This coming weekend will see another of New Zealand Motorsport’s biggest single meeting entries as over 215 cars contest 30 races for 10 categories at Pukekohe Park Raceway. The annual GT Radial “Thunder in the Park” will commence with qualifying at 10:00am Saturday morning with the first 10 races on the programme set to start from approximately 1:30 pm. Sunday will see 20 quick-fire races commencing from 9:00am including several crowd pleasing handicap races.
One again the hugely popular “big-banger” V8 monsters are set to be the star attraction in the form of GTNZ, GT1, GT2 and Muscle cars. The GT1 cars are hugely respected as the fastest circuit racing saloon machines in New Zealand Motorsport piloted by some of the country’s most fearless drivers. The Chester Plumbing and Bathroom GT1 and GT2 races will feature cars such as Chev Camaro, Chev Corvette and Jaguar XKR driven by popular drivers such as John Rae, Nick Chester, Grant Brennen and Clark Proctor.
However, they will not be the only class of racing providing the thrills for the large crowd expected. Big fields will also be lining up for the ultra-competitive Kumho Tyres Pre 65 saloons, Firestone Super-Six, Koken Super Minis, SS2000 Saloons, Toyo Tyres Pro-7 (Mazdas) and Bridgestone Porsche Series.
Single-seater racing will again be represented by the Weldwell New Zealand Formula First Championship category where some of tomorrow’s racing stars endeavor to follow in the footsteps of Scott Dixon, Shane Van Gisbergen, Christina Orr, Simon and Mitch Evans.
A large variety of cars will take to the track for the GT1, GT2 and NZGT categories including some purpose built “Trans-Am” style high speed racers together with the highly tuned turbocharged cars proving so popular with younger followers of the sport. An amazing entry of over 50 cars will contest six races set down for the ever popular “big-bangers.”
The Muscle Cars will feature a combination of such names as Falcon GT, Commodore, Monaro, Torana SS, Camaro and Mercedes Benz. The Pre 65 Saloons will see a combination of historic cars including Anglias, Cortina GTs, Mustangs, Holdens, a Morris Minor, Chev Nova, Ford Thunderbird and Hillman Imp all bringing back memories of racing years gone by.
There will be three races for each category over the weekend with the major classes comprising between 20 and 30 cars facing the starter. The meeting is being promoted by Motorsport Auckland which comprises a consortium of the New Zealand International Grand Prix Association, the Auckland Car Club and the Northern Sports Car Club.
An added incentive for spectators is that for every ticket sold a dollar will be donated to the Westpac Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust. Advance sales are available from the NZIGP office at 6 Findlay Street, Ellerslie Town Centre or by phoning (9) 579 3108.
