005 – 2008. Reid spent some time in the American Indy Lights with a best result of fourth before returning to New Zealand to contest the NZ Porsche GT3 Cup for a couple of years. Reid joined the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup championship in 2011 finishing runner up to Craig Baird. Reid is contesting the Porsche Carrera Cup Championship again this year as well as the V8SuperTourers. Ant Pedersen Unlike Reid, Pedersen didn’t get into go-karts until much later in his life. When he did, he too had success with a number of national titles. Pedersen’s first season out of go karts was in 2006 where he contested in the MINI Cooper Challenge winning Rookie of the Year before taking a step up to the Porsche GT3 Cup series placing third in his first year of competition behind Craig Baird and Daniel Gaunt.
PHOTO: International Mtrsprt
along side their other business of building custombuilt performance classic cars.
His second year in the championship was one to forget. Budget constraints meant Pedersen’s running was limited in the 2009/2010 season but his talent hadn’t gone unnoticed, earning a drive in the 2010 V8Supercar development series. Again, a limited budget meant Pedersen could only contest three rounds but he managed to make an impression in this short time, sitting third in the championship at the time he withdrew from the series. Pedersen also contested the V8Supercar endurance races later that year in a wildcard entry alongside Damian Assaillit.