Great Britain Lions set to roar at teams champs
After being a last-minute addition to the Great Britain Lions team last year Ben Hurdman can’t wait for the action to begin tonight.
From Radford, Worcestershire Hurdman only came to New Zealand last year expecting to race once at a meeting before the teams champs but an injury to Danny Wainman meant Hurdman was thrown in the deep end.
Hurdman’s interest in coming to see New Zealand superstock racing started at the 2015 Autosport show when a lot of people he spoke to were making the trip out for the Teams Champs.
‘‘Racing here is nothing like at home and I’d wanted to come here and give it a go even just once,’’ Hurdman said. ‘‘It was a bit of a shock to all of a sudden find out I was going to be in the biggest event of them all.’’
Hurdman had seen the odd video but when he found out he was going to team’s race he thought he better see what it was all about, but he quickly turned the video off.
‘‘It’s like watching a video of someone getting a filling before going to the dentist to get one yourself.’’
Despite only one meeting before last years Teams’ Champs, Hurdman was one of the stars along with another rookie Chris Cowley.
They led the popular Lions to the final and a second runner-up, previously in 2011, beaten by the Hawke’s Bay Hawkeyes.
That one experience has had Hurdman eager to return and hopefully help the Lions to their first title since they debuted in 2009. The Lions have a favourable draw meeting two of the lesser teams in the Stratford Scrappers and Canterbury Glen Eagles.
‘‘I love it there’s nothing like it back home and it’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever raced in,’’ he said. ‘‘The grand parade with the entire crowd yelling their support of every team was incredible’’
Before racing in the teams champs Hurdman said he used to look in his rear vision mirrors a lot but after last years event his driving back in England has improved markedly.
‘‘I don’t worry about who is around me now I just concentrate on looking through the corner ahead of me and my results have improved since.’’
‘‘But teams racing is completely different to normal racing even though there might just be eight cars on the track with four of them trying to take you out.’’
Manager Guy Parker has managed to bring a competitive team each year, but the one constant is Frankie Wainman Jr who will again lead the team.
Wainman Jr has just missed one teams champs and has competed in 26 races.
Unfortunately for Parker and his assistant Peter Falding, Cowley, who along with Hurdman blocked brilliantly last year, was unable to come as was Chris Brocksopp, but another star from
last year Lee Fairhurst is back.
Newcomers in the team are John Dowson, who won the race with the Auckland Allstars last week and Bobby Griffin.
Dowson from Durham has
loads of experience in the UK having raced for 10 years while Griffin from Retford, Nottinghamshire has raced for five years.
Hurdman said a lot of the Lions’
success came down to the organisation behind the team.
‘‘Guy does a great job in keeping this going each year to the stage there’s now a lot of interest back home.’’