New Zealanders love their Audis, and this weekend the qualities that make models like the S3 Sportback so popular in this country will be showcased by defending class champion Simon Sceats at the opening round of the New Zealand Production Racing class championship at the Fujitsu 200 meeting at Pukekohe Park Raceway.
Sceats and the S3 Sportback head an 18-strong entry in the multi-class Production Racing category in a turbocharged 2.0 litre S3 Sportback prepared by Auckland's International Motorsport and entered by importer and distributor Audi of New Zealand.
The car will compete in the premier Class D division for four-wheel-drive, forced induction machines with competition set to come from the cars which have dominated the category up until this point, Subaru's Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi's Lancer Evo.
The decision to prepare and enter a car in a national championship class is a new one for importer Audi of New Zealand. Internationally, however, Audi is no stranger to competition, having used rallying to prove and publicise its landmark quattro four-wheel-drive system since 1981 and - more recently - the Le Mans 24 Hour race (this year's win was the marque's eighth in ten years) to showcase its ground-breaking diesel engine technology.
Because, to his knowledge, Audi of New Zealand is the first distributor to race-prepare an S3 Sportback and enter it in a bona fide national level motor racing championship, company General Manager Dane Fisher is cautious not to build expectations too high.
But he is definitely looking forward to seeing the car on the track this summer, and he believes the crowds that traditionally flock to the country's motor racing circuits will feel the same.
"With Audi being the leading luxury brand in New Zealand for nearly four years now, there is often a keen interest in what we do. Added to that, the Kiwi appetite for S and RS models is three to four times greater than the world average, something we put down to the unique mix of design, technology and performance seen in these sportier models. I won't be surprised if our S3 Sportback gets a lot of attention out on the track."
The S3 Sportback quattro is Audi's premier A3 model. Its turbocharged direct injection FSI 1984cc four cylinder engine produces 195kWs of peak power and 350Nm of peak torque with drive transferred to all four wheels via a 6-speed S tronic dual-clutch gearbox and sophisticated quattro four-wheel-drive system.
The Production Racing championship cars will be on track from today (Friday) at Pukekohe Park Raceway with two testing sessions, before qualifying on Saturday morning, the first race of the 2010/11 season in the afternoon and two more races on Sunday.
