It will hopefully be 3rd time lucky for the 2010 ASKO Appliances South Island Endurance Series as they again get set for the opening round of their 2010 Series. This weekends round at Timaru’s Levels Raceway was initially set to be the final round of their 3 round Series but Mother Nature has seen two false starts with the Earthquake cancelled Powerbuilt Ruapuna round on September 4th & then the Teretonga Park round set for September 18th, which was also cancelled due to the heaviest snowfall seen in Invercargill for 50 years.
These two interruptions will now see the ASKO 3hr Series be raced over only two rounds with this Saturday’s Timaru meeting & then the Series Finale at the Motorsport NZ Premiere Championship Series round at Ruapuna on 27th November 2010. Round organizers the South Canterbury Car Club have made admission free on Saturday for fans to see some very spectacular machinery competing these two grueling races.
Close to 30 cars are entered for the Levels round, which will see the debut of a couple of cars that will no doubt be near the front of the field including the immaculate Ferrari F430 of Tim O’Connor who will team up with Terry Robinson & TRS pilot Sam McNeill as co drivers, plus the newly repowered twin turbo Porsche GT3 of Angus McFarlane & Michael Bushell. There are also a couple of new combinations few new combinations that will be contesting the Series’ Allied Lubricants GT class, including Allan Dippie (GT3) this year sharing with Production car ace Grant Aitken and the O’Donnell GT3 will be shared with father & son Lindsay & Matt O’Donnell, with Matt stepping up to the Porsche after several years campaigning their BMW SuperTourer, also Peter Van Eekelen (GT3) who is having his first attempt at a 3 hour race and has teamed up with 2009 Ruapuna 3hr winner Garry Cliff. However in a real twist to the 2010 Series none of the three cars that all finished tied at the top of the 2009 Series points table, will now make the start. Neither series favorites Scott O’Donnell/Andy Neale (Porsche GT3 RSR) nor class 2 winners Dennis & Dale Chapman (BMW SuperTourer) will make the Levels round and with 2009 Champions Matt & Dwayne Carter (Falcon Supercar) still being plagued with difficulties with their car, a brand new Series champion is likely to emerge.
The hot favorites for the Allied Lubricants Class 1 (3501cc and above) have changed cars after a heavy crash in testing at Teretonga, Davidson/Garden will use their 2nd C5 Corvette for the series, and will be in a great class battle with series regulars John Wadsworth/Warren Croft (VY Commodore) as well as the Toyotas of 2008 Levels pole setter Craig McDermid, who teams up with series secretary Chris Dunn, and George McFarlane/Dean Milligan in the similarly powered Altezza.
Some of the runners in the Hagley Aluminum Class 2 (2001cc -3500cc) could easily surprise especially the Good/Black x-World Touring Car BMW, which has already proved to have the speed to match the GT3’s, however with an increase to the 3.2 litre engine for 2010, if they can get its reliability sorted it will be a potential race winner. The Heagney/Head AE86 turbo also likely to be at the sharp end of this class and possibly the field if the race is dry, but the lone 4wd in the field being the Petrie/Petrie Subaru WRX will be looking for some of the rain that competitors dealt with at last years Levels race. This popular Class 2 also includes entries from Helms/Bolland (BMW M3), Cliff/Knighton (Porsche Boxster), and 2 Mini Challenge cars, one from International Motorsports stable driven by series rookies Richard & Dan Bagnall and a similar car from Dunedin based Stu Black/Bryan Rusbatch. Whilst the Hagley Aluminum Class 3&4 (0 -2000cc) with be fought out by the local Timaru drivers Brent Beatson (Renault Megane Cup car) & Steve Pilcher/Bruce Tinnelly (Honda Integra).
Fans will also be treated to a separate 1 hour race at the Levels meeting especially for Club type cars with again a great variety of machinery on the track. Entries have been received from a variety of cars from a late model Porsche through to NZ oldest competing race driver John Cottier in his 1300cc Toyota Starlet. The 1 hour series is also divided into 4 separate cc based classes with naturally aspirated cars taking on the turbo and rotary powered machinery. The entries for this race are very varied but include the long standing WRX v Evo battle, plus other turbocharged cars, rotaries, V-Tec and naturally aspirated machinery. The 2009 One Hour Series champion, Dave McLean, is back to defend his title, whilst young Ryan Heagney will start his first ever car race. The 1hr race includes a bit of fun with a compulsory pit stop element where a driver change needs to be made or the driver must exit car the run around it and get back in.
The overall 3hr series champion will be awarded the ‘South Canterbury Toyota Cup’, plus the Club has been donated an original watercolor painting by High Country artist Norman Sinclair valued at approx. $10,000-00 which will be given away as a spot prize, along with many other prizes donated to the Club. The Club also distributes prize money throughout the five capacity based classes in both the 1hr & 3hr Series.
After Round One (part 3) at Levels, the ASKO Appliances SI Endurance 3hr Series moves to its Grand Finale at Christchurch’s Powerbuilt Ruapuna on Saturday 27th November, which will be at their Premiere Championship Series Round and also double up as the first round of the 2 round NZ Endurance Championship.
