South Island Endurance Series

[matt dunn]

Bigger and better for ASKO Appliances South Island Endurance Series

With the South Island Endurance Series fast approaching, series organizers, the South Island Endurance Racing Drivers Club are in for their best season ever with ASKO Appliances securing naming rights as the overall series sponsor in what will be known as the 2008 ASKO Appliances South Island Endurance Series.

Television coverage has been confirmed for at least the Ruapuna round of the series and some fantastic entries are expected. The prize pool has also been significantly increased with Dunedin artist Norman Sinclair donating an original watercolor painting valued at $10,000-00 to the overall series winner, plus their will be a class prize pool of around $7500-00 in prizemoney. The series again has some very classy entries and as it is the only sanctioned series in NZ that has no limitations on engine capacity, there is always a great variety of man & machinery competing in four separate classes and battling for the overall championship honors.

2007 Series Champions Aucklander's Matt & Dwayne Carter are returning in their ex- Brad Jones Racing V8 Supercar again hoping to collect the silverware. It will not be an easy task as there are more Porsche GT3 Cup cars entered than ever, including past Champions Angus McFarlane/Michael Bushell with their GT3 RSR replica, Paul Kelly will also enter with his new 997 GT3 as will the International Motorsport team of Ant Pedersen and Daniel Gaunt along with up to nine 996 GT3’s in the hands of experienced and new campaigners including a two car team from front running GT3 team Triple X Motorsport that will include current Porsche drivers Jody Vincent, Mike Morton and Shane McKillen plus TRS front runner Andy Knight.

There is also the return of a few cars that were absent last year including expected front runner Craig Gilbert in his very fast Camaro fresh from its debut win in the Levels 1 hour race, the very fast Subaru WRX of Geoff Ball/Dean Milligan and series regular Brent Beatson who will run one of the two Factory Renault Megane Cup cars entered with the other likely to be shared by TRS drivers Ben Harford, Ben Crighton, Mark Munro & SI Super 6 frontrunner Clara Bond.

2007 series runners-up’s Dale/Alan Chapman return along with their parents Dennis & Debbie in their BMW SuperTourers, and other expected front runners include McDermid/Swaney (Supra powered Corolla), Davidson/Garden (Corvette C5), Head/McDermid (Turbo Altezza), Wadsworth/Croft VY Commodore and 2007 series rookie George McFarlane, now with some reliability in his Supra powered Altezza

New cars to look out for include Dunedin paring of enduro specialist Warren Good & past sport saloon champ Arron Black in a late model BMW Motorsport built BMW 320, Auckland’s Perry Scarfe and past NZ TraNZam champion Grant Silvester in a Falcon Ute and the pairing of John Hepburn & Peter Black who both have multiple NZ titles to their names in an imported Honda Civic. The Series will also see a Mitsubishi Evo 6 piloted by gravel specialist & past NZ rally champion Chris West, and looking to make its debut is the hybrid BMW Z3 turbo of past SI Endurance champions Graham Dodd/Grant Milligan.

You also certainly can’t discount the smaller class cars who compete in either the McFarlane Group Developments 0-1600 or Southern Finance Ltd 1601 to 2000cc classes and are always in with an overall chance should the faster cars strike problems and include Toyota & BMW ex-2 litre touring cars along with a great mix of Integra’s, Civic’s & Corolla’s etc right through to the “baby” of the series the Peugeot 106 of Sinclair/Ham who finished a very creditable 10th in the 2007 series.

The ASKO Appliances SI Endurance Series kicks off at Powerbuilt Ruapuna near Christchurch on 15th March, with round two at Levels Raceway in Timaru on 29 March and the Grand Finale at Invercargill’s Teretonga Park Saturday 12th April 2008. The overall series champion will be awarded the ‘South Canterbury Toyota Cup’, plus an original watercolor painting by Dunedin artist Norman Sinclair valued at approx. $10,000-00. Prizes are also awarded in each of the four classes being McFarlane Group Developments 0-1600cc, Southern Finance Ltd 1601-2000cc, Hagley Building Products 2001-3500cc and Asko Appliances 3501cc and over.

For more information on the series sponsor ASKO please visit www.asko.co.nz, 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

[Kahlua]

Wow, looks like one hell of a good series this year Matt.

Some familiar names in Enduro racing I see there, although Clara has kept that a secret that she might be in it this year? Nice to see Chris West also making an appearance.

Nate and I are running the Transponder Timing system at Ruapuna and Teretonga again this year, so I'll get to see most of the series (and get paid to fly down south too!)

Hopefully catch up with you if not at the Enduro meet (from memory Saloons are entering?) otherwise see you at the Street Sprints. (which I'll be entering as long as the car survives the Clubsport Nationals)

[matt dunn]

.

Nate and I are running the Transponder Timing system at Ruapuna and Teretonga again this year, so I'll get to see most of the series (and get paid to fly down south too!)

Hopefully catch up with you if not at the Enduro meet (from memory Saloons are entering?) otherwise see you at the Street Sprints. (which I'll be entering as long as the car survives the Clubsport Nationals)

I will be at all the rounds, as I will be working with an Enduro team,
and Sports Saloons are at the first and last round with them too.

I probably wont be doing the Street Sprints this year.

[Lloyd]

I think I might end up in the pit lending a hand with the bosses car at this stage