After a successful race debut at the opening round of the 2010/11 New Zealand Production Racing Championship at Pukekohe Park Raceway at the beginning of the month Audi of New Zealand's S3 Sportback will be back on track in even better shape at Christchurch's Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park this weekend.
The sleek silver S3 Sportback was a popular addition to the Rnd 1 field at Pukekohe. After its driver, defending New Zealand Production Racing champion Simon Sceats, qualified it fourth in class and seventh overall, the distinctive A3 Sportback emerged from a real 'baptism of fire' with top ten finishes in each race, despite its almost showroom stock appearance and limited testing time.
'In fact," says Audi of New Zealand General Manager Dane Fisher, "in one important respect it was in 'less-than-showroom-stock' form because we actually had to reduce the standard boost pressure to meet the series' regulations."
After observing the car in action officials have now given dispensation to return the car to its factory boost levels. In the three weeks since the opening series round Audi of New Zealand and International Motorsport, the Auckland-based preparation specialists running the car, have also been hard at work trimming weight out off the standard car.
"By swapping the seats we used at Pukekohe for lighter weight ones, fitting a lighter exhaust and making other small improvements we have been able to reduce weight by about 40kgs which will also help the performance," says Fisher.
Kiwis buy three times more S and RS models than Audi's world average so there has already been keen interest in the performance of the S3 Sportback on the track.
So what should race fans expect this weekend?
"The original objectives," says Fisher, "were to showcase Audi technology and to take the fight to the Japanese manufacturers - that hasn't changed. We always knew Pukekohe was going to be a challenge, and it's one I'm pleased to say we passed. Now, with the technical nature of the Ruapuna circuit suiting the Audi better, we are confident of an even better result this weekend."
The New Zealand Production Racing Championship field joins competitor championship cars on the programme at this weekend's Altherm 500 meeting at Christchurch's Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park.
Practice is on Friday, with the qualifying and first eight lap race of the weekend on Saturday before two more races on Sunday, the first over eight laps and the second with a reverse grid format based on lap times over 10 laps.
After a break over the Christmas/New Year holiday period MotorSport New Zealand's premier championship series resumes at Invercargill's Teretonga Park and Timaru International Motor Raceway at Levels over consecutive weekends in mid January. It then returns to the North Island for the penultimate round at Manfeild in February and the final at Taupo Motorsport Park in March.
