Lonely run for Christchurch racer

The race weekend begins today with qualifying at the Lichfield track. Race days are Saturday and Sunday. To be in with a chance of victory, drivers must complete at least 500 km (ten laps) per day.

Greg Murphy lines up for Spring Rally

Greg Murphy just can’t get enough rallying and will line up for the 2015 Spring Rally in Geraldine tomorrow. This will be Murphy’s third run in a gravel rally, an experience that the Kiwi motor racing legend has relished. First run in 1977, this year’s event is the final round of the popular Mainland Series and will feature a title show-down between Richard Bateman and Deane Buist. The event is hosted by the South Canterbury Car Club and is the type of rally on which WRC driver Hayden Paddon first cut his teeth. The rally gets underway at 11:00 am with the first car due home at 3:45pm.

World kart champs for Armstrong

Kiwi Marcus Armstrong is seeded eighth for this weekend’s CIK-FIA KF class World Karting Championship meeting in Italy. The 15-year-old from Christchurch is one of 66 drivers from around the world entered in the class at the combined KF/KF-Junior meeting at the La Conca kart track in Italy’s far south. Armstrong’s entry this weekend is the first in a senior CIK-FIA World Karting Championship title class since Auckland brothers Wade and Mitchell Cunningham raced in this class over 10 years ago. In 2003 Wade Cunningham won the CIK-FIA World Karting Championship title at Sarno (near Naples), Italy, and he remains the only New Zealander to have won a world karting title.

Locals win Enduro ahead of field carnage

Scott O’Donnell and Allan Dippie, (Porsche 997 Cup S) won the opening Three Hour race of the South Island Endurance Series last weekend in Invercargill. It was not until two laps before the end that they took the lead after the George and Angus McFarlane Porsche 997 Cup R punctured. It was literally carnage throughout the field of top competitors, starting with the Friday practice when Inky Tulloch’s beautiful SaReNi Camaro sustained heavy damage after hitting an unforgiving wall. The debut of the new Audi R8 LMS Ultra of defending Series and NZ champion Andrew Bagnall/ Rick Armstrong was cut short with suspension damage after contact on the second lap with the Carter V8 Supercar. Also debuting was the John Wadsworth/Warren Croft V8 Chevy Cruise but they similarly suffered heavy damage against the tyre walls with a resulting fire.

The McLennan/Moore SuperTourer led the entire first half of the race but a battery failure then saw them drop down the order. After regaining the lead their left rear wheel came adrift with broken wheel studs. Others also suffered over the course of the race and many teams will be scrambling to get cars ready and prepared for the next round in Christchurch in a week’s time.

Benjamin Carrell is the online editor of nzmotorracing.co.nz