The Pivot

Thomas Randle in his CTRS title year. Image by Bruce Jenkins He's the Aussie that broke the mould: in a year when Kiwi drivers won the V8 Supercaries and the flagship Bathurst enduro, Thomas Randle won the V8 Super 2 feeder series. But despite impressing at Mount Panorama this year this racer doesn't have a clear pathway to a big league V8 drive. Not yet anyway. Randle, wqho was the first Aussie to win New Zealand's Castrol Toyota Racing Series, says he may have to bide his time as he seeks a permanent place on the Supercars grid. The 24-year-old impressed last year in his championship debut as a wildcard entrant at The Bend , and in the Pirtek Enduro Cup, driving a Tickford Racing Mustang on each occasion. He was snapped up by Brad Jones Racing to co-drive this year’s enduros - though it turned out there would be only one, the big one. He did double duty at Bathurst, continuing his push to the Super2 title as well as racing the main event. Going into the the Supercar si...

  The Australian V8 Supercars championship has unveiled its first cars for the new ‘Gen3’ era and fleshed out the regulations that will surround the shift in machinery. Shown in concept form and in various liveries in mid-October is an all-new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to replace the current but outgoing Commodore, while Ford’s Mustang will continue through into the new Gen 3 era, with the actual body shape much closer to road-going versions. Supercars CEO Sean Seamer says the cars will retain their signature V8 engine format to ensure they’re fast and loud, but will be ‘hybrid ready’ and more closely resemble the road cars they are based on. The cars take a drastic step back toward to their production-car roots: aerodynamic add-ons and aero effect has been cut back. “The cars will have a lot less downforce than the current car, making the racing more spectacular and putting more reliance on driver skill.” Gen 3 cars will have around 50 per cent less aerodynamic grip than c...

Fellow Kiwis, especially race fans who know this bloke, listen up. I've known this chap for three short years, during which time I've only had the pleasure of his company for an ever so brief five week stint in the Castrol Toyota Racing Series. Hand on heart, though, he must be one of the most selfless, humble and likeable guys I have had the pleasure to meet in motor racing - well, since the late great Jason Richards anyway. Not only did Thomas Randle win 'our' premier single seater series, he was also the first Aussie to do so, reversing the flow of Kiwi stuff claimed by the Aussies: Phar Lap, lamingtons, that eggwhite and sugar pudding named after that ballet sheila, the Finn brothers...   Not only that but he brought the small but perfectly formed Victory Motor Racing team to the podium with him. Nelson based, Victory has been a presence in the series for years.  Back in the day the team ran Brendon Hartley and Daniil Kvyat, both of whom have since gone on to bigger...

  There’s an old rodders’ saying that has made its way onto t shirts and bumper stickers over the years: “Built, not bought”. It’s true of Hawkes Bay racer Shayne Huxtable’s all-new scaled-down Trophy Truck, which had its first offroad racing run-outs just before Covid 19 made the world look funny. In fact with the championship cancelled after the opening round, Huxtable can lay claim to being northern class 8 champion, having won class 8 at the only northern round. He’s no trophy hunter though, so he would hardly be happy with that. Huxtable – just ‘Hux’ to mates and rivals – has been around offroad racing for almost a quarter century. He is a very capable engineer who has build or rejigged top-class offroad race cars and trucks over the years, creating ever-faster race vehicles as he went. This time the truck is based on the big Trophy Trucks that race desert events in the USA and is a joint venture with mate Tony Rickard, who owns East Coast Powdercoaters. So what is a...

This month, I have questions. So many questions. Shot down by Covid, the National Championship joined the NZ Enduro Championship, cancelled for this year. A forest race down Nelson way had to be canned due to a shortfall of entries coming out of Covid. The sport seems to be happy to cruise through the remainder of this virus-shattered year with little ‘push’ getting behind the clubs. By contrast, MotorSport New Zealand has chosen to front-foot the situation and support clubs with a ‘restart’ fund and discounts on event fee costs. All of this is a signal to event organisers that they need to deliver value to two sets of customers: the paying punters coming through the gate have their expectations; the racer in pit and paddock have theirs.  Spectators are ‘time poor’ (that old cliché) and they want events that start on time, deliver non-stop racing excitement and do so over a short period of time so they can get the kids out the gate afterward. So who will deliver that? A natio...

Some may be aware I have a bit of a 'thing' for small (European) Fords. It dates back to the first time I saw a rally car in the metal: Russell Brookes powering a Mk2 Escort RS1800 through Tarawera Forest in the Bay of Plenty in (I think) 1977 or 1978. A few years later I even owned one - though 'only' a Mk 2 Sport with gaspy 1.6 OHV kent engine. It was fun, but I've disliked the pushrod four ever since. So let nobody feel surprised to see me getting a bit a-tingle over the spec of M-Sport Poland's new project, a four wheel drive N/A rally car for the masses, designed for the FIA's new rally 3 rules. Now we find out it's going to have Ford's new and rather stonking 1.5-litre engine rather than the expected 1.0 litre 'A4' 92 kW (123 bhp) three cylinder as offered already in rally 4.  The difference? 50 kW!   I'm ready, where do I sign?     ,