Round 4 of the 2020/2021 Evolution Motorsport ClubSport Championship takes place on Sunday at Teretonga Park, and the Fitchett family of Mokotua are sure to be among the competitors.
Matt Fitchett and his family are dairy farmers at Mokotua and last year a flyer promoting the Southland Sports Car Club’s entry level ClubSport events arrived home from college with one of his sons. Having two sons – James, who was at that stage was 14 years old, and Ryan, 12, – who were keen petrolheads meant Matt gave the club’s ClubSport co-ordinator Malcolm Mitchell a call prior to the 2019/2020 season commencing.
James and Ryan duly lined up in the Evolution Motorsport car which was available for hire to contest their first motorkhana, a series of events around coned courses run against the clock.
The family soon had a car of their own to use, a Renault Clio which was quickly joined by a Subaru Legacy. They quickly expanded their involvement as the boys progressed into contesting both motorkhana’s and autocross events before the end of that first season. Autocross involves more speed and higher safety requirements. With the boys getting fully involved Matt also started competing. The Clio was soon replaced by a Mitsubishi Diamante. “I wanted something with a little bit more grunt but the Mitsi was a little big so we are looking for something smaller for the cones,” Matt says.
Despite only becoming involved a little over a year ago the family are fully committed to ClubSport. “It is really good to do it with the boys,” Matt says. “They love it and there is plenty of competition between them. The benefits of driving in a controlled environment while learning car control is a bonus and everyone is easy to get along with at the events too.”
Round 4 takes place on Sunday and the Southland Sports Car Club welcome any newcomers who want to take part, or even just come along and see what the sport was about before having a go. Drivers as young as 12 could have a go with parental consent.
Entry fee for the motorkhana is $25 and autocross $40 with a small hire fee for the Evolution Motorsport club car of $20.
Andrew Lawrie of Invercargill leads the Motorkhana Championship after three rounds from Craig Allan and Andrew Kennedy while Liam MacDonald heads the Autocross points from Lawrie and Stacy Lines.