Because it is hosted at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell, the New Zealand Endurance Championship is chock-full of the region’s drivers, in both the one-hour and three-hour races on Saturday.
The stage is set for one of the biggest motorsport battles to be held in this country and one of the star players in the flagship longer race is not what you would expect of a limelight hogger.
In among the Audis, Porsches, Mercedes and McLaren GT3s and roaring V8 super cars is the diminutive Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR belonging to Queenstown’s Barry Moore and M Developments’ team-mate Tim Mackersy, of Dunedin.
Do not be fooled by its size, this front-wheel-drive 350hp pocket rocket not only finished first in class B for 2001 to 3500cc cars —winning each of the three rounds — but also third overall in the South Island Endurance Series (SIES), which wrapped up last month.
While it was the driving duo’s fourth season racing together, it was their first in their newly imported Volkswagen Motorsport car and they quickly got to grips with how to get the best out of it.
‘‘Where we make up time is corners and braking. There’s not a lot that’s quicker than it. Probably the main thing is consistency. It’s ultra-reliable and very easy to drive,’’ Moore said.
There are plenty of family connections happening on race day and one of them is Mackersy’s father, Ron, who lives in Arrow-town, and is racing with longstanding partner Warren Good, of Dunedin. They are competing in class B of the three-hour race in a VW Golf Cup.
Some other endurance racing stalwarts are Allan Dippie, of Dunedin, and Invercargill’s Scott O’Donnell, who finished second in the three-hour SIES in their Porsche 991 GT3 Cup.
Dippie’s brother, Martin, is coming fresh from Targa South Island and will compete in his road-spec Porsche 991 GT3 RS.
Sticking with siblings, there are Dunedin-based Black brothers Arron and Stu, who have good chances at class A (0-2000cc) glory in both the three-hour and one-hour races. They are doing double duties in their ex-World Touring Car BMW E46s, as is Dippie-O’Donnell, who will also contest both races but in different model Porsches.
In the day’s first race, all eyes will be on Dunedin’s Chris Henderson to see if his GT3-smashing Toyota Corolla V8 can enjoy the ‘‘big birthday’’ it has had since defending its SIES one-hour victory last month.
A facelift to repair damage caused by another car and an engine rebuild on the 600hp LS3 power-plant, combined with aerodynamics work undertaken earlier in the season, means this home-built weapon is loaded for action. Henderson will also partner Christchurch’s Grant Williams in a Mazda RX8 in the three-hour race.
Highlands has staff entered across both races. Big boss Tony Quinn is a favourite in the three-hour category, while head professional driver Andrew Waite is in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
Waite’s fellow hot laps pilot, Jack Milligan, will join Christchurch’s George McFarlane in his Porsche 997 GT3R for the longer race.
Quinn’s son-in-law Kynan Yu, who is also a Highlands employee, will co-drive with the Cromwell track’s member, David McAlpine, in a hot McLaren 570S GT4 in the one-hour race.
Even Queenstown Mayor Jim Boult is not missing out on the action and will race in the one-hour event with endurance rookie Clark Scott in a Honda Integra.
All the Otago drivers are up against some seriously stiff competition and the tally of cars that could genuinely win the 2018-19 NZ Endurance Championship reaches double figures of cars, SIES co-ordinator Chris Dunn said.
The three-hour qualifying starts at 9.15am and the one-hour qualifying at 9.55am. The one-hour race begins at 11.15am and the three-hour race at 1.45pm.
