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 Newsletter

Circulation 6500


The great HRC Events meetings just keep coming!
Need some practice?? HRC will be running a practice day at Hampton Downs on Friday 1 April for one and all. This practice is the day before the famous Legends of Speed meeting.
The next big race meetings for HRC Events are the Great Lake Taupo event at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park on 1-3 April and the historic Legends of Speed event, also held on the same weekend but at Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park.
The Great Lake Taupo event is sure to be full of excitement with racing from two grids of 2K Cup competitors, Superkarts, NZ Superlap, RRE, Sportscars, Formula Libre and Formula First alongside a one-off Honda Endurance Race aiming to be the biggest ever Honda race in NZ! There is also a prize purse up for grabs to encourage all Honda racing car owners to share their collective love of all things VTEC...!
On the same weekend of 1-3 April, HRC Events will hold the ever-popular Legends of Speed meeting at Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park. Legends shields will be presented to the winners of the final race of each class on the Sunday afternoon. Legends this year will be prior World Champions including Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. These World Champions were chosen on the ranking of the most number of Championship victories they have won.
Classes racing to compete for an esteemed plaque are BMW E30, BMW Open 2 Litre, BMW Open A/B, Arrow Wheels, ERC/AES Tradezone, ALFA Trofeo, Historic Formula Ford, Formula Junior, Historic, Classic Trial, HMC/HSC and last but not least Historic Sports Sedan.
As usual plaques will be presented to winners of the third race for each class. The plaques will be awarded as follows:

Legend	Class
Michael Schumacher	BMW E30
Juan Manuel Fangio	BMW Open 2 Litre
Alain Prost	BMW Open A/B
Sebastian Vettel	Arrow Wheels
Jack Brabham	ERC/AES Tradezone
Jackie Stewart	ALFA Trofeo
Niki Lauda	Historic Formula Ford
Nelson Piquet	Formula Junior
Ayrton Senna	Historic
Lewis Hamilton	Classic Trial
Alberto Ascari	HMC/HSC
Graham Hill	Historic Sports Sedan

 
Come on down for one of the final race meetings held this summer season! Bring your family, friends, acquaintances, neighbours! 
If you or someone you know is interested in competing in one of our many events, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We provide fantastic race meetings that cater to all different people and race cars and we are always here to help.
 
PREMIER GRAND FINAL – PUKEKOHE
Friday 15 to Sunday 17 April 2016
After a season where all three V8 classes – including the former SuperTourer and TLX-type chassis as well as the original 'TL' spec cars – ran on one grid and produced some great racing, the season finale is here and it will be all guns blazing amongst the V8 powered racers at what many regard as the spiritual home of the national V8 racing category. HRC is negotiating with a number of the A Class BMW cars to race with the New Zealand Touring Cars. This should make the racing even more interesting and spectacular to watch!
It will be the busiest weekend of the 2015-2016 racing calendar with no fewer than ten categories racing and aiming to put on a great motorsport show. It all starts on the Friday, with open testing and practice absolutely free to the public to come along and attend. Organisers are aiming to attract hundreds from local schools and the wider Counties community to get a taste of top level motorsport. Ticket prices are seriously good value too, ranging from $20 and 10 classes racing! Pre-purchase your tickets online at https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2016/apr/premier-motorsport-pukekohe to receive presale discounts!
Racing action will continue throughout Saturday and Sunday, with attractions off track including a kids play area and climbing wall, fun for kids and adults alike! The Polaris bus service will be ferrying spectators around, as well as hot rod, oval racing and karting displays. There will even be a radio controlled racing zone!
The Super Final will also see the conclusion of the born again V8 Utes first ever sprint season. There have been some epic battles in the class and numbers have been on the rise again with no fewer than 16 Utes lining up to take the green light at the recent New Zealand Grand Prix meeting. The title could go any one of three or four ways, but it's the vastly experienced racer and Pukekohe local man Paul Manuell who will start the weekend in 'pole position' looking for a series win. For the Ford and Holden fans who like a bit of the old school rivalry, this category is as good as it gets, with Holden and Ford neck in neck and within thousandths of a second of each other around the Pukekohe circuit.
No top race meeting these days would be complete without the endless action from the Ssangyong Utes and we are delighted to have them back for their season finale at Pukekohe. Blink and you'll miss it, quite simply there's action every second of the way. Can anyone go three abreast over the infamous mountain? These guys and girls will be a fair bet to achieve it time and time again! With around 28 of these identically matched 'max-entertainment machines' jousting over four races during the weekend, spectators will be in for a treat.
Also on the bill for the big weekend in motorsport are the TRADEZONE GT1/2 and TRADEZONE GT3/4 grids both packed to the brim with some amazing machinery. The majority of the GT1/2 field are highly exotic NZ built machines or imported international level GT or Sports Car machinery, whilst the GT3/4 grid is much more of a celebration – and a big one at that – of what one man and a small team can achieve in their own garage. The top class of GTs includes Crawford prototype racers from the States, the world's fastest TVR, flame spitting Corvettes, flame spitting rotaries, V8 Supercars and some of the wildest Evos you will ever see.
Add in the fabulous Porsches and spectacular NZ Super Trucks, BMW Open, Formula Ford and a perfect dash of classic content courtesy of the Kumho Tyres pre-1965 racers and you have all of the ingredients of an unmissable race weekend. An action packed weekend for the family and an awesome way for any petrol head to sign off another racing season.
For tickets, head to https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2016/apr/premier-motorsport-pukekohe
For all other information head to www.hrcevents.co.nz
MAHINDRA NORTH ISLAND ENDURANCE SERIES
3-4 June, 24-25 June and 22-23 July 2016
This year the dates are Friday 3 to Saturday 4 June at Bruce McLaren Motor Sport Park, Taupo, Friday 24 to Saturday 25 June at Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park, and finally, Friday 22 to Saturday 23 July at Manfeild, Fielding. Entries will be available from Tuesday 5 April on www.motorsportentry.com. Make sure you get your entry in early as we are expecting big fields and entries will be accepted in order of receipt. The final for the New Zealand Championship will be held in the South Island this coming season and to qualify for the championship meeting you must contest the North or South Island series.
SEASON FINALE FEAT. 2K CUP MASTERS
Saturday 7 to Sunday 8 May 2016 – NZRDL
This meeting sees the final race meeting for a number of the race series. 2K Cup, GT1/GT2, GTRNZ, Pre 65, Super Karts, Honda Cup, NZ Sports Car, Formula Libre, Rotary Enthusiasts, BMW Enduro 1 hour, Super Lap and Mini Racing Drivers will all come together for the final spirited race meeting of the summer season. These great classes will provide an incredible variety of racing this weekend and are sure to be entertainment for all ages, characters and fans!!
For entry head to www.motorsportentry.com
Entry Fees
It’s as inevitable as the tide coming in! We can all try to do a King Canute, but with increased costs on all fronts entry fees will have to be increased.
This year we have had to absorb increases in track hirage fees, marshal costs etc and even new costs that we have not been charged before. Health and Safety loadings have already added $50 per entry, plus existing MSNZ levies are driving costs higher every year. Our budgeting is telling us that entry fees for an average class 25 cars will have to go to approx. $475, and a larger class with 40 cars will pay approx. $350
 
Regards
 
Chris Watson  chris@hrcevents.co.nz  0274827542   09 337 0732
Amy Vincent   amy@hrcevents.co.nz  021 1494335   09 337 0732
 
Level 2 Suite 3     20 Augustus Place Parnell
 
HRC Events Upcoming Events

Friday 25 to Sunday 27 March Taupo IRC TR86, Ssangyong Utes, Central Muscle Cars, Super Mini, Porsche, Pro 7, SS2000, Formula First, NZ Six/HQ Friday 1 to Sunday 3 April 2016 Legends of Speed – Hampton Downs – HRC Formula Junior, ERC Classic Race Series, Alfa Trofeo, BMW X4, Historic Muscle Cars, Historic Sports Sedans, Historic Formula Ford, Classic Trial Friday 1 to Sunday 3 April 2016 Great Lake Taupo – NZRDL 2K Cup, Alfa Trofeo, Rotary Enthusists, NZ Sports Cars, Formula Libre, Pre-65, Super Karts, Honda Enduro, Super Lap, Formula First 11 April 2016 Auckland Car Club Round 6 Hampton Downs Classic Japanese, Northern Muscle, Production Muscle Cars, Standard Production, Racing Saloons Friday 15 to Sunday 17 April 2016 Premier Summer Series Finale, Pukekohe UDC V8 Utes, NZ Touring Cars, Ssangyong Utes, Central Muscle Cars, NZ Super Trucks, GT1/GT2 , GTRNZ, Pirelli Porsche, Pre 65, Formula Ford, BMW Open Saturday 7 to Sunday 8 May 2016 Season Finale feat. 2K Cup Masters – Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park – NZRDL 2K Cup, GT1/GT2, GTRNZ, Pre 65, Super Karts, Honda Cup, NZ Sports Car Formula Libre, Rotary Enthusiasts, BMW Enduro 1 hour, Super Lap, Mini Racing Drivers Friday 3 to Saturday 4 June 2016 North Island Endurance Series Round 1 – Bruce Mclaren Motorsport Park, Taupo – HRCL, NSCC, NZIGP, NIERDC Friday 24 to Saturday 25 June 2016 North Island Endurance Series Round 2 – Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park – HRC, NSCC, NZIGP & NIERDC Saturday 2 July 2016 2K 800 Relay Race – Hampton Downs International Motorsport Park – HRC 2K Cup Cars only Friday 22 to Saturday 23 July 2016 North Island Endurance Series Round 3 – Manfeild, Fielding – HRC, NSCC, NZIGP & NIERDC

 
Dates for next season – 2016-2017 Summer
Below are the proposed dates for meetings next season. Please treat it as a draft as the Championship Meeting dates for next year have yet to be decided.
Contact for HRC Meetings chris@hrcevents.co.nz
 
2016
4^th June                       Mahindra NI Endurance Series Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park
25^th June                     Mahindra NI Endurance Series Hampton Downs
23^rd July                      Mahindra NI Endurance Series Final Manfeild
3^rd September            Auckland Car Club Round 1 Hampton Downs
10^th-11^th September   Ice Breaker HRC Hampton Downs
24^th-25^th September   Waikato Challenge HRC Hampton Downs
1^st October                  TACCOC Pukekohe
15^th October               Auckland Car Club Round 2 Pukekohe
15^th-16^th October        HRC Taupo Meeting
22^nd-23^rd October       Manawatu Car Club Manfeild
29^th-30^th October        101 GT3 Meeting Hampton Downs
5^th-6th November       V8 Super Cars Pukekohe
6^th November             Taccoc Hampton Downs (watch TACCOC website for updates)
12^th-13^th November    MG Manfeild
13^th November           Auckland Car Club Pukekohe
19^th-20^th November    Taupo Car Club
3^rd-4^th December        V8 Festival Hampton Downs HRC
11^th December            Outsource IT Christmas at the Downs  TACCOC
18^th December            2K Cup and Super Lap Hampton Downs
 
2017
7^th-8^th January             Tasman Revival Taupo HRC
14^th-15^th January         Ken Smith Festival Hampton Downs HRC
21^st-22^nd January        Ken Smith Festival Hampton Downs HRC
11^th February              Auckland Car Club Hampton Downs
18^th-19^th February       Manawatu Car Club Manfeild
18^th-19^th February       Tasman Revival Pukekohe HRC
4^th-5^th March               Thunder in the Park Pukekohe NZIGP
12^th March                  Auckland car Club Pukekohe
March                         Roycroft Trophy Hampton Downs HRC
25^th-26^th March           HRC Pukekohe Meeting
1^st-2^nd April                 Legends Speed Meeting Hampton Downs HRC
8^th-9^th April                 Great Lakes Taupo HRC
9^th April                       Auckland Car Club Hampton Downs
15^th-16^th April             Taupo Easter Meeting Taupo Car Club
6^th-7^th May                  Season Finale Hampton Downs HRC
 
Who will be the 2016 NZ Formula Ford Champion?
The winner of the NZ Formula Ford Championship will race in the international Mazda Road to Indy ‘Shootout’ at the famous, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (south of San Francisco) on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 December 2016.
Up to 15 Formula Ford (or similar) Champions from around the world will participate in the shootout to determine who wins the ultimate prize of a $US200K scholarship to drive in the USF2000 2017 season. At this point it is fair to say Michael Scott and Aaron Marr are in contention, either can win. Both drivers have displayed tremendous driving skills throughout the season. The quality of their driving has been excellent preparation for this international opportunity. We wish both drivers well for the final round of the NZ Championship, Friday 15 to Sunday 17 April at Pukekohe.
 
MY LAPS TRANSPONDERS
My Laps Transponders can be purchased from the Historic Racing Club. Order online at www.motorsportentry.com or send a cheque to HRC Inc, PO Box 28140 Remuera.
HRC has the new X2 transponders in stock
Advantages are they can be charged in 4 hours instead of 12 hours and they will be compatible with new in car displays available within 6 months.
Prices
X2  Rechargeable Transponder         1 Year              $220
X2 Direct Wired Transponder           1 Year              $270
X2 Direct Wired Transponder           2 Year              $295
X2 Direct Wired Transponder           5 Year              $495

Special offer for the last of the Flex Transponders
AMB Flex Transponder $89.00 plus licence fee
Transponders can now be purchased as little as $89.00 plus a 1 year licence fee of $110 making the total price $199.00
This price includes insurance and lifetime guarantee.
Your only cost is the licence fee of $110 a year in subsequent years.
That is less than 2 weekends hire and you own the transponder!
AMB FLEXI TRANSPONDERS
1 year $199.00 and 5 years for $475.00. At the end of the license period to activate your transponder is AU$100 for 1 year, AU$181.50 for 2 years and AU$368.50 for 5 years. This new method would suit competitors who are looking at a short term career in motor racing or wanting to save money in the initial years.
All My Laps Transponders are used at all New Zealand circuits.
MYLAPS provides personal transponders to fulfil the needs of organizations as well as the needs of participants. With the introduction of the Car/Bike FLEX personal transponder, MYLAPS offers a low cost entry solution for racers

Subject: HRC News - March 2016

January 2016 - Circulation 6000 plus and counting!     HRC Events web site - Have you checked out the new HRC Events web site? There's plenty of news and information not only about our events but also about the exciting racing categories that run at them.  If you are a driver entering a meeting is just a few clicks away and if you are a spectator you can buy your tickets on-line (subject to them being available for sale). Check it out here: www.hrcevents.co.nz  Our current website www.grandprix.org.nz is still on the net but will be phased out over the next six months.     Renew your membership- If you need to renew your HRC membership just go online at www.motorsportentry.com and on the home page press items for sale. We don’t send out reminders.   My Laps Transponders can be purchased from the Historic Racing Club. Order online at www.motorsportentry.com or by sending a cheque to HRC Inc, PO Box 28140 Remuera. HRC has the new X2 transponders in stock. The advantages are that they can be charged in 4 hours instead of 12 hours and they will be compatable with new in-car displays available within 12 months. Prices are as follows; X2  Rechargeable Transponder, 1 Year, $220; X2 Direct Wired Transponder 1 Year,           $270;  X2 Direct Wired Transponder, 2 Year, $295; X2 Direct Wired Transponder, 5 Year, $495. We also have a SPECIAL OFFER available for the  last of the Flex Transponders - AMB Flex Transponder  $89.00 plus licence fee for 1 year  of $110 making the total price $199.00.  This price includes insurance and lifetime guarantee Your only cost is the licence fee of $110 a year in subsequent years. That is less than 2 weekends hire and you own the transponder! Five year licenses are available for  $475.00. At the end of the license period to activate your transponder is AU$100 for 1 year, 2 years AU$181.50 and 5 years AU 368.50. What it all basically means is that there is a solution for everyone whether they are planning on racing short, medium or long term.  Something NEW....We are very much looking forward to a new event on the calendar for Saturday March 12th. With the recent resurgence of interest in Endurance racing and the North and South recognised by MSNZ as championship series, Hampton Downs will be the venue for the Endurance National Championship Meeting - a "shoot out" to decide the best of the best and featuring cars from the top twenty of each series, and likely one or two wildcards. To make the weekend itself even more interesting, it also will see the GB Pensions Roycroft Trophy meeting on the SUnday at the same venue. Quite a contrast of cars on display on both days from the vintage to the very latest endurance racing machinery.  And of course we very much welcome GB Pensions on board as the title sponsor for that event. You will be able to find out more about that in forthcoming newsletters.     Return of hire transponders is a continuing problem, for the last Hampton Downs meeting we had to hire in extra transponders from an outside supplier and because we did not recieve three transponders back we had to pay another $2000. This has forced us to make a change. Going forward we will now require a cash deposit of $50 which is only refundable when the  transponder is returned on the day. You will then have a grace period of 3 days to return the transponder and after 3 days we will charge $35 a day. As we enter the season were we have events every weekend we have a real problem having enough transponders to hire if the previous weekends transponders have not been returned. We would encourage all competitors to look at the transponder advert below and buy their own transponder. Prices start at just $199 and there are a range of deals to suit. Contact Chris or Amy at chris@hrcevents.co.nz or amy@hrcevents.co.nz       The price of racing and changes coming - we want your views - While we paint a very positive picture of motor sport in the newsletter and it is the case that we are very busy indeed, we do face problems going into the future. Track hire cost is continuing to increase. This is to be expected, as the rates have been at a virtually non-commercial level in the past. While tracks have survived they have not been in a position to implement safety upgrades immediately as required. This is not to say the tracks have been unsafe but they could be safer and better in many cases. Entry fees will have to rise but this is not the complete solution as any big increase in entry fees will see a reduction in the number of entries. What is needed are bigger fields for each race, for a two day meeting organisers can run 9 or 10 classes. There is big difference in income if the races have fields of 15 or 35. Maybe the classes that can only field 15 Cars should pay a higher entry fee than say 2K Cup which can provide two fields of 46 cars for a race meeting. What is a definite is that next year a race meeting with small fields will not be viable at the two Auckland tracks. HRC is already planning its race meetings for next year so any input would be welcome.     Want a ticket? - Don't forget, you can get tickets for all of our events at www.hdticketing.com or if it is for the Porsche Festival then you can fill your motorsport boots at www.nzfmr.co.nz You can also get tickets for any of our Premier Motorsport Calnedar events at https://www.iticket.co.nz/go-to/hrc-events - this is a new site and we have our own section on there, so make the most of it!     There are always plenty of events going on around New Zealand for motorsport fans. It's quite difficult to round up every single major and minor 'meet', but we have a calendar overview which includes as many of the events on it as we are aware of! You can check it out on the HRC Events web site - www.hrcevents.co.nz - by clicking on this link     Twenty one year old V8 Utes champion Sam Barry will make his BNT NZ Touring Car debut at the forthcoming Lady Wigram Trophy race meeting at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna. Sam, who has also raced in the Suzuki Swift series and the Mahindra North Island Endurance Series in recent seasons, will debut in a Class 2 (TL) Ford Falcon, staying in the Blue Oval family after winning the Utes title in another Ford.  He's on the lookout for sponsorship to compete the revitalised series, and you can follow his progress or get in touch with him via his Facebook site which can be found here or by searching for Sam Barry Racing.   Respected crew chief and team owner Alister McNeill died on December 30 after an 18-month battle against cancer. The New Zealander was part of a wave of Kiwis and Australians that migrated to Formula 1 in the 1970s and went on to settle in other forms of the sport throughout the world. McNeill's move to America followed stints in F1, and after an initial stop in Georgia, McNeill based himself in Southern California where he continued working in road racing and formed McNeill Motorsports. McNeill's team became a powerhouse entrant in Formula Atlantic and Super Vee, the two leading Indy car ladder series of the 1980s, where Johnny O'Connell – now a star in the Pirelli World Challenge with Cadillac Racing – made a name for himself in Alister's Atlantic program where he won the championship on his debut with the team. Article courtesy of Racer Magazine.   HRC Events Ltd is: Chris Watson 0274 827 542 or 09 377 0732, chris@hrcevents.co.nz Richard Gee 0210 2711926, richard@hrcevents.co.nz Amy Vincent 09 377 0732, amy@hrcevents.co.nz OUR BUSIEST MONTH EVER We have some great events coming up over the next two months and HRC is privileged to be organising such a wide range of events, writes Chris Watson.   We are very fortunate to have the full support of other organisations like the Canterbury Car Club, Southland Sports Car Club, NZIGP and of course The MotorSport Club. It has also been very helpful to have the Series Organising Group (SOG) co-ordinating the championship meeting classes as this has enabled HRC to organise some great meetings for the premier series and has also enable HRC to increase the sports presence in the media . Our page spreads in the Herald are a direct result of the Series Organising Group getting the classes to work together.   This coming weekend we have the Tasman Revival in Taupo , we have a good entry already but we can still accept more entries in all classes. All HRC events can entered on line at www.motorsportentry.com. This site will process over 2000 entries over the next two months and has 3795 registered entrants. Without this site it would be very difficult to run the number of meetings that HRC organises.   The third weekend in January is all excitement with the Porsche Festival at Hampton Downs for two weekends and the Premier Motorsport Series featuring the International Toyota Series at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna and then Teretonga the second weekend. The BNT NZ Touring Cars make a welcome return to the South Island for both these meetings . The Teretonga meeting will also feature SuperTrucks and ENZED Central Muscle Cars and because of record ticket pre-sales (http://www.hrcevents.co.nz/next_event.php) this event will be popular.   Ticket sales (www.nzfmr.co.nz) for the Porsche Festival are also going well, running at 22% ahead of budget at present so we are expecting a good crowd , we certainly have a great entry, one of the largest ever for this annual event.   HRC then drops down a gear with just one event a weekend with the NZ Motor Cup meeting at Hampton Downs with the International Toyota Series which will no doubt feature future Formula 1 champions (see story below). They will certainly be racing for cups that have been won by 5 FIA world champions. NZIGP have generously put up cups for all the classes racing and these cups all date back to the great Ardmore days.   The following weekend we are in Taupo with Toyota Racing Series, TRADEZONE GT12/3/4, Honda Cup, Sports cars/Libre, Formula Ford, BMW Open, Kumho Pre-65 and Super Karts and that too is shaping up to be a great race meeting.   So that's January! We then move into February which is just as exciting for race fans. The 12th to 14th of February see the New Zealand GP at Manfeild and this is the final of the Toyota Racing Series with some great support classes like TR86, Formula First, UDC V8 Utes, BNT NZ Touring Cars, Ssangyong Actyon Utes, Formula Ford and F5000. This meeting is organised by Manfeild Park Trust. On the 13th February Round 4 of the Auckland Car Club's summer series takes place at Hampton Downs and then on 20th and 21st February it is the Tasman Revival at Pukekohe for the classic race classes.   As can be seen from the above HRC is promoting a very wide range of events and it is our aim to raise the profile of Motor Sport in New Zealand at all levels. STARTING THEM YOUNG International motor racing drivers are starting out in the sport younger than ever. Over half the field in this summer’s Toyota Racing Series which starts at Ruapuna are too young to drive on public roads in their own country or have only just qualified for a civil driving license.   But because they have graduated through kart racing and in most cases at least one season of single seater competition they are licensed by world motorsport authorities to race in the five round series. Four sixteen year olds will be on the starting grid with four 17 year olds and five eighteen year olds. Young aces Lando Norris from England and China’s Guanyu Zhou are both 16, but can’t get a civil driving license in their own country until they are 18. Kami Laliberte and Devlin Defrancesco have only been able to get their Canadian license in the last few months since their 16th birthdays. Seventeen year olds Jehan Daruvula from India, Argentina’s Nicolas Dapero and Brazil’s Pedro Piquet - son of three time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet - will have to wait until they are 18 before they can drive on public roads in their respective home lands.   And the quartet of 18 year olds, Ferdinand Habsburg from Austria, Poland’s Antoni Ptak, Bruno Baptista of Brazil and Julian Hanses from Germany are only just old enough to get a license in their home country. New Zealand’s two drivers in the series, Taylor Cockerton of Pukekohe and Christchurch’s James Munro are 17 and 18 respectively. Being a teenager on the way up is almost a pre-requisite for success as drivers can start karting at a young age – Norris was just seven and already has nine years experience under his helmet.   In fact 20 year olds Will Owen from the USA and Frenchman Timothe Buret are the odd men out, while Theo Bean from the United States will be the old man of the Toyota Racing Series at just 23.   All drivers in the TRS use the same car, an Italian built chassis to international Formula 3 regulations, with a modified 1800cc Toyota motor producing 145 kWs on an ethanol bio fuel. The engines and computer management systems are sealed. The only changes teams and drivers can make to the car during race weekends, are the suspension and brake setup and adjustments to the aerodynamic “wings”.   It's highly likely that some of the Formula One stars of the future will race at next weekend's meeting - eventually. They have come from the TRS series before to F1 and they will continue to do so. Watch them closely! EVANS JOINS PORSCHE’S CHAMPIONS FOR FESTIVAL Kiwi single seater race ace Mitch Evans will join Porsche as a factory driver for the second weekend of the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs.   Evans, a winner and championship contender in Formula One’s major support category GP2, recently tested Porsche’s Le Mans and World Endurance Championship winning machinery and has got the nod from the factory to drive the museum demonstration cars at the event with Le Mans winner Earl Bamber only available for the first weekend of the two weekend event. Evans (21) will join World Endurance Champion Brendon Hartley to demonstrate the stunning Le Mans winning Porsche LMP1-98 and the iconic Martini-branded Porsche 935.  Mitch is one of the current crop of New Zealand motor racing superstars. He was the 2012 GP3 Series champion, has won races in GP2 and previously won the 2010 and 2011 Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand.   When he won the New Zealand Grand Prix in February 2011, it is believed he became the youngest driver to win an international grand prix anywhere in the world at only 16. Looking forward to the weekend and the experience of driving some of the world famous marque’s most iconic vehicles, he explained: “I am extremely excited to be part of the Porsche Festival. I have a huge passion for the Porsche brand so it is a real privilege to be given the opportunity to drive some their iconic cars. It should be a fantastic event, everyone is super lucky to be able to see the cars out there on display."   The two weekends of the annual Festival take place on January 15-17 and 22-24 with back-to-back racing featuring Formula 5000, the Pirelli Porsche Championship, Historic Muscle Cars, Sports Sedans, Formula Ford and Formula Junior as well as Formula Libre (including Can-Am and F5000 cars) on the second weekend, Heritage Touring Cars, Pre-65 Racing Saloons and Classic Trial which will include a 1962 Ferrari 250GTE/0.   There's also a host of Porsche races and events over both weekends, including a New Zealand record attempt on Sunday 17th to bring together the most Porsches ever assembled in one place. A 30 minute endurance race and the feature one hour endurance race on the final Sunday will bring together the best of the country’s Porsche racing cars against other marques including Ferrari. And if you haven't got tickets yet, then you need to! www.nzfmr.co.nz IT'S ALL ABOUT FRIENDS For most of us motorsport is a hobby, a past-time, a labour of love that soaks up way too much of our time and more money than we can often afford. None of us get to the start line without the support of friends, family and fellow competitors who lend a helping hand, some wisdom or a hard-to-find part or tool at the last minute.   Many of us have a local business (often owned by family or friends) give us a few dollars to help out. We call it sponsorship and it often makes the difference between a getting to an event…or not.   It's no different at HRC - we’ve always been a lean machine relying on support from a number of businesses, assistants and helpers to get things done. Like this newsletter you are reading right now, for example.   For a number of years this newsletter has been supported by Extreme Global Shipping and Freight. It's with their support that we’ve been able to get a good-looking newsletter out to you with all the results, info on events coming up, photos and stories. Extreme Global Director, Phil Mitchell, has helped many of you with vehicle and parts shipping at very HRC-friendly prices so mention our name whenever you call them. We’re very happy to have Extreme Global continue to be a proud supporter of HRC - and we’re proud to be associated with Extreme Global as well. It's great to have friends in motorsport. COMING UP THIS SUMMER SEASON 8/9  Jan 2016 Tasman Revival Taupo – HRC. ERC Classic Race Series, Classic Japanese, Alfa Trofeo, Formula First, Historic Formula Ford, Classic Japanese, NZ          Super Lap, Pro 7, PPG Classic Trial. 14/17 Jan 2016   NZ Festival of Motor Racing celebrating Porsche Hampton Downs – HRC. F5000,Historic Muscle and Historic Saloon cars, Historic Formula Fords,                Formula Junior/F3,Sports Racing and GT, Heritage Touring Cars, NZ Porsche Series, Historic Porsche, Porsche Regularity Trial, and WORKS PORSCHE demos with Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber. 16/17 Jan 2016      Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna - Lady Wigram Trophy Meeting, Premier Motorsport Series. Round Three Ruapuna. Toyota Racing Series, BNT NZ Touring Cars, Toyota Finance TR86, Formula Ford, UDC V8 Utes, Pre 65 SI and more!      21/24 Jan 2016 NZ Festival of Motor Racing celebrating Porsche - Hampton Downs - HRC, Weekend 2. European Endurance Race, ERC Classic Race Series Arrows,          Historic Formula Libre/Historic Formula Ford, Historic Muscle and Historic Saloon cars, Historic Single Seaters, Historic Sports sedans, Pre-65, Classic Trial, Porsche Series, Historic Porsche, Porsche dual car sprints and WORKS PORSCHE demos with Brendon Hartley and Mitch Evans. 23/24 Jan 2016  Southern Thunder Teretonga, Premier Motorsport Series. Toyota Racing Series, Toyota Finance TR86, BNT NZ Touring Cars, NZ Supertrucks, ENZED         Central Muscle Cars, Formula Ford and more! 29-31 Jan 2016 New Zealand Motor Cup Meeting, Hampton Downs HRC - Toyota Racing Series, Toyota Finance TR86, Ssangyong Actyon Utes, Sportscars/Libre, BMW E30, 2 Litre and Open, Pro 7 Mazda, Superminis.   6/7 Feb 2016  Denny Hulme Trophy Meeting, Taupo Motorsport Park. Premier Motorsport Series, Toyota Racing Series, TRADEZONE GT1/2/3/4, Motul Honda Cup, Sportscars/LIbre, Formula Ford, BMW Open, Kumho Pre-65, Superkarts.   12/13/14 Feb 2016 New Zealand Grand Prix Meeting, Manfeild Autocourse. Toyota Racing Series, Toyota Finance TR86, BNT NZ Touring Cars, Ssangyong Actyon Utes, V8 Utes, Formula Ford, Formula First, Formula 5000.   13 Feb 2016 Summer Series Round 4 - Hampton Downs - Auckland Car Club Classic Japanese, Northern Muscle, Production Muscle Cars , Standard Production, Racing Saloons.   20/21 Feb 2016  Tasman Revival Pukekohe – HRC Formula Junior, ERC Classic Race Series, Alfa Trofeo, BMW X4, Historic Formula Ford,Classic Trial 20-21 Feb Manfeild IRC  TRADEZONE GT1/GT2, GT3/4, Kumho Pre-65, Motul Honda Cup,  2K Cup, NZ Sports Cars /Libre, Pro7, SS2000, K Sports

December 2015 - Circulation 5800 plus and counting!     HRC Events web site - Have you checked out the new HRC Events web site? There's plenty of news and information not only about our events but also about the exciting racing categories that run at them.  If you are a driver entering a meeting is just a few clicks away and if you are a spectator you can buy your tickets on-line (subject to them being available for sale). Check it out here: www.hrcevents.co.nz  Our current website www.grandprix.org.nz is still on the net but will be phased out over the next six months.     Renew your membership- If you need to renew your HRC membership just go online at www.motorsportentry.com and on the home page press items for sale. We don’t send out reminders.     Every year at the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing, we hold an informal dinner and interview session on the Saturday evening of each weekend. This time around, at January's Porsche Festival, we have arguably the best line up we have ever seen... Weekend 1 - Le Mans – The greatest endurance race of them all. With the current World Endurance Champion Brendon Hartley and 2015 Le Mans 24 winner Earl Bamber both on hand, along with Howden Ganley, Greg murphy and Bill Farmer, there will be an unprecedented amount of information and knowledge about the great race, the history, the cars, the modern era and what it takes to compete there, and win there. Weekend 2 - Porsche Racers. On the second weekend we focus on the drivers who have graced this fabulous mark, and of course we are delighted to confirm that we will have the current World Endurance Champion and their current Le Mans champion on hand to give their views and answer your questions! Also on hand for another amazing dinner and discussion will Bill Farmer, Murph and Racing Ray Williams. To book your tickets, click here and select Evening Function Tickets.   Cost is $50 per ticket per person per weekend and that includes a buffet meal. A cash bar will also be operating.     2K Cup continues to grow, at the last meeting HRC had 104 entries for this one class. With a track limit of 46 cars the class had to be split into no fewer than three - highly competitive - groups. The other class showing good growth is the New Zealand Super Lap series. Entries have gone up over the past year from around ten per meeting to forty cars at the most recent event. Both groups have the same formula for success of strong leadership and a great support group made up of drivers.     Work at Hampton Downs is progressing well with the Corporate Suites being completed as we write. Work on the track extension is well advanced and if you have not seen it, then you MUST. Tony Quinn and his team have done an amazing job so far and there is no question the sport is going to have a circuit that will be the envy of anything else in the Southern Hemisphere.  When you think about it, that's really amazing news for motorsportspot in New Zealand.     Return of hire transponders is a continuing problem, for the last Hampton Downs meeting we had to hire in extra transponders from an outside supplier and because we did not recieve three transponders back we had to pay another $2000. This has forced us to make a change. Going forward we will now require a cash deposit of $50 which is only refundable when the  transponder is returned on the day. You will then have a grace period of 3 days to return the transponder and after 3 days we will charge $35 a day. As we enter the season were we have events every weekend we have a real problem having enough transponders to hire if the previous weekends transponders have not been returned. We would encourage all competitors to look at the transponder advert below and buy their own transponder. Prices start at just $199 and there are a range of deals to suit. Contact Chris or Amy at chris@hrcevents.co.nz or amy@hrcevents.co.nz     North Island Formula Ford - The next round of the North Island Formula Ford Series (Round 3) will be run in conjunction with the Formula Ford National Championship round to be held at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo on Feb 6th & 7th (Waitangi Weekend). Round 4 will be held the following weekend (Feb 13 & 14) at the New Zealand Grand Prix event at Manfeild. Club level entry fees of $320 are available to those who want to enter the NIFF only.  Note; there are no additional requirements to enter these Championship rounds, as your car already complies with Schedule F. The Historic boys will be running at the first weekend of the Porsche Festival, Hampton Downson January 15/16. The following weekend, January 22/23, there is a Formula Libre event for all single seaters.Entries from Class 1 and 2 Formula Ford cars will be accepted, along with Class 3 (Historic) cars, for the Formula Libre races. Entry fee is $370 and entry forms can be found here;  www.motorsportentry.com. If you’re interested, please get your entries in ASAP. Amy Vincent has now joined HRC events in a full time capacity as from the 1st January. Amy has been working part time as she completes her Marketing degree. Amy has raced in the Suzuki Series and has some exciting new ideas for promoting HRC events. She will be working closely with Chris and Richard and is also our new front of house at race meeting documentation.     Want a ticket? - Don't forget, you can get tickets for all of our events at www.hdticketing.com or if it is for the Porsche Festival then you can fill your motorsport boots at www.nzfmr.co.nz     There are always plenty of events going on around New Zealand for motorsport fans. It's quite difficult to round up every single major and minor 'meet', but we have a calendar overview which includes as many of the events on it as we are aware of! You can check it out on the HRC Events web site - www.hrcevents.co.nz - by clicking on this link     HRC Events would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Xmas and a prosperous New Year and we look forward to seeing you at one of exciting events in 2016.     HRC Events Ltd is: Chris Watson 0274 827 542 or 09 5802085, chris@hrcevents.co.nz Richard Gee 0210 2711926, richard@hrcevents.co.nz Amy Vincent 09 5802085, amy@hrcevents.co.nz

WANT SOME GREAT MOTOR RACING? First up in the New Year, on the 8th 9th January, is the Tasman Revival at Taupo with a mixture of classic and non-classic classes.   For the weekends 14-17 January and 21-24 January is NZ’s biggest race event after Supercars and this year the ever-popular New Zealand festival of Motor Racing celebrates Porsche and the huge success this year of World Endurance champ Brendon Hartley and Le Mans winner Earl Bamber. Both will be in attendance and Porsche are bringing two of their iconic Le Mans racers for the boys to demonstrate at the event. All the usual classes will be racing, including Formula 5000 and the Historic Muscle Cars, so there will something for everyone. See advert below.   Also over both of these weekends HRC - in conjunction with fantastic partners Canterbury Car Club and Southland Sports Car Club - are running the first two rounds of the International Toyota Racing Series which is part of the Premier Motorsport Calendar. The BNT NZ Touring cars, UDC V8 Utes, Toyota Finance T86, Central Muscle Cars and NZ SuperTrucks all feature somewhere along the line in these two fabulous race meetings.     For the last weekend of January (29-31) we are back to Hampton Downs for another huge event, the New Zealand Motor Cup for Toyota Single Seaters with support coming from the Ssangyong Utes, Formula First, NZ Sports Cars and Formula Libre, Pro7 Mazda, and the BMW classes. There are already 21 entries for this international Series which sees four New Zealand Driver entered Jamie Conroy, James Munro, Damon Leitch, and Brendon Leitch. Attending the meeting will be Nelson Piquet whose son Pedro Piquet is competing in the series. GP2 racer Artem Markelov returns too in what is shaping up to be an epic international series which will get lots of profile in the global racing community, featuring as it does the F1 and sports cars racing stars of the future. No fewer than nine nations are represented.   This meeting is known as the New Zealand Motor Cup meeting and the cup was first competed for way back in 1921. From 1954 it was awarded to the winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix when the Grand Prix was held in Auckland, and since 2006 it has been awarded to the winner of the Toyota Racing Series Auckland Round. The cup winners list reads like a Who’s Who of motorsport with famous names like Bira, Moss, Brabham, Surtees, Mclaren, Hill, Rosberg, Oxton, Radisich , Baird, Evans, Van Gisbergen and many more.   Not only have NZIGP (New Zealand International Grand Prix Association Inc) generously made this cup available they have made available another eight Cups from the Ardmore era of the NZ Grand Prix for the winners of the supporting races. We believe this is huge news for the sport as many groups work together to put it back on the sporting map in New Zealand and we will make a special announcement specifically on these fantastic trophies very soon, so watch this space!   All in all it’s going to be a massive month after Christmas and we’d love to see any of our readers at any of these events, competing or just coming along to enjoy the show. Motor sport is taking its first drive on the road to recovery and it is hugely important we can re-engage with the fans and get more people along to watch the fun. If you have a weekend spare and want to take the family along to an action packed race meeting with back-to-back action, then January at Hampton Downs for the Festival and iconic cars like the Addis Charger (above), or a trip to the Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna, or Teretonga Park for a slice of the main game action could be just what you are looking for!   See you there! Looking to race in January? The HRC office has been very busy lately with seven major events coming up in January, after a busy few weeks with Premier, Club and Historic events, writes Chris Watson. ' Looking ahead, once again HRC is hosting the always popular Breakfast Run to Warkworth, which always gets good numbers. It’s this weekend on Sunday 20th December, see the advert below for details, everyone welcome.   For our seven events in January we have a wide range of classes running at all the meetings.  Rather than have set classes running at the Premier Meetings, HRC has introduced different classes to the different meetings so all NZ classes have a chance to be seen at these premier events. We have also held entry fees for the non-championship classes, and with the solidity of dates and a good looking show, numbers on grids have been trending upwards as well.   For classes running at the various race meetings refer to the calendar of immediate up and coming events at the foot of the newsletter. Or if you would like a fuller view of the motor racing calendar ahead, check out the link in the In Brief section on the left. All of the following meetings can be entered on www.motorsportentry.com. It is interesting to note that this website has accepted over 1600 entries in the last two months. We certainly could not run the number of race meetings if we were still using paper entries. Just a tip when using motorsportentry, if you change an item on the page you have to press submit rather than OK at the bottom of the page, also check to see the expiry date of your licence is after the event. PASTURES NEW Long time racer and a great servant of the sport, Tony Roberts, has retired from Hampton Downs as of the end of November. While he is no longer directly involved in the management of Hampton Downs he still retains his other positions which include President of the Historic Racing Club Inc, member of the MSNZ Historic and Classic Commission, F5000 committee, Historic Muscle Car Committee and Director of the Festival of Motor Racing.   Tony has made a considerable contribution to motorsport over the past 45 years and we are sure this will continue during “retirement”. Tony’s greatest motorsport achievement has been the building of Hampton Downs. Two years were spent just getting a piece of paper called a Resource Consent (!) and this involved literally over 600 meetings with various parties.   We always say some in the neighbourhood n agreed to the consent just so they didn’t have to feed Tony when he called in for a chat and a cup of tea. During the construction phase Tony was very "hands on" using his driving skills to drive any of the machinery when necessary and he became very knowledgeable on the engineering matters.   nce Hampton Downs opened Tony made sure the facility  was hired nearly every day of the year,.The average hire days have been over 340 days a year and we doubt many sports facility  in  New Zealand come close to this figure. Tony is racing three cars at the Porsche Festival so his not out to pasture yet! KIWIS STAR AT BRDC AWARDS Congratulations to both of these guys on their fantastic night at the BRDC Awards - well done Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy. Three of New Zealand’s current group of rising stars of international motor racing, Brendon Hartley, Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy were all honoured at the prestigious British Racing Driver’s Club awards in London recently.   Cassidy, who won the Japanese Formula Three Championship driving for the TOM’S Toyota Team, won the Bruce McLaren Trophy for the most meritorious performance by a British Commonwealth driver in international motor racing in 2015. Last year’s recipient was Australian Red Bull Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo.   Evans, who finished fifth in the GP2 single seater series, was awarded the Woolf Barnato Trophy for his performance at the Le Mans 24 Hours race in June. Evans finished tenth overall and second in the LMP2 class after an early race delay while one of his co-drivers was at the wheel. Evan’s performance in fighting back through the field put some of the faster LMP1 class drivers in the shade.   Woolf Barnato for whom the trophy is named after was a three times outright winner at the famous French race in the 1920s.   Hartley and his Australian co-driver Mark Webber were both awarded BRDC Gold Stars for their performance in winning the World Endurance Sports Car Championship with four victories during the season and second overall at the Le Mans 24 Hours race in their works Porsche 919.   The awards date back 80 years and are among the most sought after in motorsport’s English speaking countries. All three drivers, Cassidy, Evans and Hartley, raced in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series on their way to international success. Hartley finished third overall in 2005 when he was 16 years old. Evans won the series in 2010 as a 15 year old and won again 2011 and Cassidy took the title in 2012 and 2013. COMING UP IN JANUARY 8/9  Jan 2016        Tasman Revival Taupo – HRC. ERC Classic Race Series, Classic Japanese, Alfa Trofeo, Formula First, Historic Formula Ford, Classic Japanese, NZ          Super Lap, Pro 7, PPG Classic Trial 14/17 Jan 2016      NZ Festival of Motor Racing celebrating Porsche Hampton Downs – HRC. F5000,Historic Muscle and Historic Saloon cars, Historic Formula Fords,                Formula Junior/F3,Sports Racing and GT, Heritage Touring Cars, NZ Porsche Series, Historic Porsche, Porsche Regularity Trial, and WORKS PORSCHE demos with Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber. 16/17 Jan 2016      Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna - Lady Wigram Trophy Meeting, Premier Motorsport Series. Round Three Ruapuna. Toyota Racing Series, BNT NZ Touring Cars, Toyota Finance TR86, Formula Ford, UDC V8 Utes, Pre 65 SI and more!      21/24 Jan 2016        NZ Festival of Motor Racing celebrating Porsche - Hampton Downs - HRC, Weekend 2. European Endurance Race, ERC Classic Race Series Arrows,          Historic Formula Libre/Historic Formula Ford, Historic Muscle and Historic Saloon cars, Historic Single Seaters, Historic Sports sedans, Pre-65, Classic Trial, Porsche Series, Historic Porsche, Porsche dual car sprints and WORKS PORSCHE demos with Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber. 23/24 Jan 2016        Southern Thunder Teretonga, Premier Motorsport Series. Toyota Race Series, Toyota FInance TR86, BNT NZ Touring Cars, NZ Supertrucks, ENZED         Central Muscle Cars, Formula Ford and more! 29-31 Jan 2016        New Zealand Motor Cup Meeting, Hampton Downs HRC - Toyota Race Series, Ssangyong Utes, Formula First,  NZ Sports Cars /Libre, BMW E30 , BMW Open, BMW 2 Litre, Pro 7, Superminis.