MATT MCLEARY AND LAURA ARRAS — TRIUMPH 2.5 PI RACING SALOON

Matt Mcleary and Laura Arras own four Triumphs, including a Triumph PI racing car.

After following the initial Historic and Classic Saloons Pre-’78 racing class during the summer of 2020 with a friend, Gavin Jackson, who races a Triumph PI, they decided to get one so they could compete, too. The cars are a relatively cheap classic to purchase, parts are plentiful, and they perform well when correctly set up.

Gavin Jackson also owns a pristine white Triumph Mark 2 Estate. One of these Triumphs, a tan example, also figures in Matt and Laura’s collection. They have owned it for three years and have converted it back to its petrol injection (PI) status after it had run on twin carburettors since 1985.

“After finding out just how rare this car is we decided it needed to be converted back to petrol injection.”

After a long period of comprehensive development, Laura has one piece of advice for enthusiasts contemplating restoring these PI cars.

“This journey hasn’t been easy, and there have been testing times. Did we make the right decision by pulling apart a reliable car to go PI? However, we 100 per cent wouldn’t change it. If you want to do it, our advice is to push through the problems, take the time to learn from them, and in the end I promise it will be worth it!”

‘Keen as’ would describe this young couple who drove to Auckland in May 2021 and trailered home a partially completed racing sedan project.

“It had a homologated cage but it had never been raced,” says Laura. “It was in a heap of pieces but most parts were with the car. Three weeks later, we had it painted and we started to put it all together.”

The suspension was completely rebuilt, as was the brake system.

“We were very lucky to have Gavin’s guidance and help on this build.”

Despite some challenges right up until the week of the first race meeting, the pair made it to Timaru for the Brooklands Challenge on 3 September.