WEEKEND WARRIOR

NAME: LEWIS J FRAYNE AGE: 24 LOCATION: AUCKLAND OCCUPATION: MOTORHOME RENTAL MANAGER

NZ Performance Car : Hi, Lewis. Not every day you see WRX made up to look like the great Colin McRae’s; how did you come to own it?

Lewis: Hey, guys. It was a trade-in against a new car at a dealership that we usually buy from — in completely stock form, that is. They rang up and said to come check it out, so my dad and I went for a look, and it was nothing more than a plain white example — nothing fancy, just tinted windows, with a little dumpy, [an] aftermarket steering wheel, and two gauges. Memories of my first WRX flooded back — which had a stainless exhaust that would start riots but still produced the famous rumble that makes you understand why people like them.

And it wasn’t long before you got straight into modifying it?

Almost instantly, really. It overheated on the way home, requiring new head gaskets and a couple of hoses, etc., and, while it was away being fixed, I researched every last detail on what I hoped to do with it. So, when it came back from the mechanics, it went straight to Shores NZ Fabrication in west Auckland for the eight-point roll cage. That’s when I started looking at the local race series and motorsport clubs. Having driven at various track days over the previous years, I thought [that] it was time to step up and compete seriously in a car that had true racing heritage behind the model.

What series did you choose, and how have you placed so far?

I joined the Production Race Series and have done a full season with them so far. I didn’t successfully run every round, as mechanical gremlins hindered the car — just old and abused parts showing themselves under race stresses. We had a turbo bust at the track only 30 minutes into the day at Pukekohe, having done two laps with no boost. It was in the pits at 9am with two other teams helping out while the car was jacked up in the air and the only VF22 turbo listed for sale on Trade Me quickly en route. It was fitted by 3pm and back on track for another shot! Overall placement this year, having attended only four of the seven races, I managed ninth — which I’m happy with, considering that’s out of 34 cars! I’m now preparing the car for this year’s season and hopefully a podium finish.

You were invited to drive at Leadfoot, too?

Yeah, that was absolutely fantastic! To race up a hill that predominantly only racing legends get to is amazing. I’ll never forget standing next to Scott Dixon at the top of the hill watching other cars come up and basically just talking like we’ve known each other for years. And the coolest part was people asking for my autograph and telling their kids, “one day that name will be famous!”

A once-in-a-lifetime experience, no doubt. What inspired the 555 livery it now wears?

Being a kid growing up around motorsport, one name I always heard was Colin McRae and following him meant [that] you always heard of one manufacturer: Subaru. It was something [that] I would watch for hours on end, just seeing this blue car with gold wheels slide around corners with a loud, deep rumble, so, when I was old enough to understand cars, it was always just something in the back of my mind to have something iconic like that. I don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a vehicle to that standard, nor to buy the actual thing, but wanted to match my style of ‘if in doubt, flat out’ like Colin had. The choice to build it into a tribute car was easy.

And what’s next for the WRX?

Hopefully [to] get a little bit more power while coupling that with a full sequential gearbox. None of this comes cheap, but it will surely shave my lap times a little bit while sounding epic going down the front straight at Pukekohe on full chat.

That’ll be a soundtrack to be heard. Thanks, Lewis.