Richard CraillUncertainty to Absolutes: Taupo’s Supercars journey
ADMIT IT, when Supercars announced their New Zealand return would come via a smallish, country circuit three and a half hours South of the biggest population base in the nation, you probably rolled your eyes. Sure, there was a dim memory of A1GP being held at Taupo in another lifetime, and some domestic Kiwi racing stuff over the summer tucked away on Aussie pay TV, but that was about it. Surely, I bet you thought, Hampton Downs would have been a better bet. Or Highlands. Or better yet, just don’t close Pukekohe.. I thought a lot of those thoughts too.
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Media ReleaseHidden Valley Improvements Announced
The first stage of the Hidden Valley Master Plan upgrade is revving up, with the Territory Labor Government investing $3 million in Budget 2024 to make the beloved motorsport track more accessible for all Territorians. The upgrades will ensure that motorsport fans with a disability have improved facilities, upgraded pathways, new lighting and better signage. These initial upgrades will ensure fans of all abilities can more easily enjoy the action trackside. They will also ensure a coordinated and sequenced delivery of the remainder of the first stage of the Hidden Valley Master Plan, including: Upgrades to the pits area, including
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Team TRTPower Rankings: Taupo
Taupo: the latest place to be uncovered by the Supercars Championship that is now on your bucket list. So there was an awful lot to unpack from that one: the pandemonium of the New Zealand Touring Car Championship on Saturday, to the running of the Bulls on Sunday, and everything else - here are the Hot, Not and What from the maiden Taupo adventure. ABOUT THE RANKINGS: The TRT Power Rankings are compiled by your nominations from social media and edited by the TRT editorial team. They’re designed to give a balanced, as fair as possible critical overview of those things
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TRT Media ReleaseSolid Pace from Robotham
Aussie Jay Robotham made a promising start to his Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS campaign at the Sepang International Circuit over the weekend, with a class podium from the opening race of the season. Driving a Lanotec Australia-backed Climax Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Min Heng, the combination showed strong pace throughout the event, even if it wasn’t smooth sailing in qualifying or the races. After setting the second fastest time in the second test session, the outfit placed 18th on the grid for race one. An up-and-down opener saw the pair finish 17th and third in the
Continue readingRussell on Top
DAVID RUSSELL has ended the longest drought in Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia history, claiming his first ever round win in his 60th attempt. Russell, who moved to TekworkX Motorsport this season, had finished second on six occasions and had 14 prior podium appearances without a round win in his otherwise successful Carrera Cup career; but ended that streak in style today in Taupo. Russell claimed the Endurance Cup opener on Sunday morning then finished a safe second in Race 2 to claim the round over Jackson Walls and Nash Morris. Walls won the final race of the weekend
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Mark WalkerThe Battle of Bathurst: Taking a Financial Bath
The culmination of Australian motorsport’s civil war came in 1997 with the running of dual Bathurst 1000 races. In this series, we have previously delved into the formation of V8 Supercars and the power struggle that played out in the media following the Bathurst City Council’s sensational move to grant the V8s their rebel date on Mount Panorama. Read: Part 1 – The Battle of Bathurst: V8s Vs Super Touring, TV Wars & Council Plays Read: Part 2 – The Battle of Bathurst: Lawyers Engaged, V8s & Super Tourers Rage War Now, in Part 3, we will examine those two drama-charged
Continue readingRussell Reigns in the Rain
DAVID RUSSELL has returned to the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia winners list, leading lights to flag to claim a rain-sodden New Zealand opener in Taupo. In just his fourth ever race for TekworkX, Russell led home Angelo Mouzouris – in his best race yet – and Harri Jones to take the sixth win of his Carrera Cup career and the Equity One Professional class honours. Adrian Flack survived an early scrape to claim the win in SP Tools Pro-Am with Rick Armstrong in second and Sam Fillmore in third. The race started behind the Safety Car as solid
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Jones Paces Practice
PORSCHE PAYNTER Dixon Carrera Cup Australia championship leader Harri Jones has picked up where he left off at Round 1, topping the charts in practice as the championship made its debut in New Zealand today. Jones’ 1m26.6403s saw his Hastings Deering CAT / Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport #12 car top the Equity One Professional class order ahead of Round 1 runner-up Dale Wood’s Connected Spaces / EMB Porsche and Dexion / GWR Australia's Dylan O’Keeffe. The same three drivers topped each of today’s 25-minute sessions as the field got up to speed at the 3.2km Taupo circuit. Jones’ benchmark lap
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Dale RodgersTaking Over: The Stephen Grove Story
Motorsport attracts a wide spread of competitors, sponsors and team owners. Since AVESCO launched the concept of a V8 Supercars franchise system some twenty-eight years ago, we have witnessed a fascinating array of owners of the coveted licence, or in its current form, the Teams Racing Charter. Unsurprisingly, names like Larry Perkins, Tony Longhurst, Mark Larkham and Glen Seton were all early owners of V8 Supercars ‘RECs’, and to this day, Brad Jones and Dick Johnson continue to operate their teams under the charter of the day. But along the way, we have witnessed many ‘interlopers’—mostly successful business people, and
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