Easter kickoff at Meremere for 2009 offroad racing national championship

The 2009 New Zealand offroad racing championship roars into life this weekend at Meremere with a strong field of the fastest drivers in the country all keen to take an early points advantage in the seven round series.

The fast farm course alongside Meremere’s dragway offers spectators the chance to get up close to some of the most exciting motorsport on offer.

Racing on Sunday April 12 is in short course format, with three heats for every class at the event and an all-in feature race. The course is designed to place the most exciting action close to spectators, and all parts of the track are visible from the approved spectator areas.

The heats will be raced first, then during a re-grouping break before the feature race the All Terrain Racing Club’s Kids’ category will stage demonstration races. The feature race is rated the most spectacular of all, pitting trucks against single-seater and two-seater offroad race cars in a mad scramble for track position.

Confirmed for the Challenge Massey short course round at Meremere is an all-new production race truck, the first ever application of American muscle to the sport’s popular production class. The massive Dodge Ram V8 utility prepared by Bakersfield Racing and Race Shock Specialists is being run as a shake-down at this event with a view to contesting the big enduro races later in the year.

Strong entries promise spectacular racing in the fast Pine Harbour Painters Super 1600 class, with front-runners Rick Sciarone, Richard Crabb, Malcolm Langley and Alan Butler among the ten or more cars set to take the starting grid.

The “anything-goes” Kumeu Transport Engineering class one is headed by Drury’s Grant Ferguson, Whakatane racer Clive Thornton and Whangarei’s Melvin Rouse.

Making the longest trip to compete are Wellington drivers Glenn Turvey (Camco class four Toyota Hilux V6) and Justin Leonard (Camco class eight truck).

The event gets under way at 9.30 am, admission is $5.00 for adults with under 15 year olds free.

Offroad racing ignores the recession

Offroad racing in New Zealand is bucking the trend. While government, commerce and the media obsess over the global economic downturn, offroad racing has confirmed a full suite of sponsors for its premier events.

The sport’s president, Ian Foster, has confirmed all class sponsors for the 2009 season and re-affirmed the support of long-time series backer Asset Finance.

“Off road racing is going from strength to strength, and the strong support from our sponsors is further indication of the commercial appeal of the sport. No form of motorsport can ignore the global situation, but we have had a strong response from our 2008 sponsors and confirmed several new class sponsors. I think that’s a good sign in the current environment and shows our event promotion and management is on the right track.”

The sport will once more have its own television deal, a factor likely to have influenced sponsors to join or re-confirm with the national championship.

As in recent years, the 2009 championship will be decided over seven rounds: three in the North Island and three in the South Island, with racers from both islands coming together at Christchurch for the national final.

“The national championship continues in its proven format, with the final going to the South Island this year on rotation. New cars, tough and spectacular events at venues near major population centres add up to some exciting action for drivers and spectators alike.”

In addition, racers are able to contest a range of stand-alone races including an offroad Grand Prix event at Hamilton and major endurance races including the iconic SFL Woodhill 100 and the bi-annual Taupo 1000.

The 2009 Asset Finance National Championship starts on 12 April with a one-day short course event at Meremere; racing resumes on June 27 at Palmerston North with a combined enduro/short course meeting; followed a month later on July 26 by the third and final North Island round, an endurance race in Gwavas Forest southwest of Napier.

The first South Island round is an endurance race at Dunedin on April 25. The second round on June 20 is a short course event at Christchurch, with the south’s regional rounds concluding at Nelson with a short course and endurance race weekend August 15-16.

Racers can only score points in North Island or South Island events, and each regional event series will name a northern and southern champion, titles that stand in their own right below the overall national championship title.

The nation’s fastest racers come together for the national final at Christchurch over Labour Weekend, 24-25 October, where they will compete in both endurance and short course events to decide the in-class and outright New Zealand champions.

Ian Foster says in addition, the sport’s flagship endurance event, the Asset Finance Taupo 1000, is confirmed for September 11-13. The Taupo event is an international race that consistently attracts big fields of local and overseas race teams lured by the challenge of racing 1000 kilometres through production pine forests of the central North Island.

“This is a big deal for the sport, because it gives us global profile and attracts teams from the UK, USA and Australia. The Taupo race covers the same distance as the legendary Baja 1000 and it’s the toughest offroad race in the southern hemisphere,” he said.

“It’s going to be a huge year for offroad racing in this country – and by the time the rest of the country wakes up from the recession our teams and drivers will be looking back on one of the most memorable race seasons in their careers.”