Motor Sport
The 2022/2023 motor racing season kicks off at Teretonga Park in Invercargill this Saturday and what a start it will be. The event features the second round of the Carter’s Tyre Service South Island Endurance Series meaning two 1 Hour Endurance races in the morning followed by the feature 3-hour race in the afternoon.
The quality of drivers and machinery is absolutely stunning. Throughout the day fans will be able to enjoy racing featuring a Brabham BT62, several McLaren’s, Audi’s, Ford Mustang’s, Mercedes AMG GT3’s, Porsche’s, Lotus, BMW, Chev Corvette, Nissan GTR GT3, BMW and more.
The 3 Hour race features quality cars and quality drivers.
The stunning Brabham BT62, a car that will create a lot of interest, will be driven by series sponsors, Matt & Dwayne Carter of Auckland, winners of the race at Teretonga Park all the way back in 2009.
Jonny Reid is a two-time winner of the Teretonga 3 Hour race, in 2018 and 2019, both times with Neil Foster. He was a former New Zealand A1 GP star and has driven all over the world. He also won the New Zealand Grand Prix when it was held at Teretonga Park in 2003. This year he is paired with Sam Fillmore who won the 3 Hour race in a Ferrari in 2016. Fillmore and Reid teamed up to win the 3 Hour race at the opening round at Mike Pero Motorsport Park in Christchurch earlier this month in an Audi RB Evo 2.
Other internationally successful kiwis in the 3 Hour race include two- time New Zealand Grand Prix winner Daniel Gaunt, the first of those at Teretonga Park in 2007. Gaunt has teamed up with Andrew Fawcett this season in a McLaren 720S and the duo were runners up to Reid/Fillmore in the opening round. Chris Van Der Drift is another who has raced all over the world including as part of the New Zealand A1GP team and he is paired with Lance Hughes in a Nissan GTR GT3 while Jono Lester has raced in places as diverse as South East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand and will run on Saturday in a Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup MR while Simon Evans is a two-time V8 SuperTourer Champion and a race winner for Jaguar in the I-Pace e trophy and joins Marco Giltrap in a Porsche 718 GT4 Clubsport.
Reigning 3 Hour Series Champions and winners of the race in 2015, Scott O’Donnell (Invercargill)/Allan Dippie (Dunedin), return in their Porsche 991 GT3R while last year’s winner Glenn Smith who teamed with Damon Leitch to win on that occasion returns in his McLaren 570S GT4, this year with John De Veth.
Familiar names Paul and Anthony Pedersen in their Mercedes AMG GT3 were third at the opening round while rally veteran Brian Green is in the field in another McLaren alongside David Rogers while Graeme Rhodes and Paul Rickerby come armed with a MARC II Mustang.
There are plenty of other top class drivers in the field and the 1 Hour races will be no less exciting this year with some epic machinery throughout. Scott O’Donnell teamed with Brit, Michael Lyons, to win the Class 4/5 race at Ruapuna in their Hyundai i30N while Sam Collins took the 2/3 Class race in his Marc Mustang.
Testing and practice take place on Friday 23 September with qualifying and racing scheduled from 9.00am on Saturday 24 September.
Tickets for Round 2 of the spectacular Carter’s Tyre Service South Island Endurance Series to be held at Teretonga Park, Invercargill on Saturday 24 September are on sale at Auto Centre, Tweed Street, Invercargill and E Hayes & Sons, Dee Street, Invercargill. Pre-sale tickets at these venues are just $15 each (a surcharge may apply) while tickets at the gate on the day are $20 each. Children 14 & under accompanied by a paying adult are free.