The Pivot

Three rounds, two venues, one 'away' commitment. No internationals - not Europe, the USA or Australia. Responding to the Covid pandemic, the 2021 Castrol Toyota Racing Series will look vastly different to those of previous seasons. With full endorsement from MotorSport New Zealand, the championship runs at Hampton Downs on January 22-24 and again at the same venue a week later as part of the annual Toyota Festival. The third and final round will be at Manfeild a fortnight later. The New Zealand Grand Prix will still be integrated into the 2021 season. There has been no confirmation about which circuit and which round will host the event but the GP has traditionally been the final round, which would suggest Manfeild gets one more run under the premier title. Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand General Manager Andrew Davis says the reduced format was to keep entry costs as low as possible to encourage Kiwi drivers to enter the series. “The fundamental purpose o...

arcus What a day. First time I go to a motorsport event purely to spectate and I am awestruck. The Battle of Jack's Ridge is pure motorsport entertainment and all who backed the vision can take a bow.  First up. Andrew Hawkeswood. Nobody has made a superstage like this, not here in New Zealand for sure - and I'll go so far as to say not overseas either. Rally Oz was always a good watch while it was out west but it was manufactured and not challenging. The 'bog' at Manukau was never much more than interesting (though it DID put rallying in front of thousands of Aucklanders who might not otherwise have even known Rally NZ was happening).This new event gives fresh meaning to the term world class, and there's plenty of room to make it even more impressive. Second: the competitors. Mad Ian Ffitch on his ATV. Sloan Cox in his hillclimb special. Marcus van Klink in his RX8. Matt Summerfield. Emma Gilmour, outgunned in her amazing wee swift but showing that gritty determina...

This plague year has seen the re-visioning of many championships and races. It's an unfortunate reality that motorsport, like any sport, has been forced to take a good hard look at itself. Classic races have been delayed or cancelled worldwide, championships have run truncated or had rounds axed in order to fit into the resurgence part of 2020. And it's not over; Covid is still attacking in Europe, Russia, and of course the USA. For anyone who has had t heir lives blighted by this 'tricky' virus, motorsport's travails must seem far away. First world problems. Best viewed from outer space. But for Kiwi racers it's a huge challenge. It forces them to stay away from friends and family for extended periods of time, leaves them without support networks while racing. Have F3 crashes at Macau prompted the move to F4? Now the annual Formula Three race at Macau - traditionally the happy hunting ground of F1 talent spotters, agents and managers - is doing its own ver...

  There will be new technical regulations, new rules and new race formats when the BNT NZV8s season gets underway in December.   Category Management and the NZ Touring Car Board have mapped out a strategy for establishing two categories under the New Zealand Touring car banner, NZV8s and TTV8s (Trans Tasman V8s).   The new rules and formats for the NZV8’s will see a wide variety of cars now eligible to take the grid such as saloon or coupe body styles, along with SuperTourer, TLX, Mitchell Xtreme, TTV8-TA2, BMW Open V8s, Howe GT, any other V8 Touring Cars with body shapes manufactured from 2000 onwards plus TL specification cars.   With any naturally aspirated V8 engine now eligible and no restrictions on gearbox, diff, suspension, brakes, wheels and aero packages and the allowance of driver aids it now opens the category to a huge number of eligible cars.   Category manager Gary Lathrope says the new look BNTV8s category will provide a meaning...

    It's the future, and it's here now and it was made right here in New Zealand. While the WRC ambles toward adopting petrol-electric hybrid drivetrains, Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon and a small team of engineers have created the world's first viable full-EV rallycar. The new Kona-bodied car is the fruit of a project sparked by an idea early in 2018 and officially commenced in March 2019. Following 18 months of intensive work at their Cromwell facility, Paddon and his six-strong team of engineers and designers are delighted to reveal the completed, fully functional Hyundai Kona EV rally car to the world.  The car was in the end built to the spec we saw today in just six months, and from this point its development will be carried out in the public eye, unlike WRC teams which do their proving and testing in private. Body-kitted like a WRCar or AP4 and supported by Hyundai New Zealand, Paddon's creation weighs in at 1400 kg - not exceptional given it's mostly composi...