The Pivot

  best of the Kiwis: former Formula 1 driver Brendon Hartley has taken second overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, helping the factory Toyota team to a 1-2 result in the process. The 2021 race is the first to feature the new Hypercars’ class for hybrid drivetrains. Driving the team’s #8 GR010 hypercar with Sebastien Buemi and Satoru Nakajima, he led for a significant period of the race but the car carried damage from the race start. With Buemi at the wheel, it was hit and spun, then later had to stop and reset its power system, rejoining dead last. The Hartley-Buemi-Nakajima car carved its way back to the front and then hit the lead with 33 per cent of the race done. In the closing four hours of the race it was slowed by recurring fuel pickup problems that forced the team to run with shorter driving stints. Buemi also lost a minute when the car cut out, trying to reset the car on the side of the road. They finished two laps behind the #7 GR010 of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayas...

  Let's read between some lines, shall we? Triple Eight Race Engineering might be receptive to ‘internationals’ as it looks for a replacement for Jamie Whincup, but boss Roland Dane has ruled out an all-Kiwi line-up, rejecting the prospect of double Le Mans winner Earl Bamber joining the team’s lead driver, Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen.   The experienced Bamber has a connection to the Brisbane-based team, having partnered van Gisbergen in the 2018 Pirtek Enduro Cup. Roland Dane says the team is looking for a younger driver who is at a different point in their career. “Earl isn’t in the same position as Shane in a Supercar point of view, [but] he certainly is in his professional career.” Bamber will make his second Bathurst 1000 start at the end of this year, partnering fellow Kiwi Andre Heimgartner in the Kelly Grove Racing entry.

Extract from my recent NZ Petrolhead column - at the moment there's a post-lockdown 'carpe diem' theme emerging.  This one profiles a bloke who has had a huge influence on the future of  New Zealand offroad racing: Richard Crabb Living the racer dream: Arron, Richard and Fergus Crabb. And yes, that’s a McLaren behind them. Richard bought it when he ‘retired’ from his day job. Apparently it goes quite well. Origin story: I met Richard Crabb last century. He was running his old class 3 car, a serious contender for podiums and class wins; he was as quick in short course as in the big enduro races. This fella worked hard, played hard. Scored a few good results, and even when things went wrong his love of motorsport shone through, obvious and infectious. He did give us a fright one year when he flipped out of the Taupo 1000, smacking a pine tree about ten feet up its trunk in the process. That one scored him a trip to the Big White Building in a helicopter. Richard found mor...

Kiwi race driver Reid Harker has joined a very small club of New Zealanders who have competed at the Spa 24-Hours.  Most have heard of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, many of the same duration enduro at the redoubtable Nurburgring. The Spa event has less profile 'down-under' but is at least as punishing - and often as cruel - as its fellow endurance events. The Kiwi team's entry was a 'Pro-Am' and qualifying was blighted by a gearbox issue that meant the car started pretty much dead last. The only way was up! I caught up with Reid after the event to find out first-hand what it's like. here's the Q&A.   Q: Reid, you’ve come a long way since the E30 and 86 days and a lot of Kiwi race drivers would KILL to drive a GT3 911 at Spa– how good was that?   For sure it was a dream come true to drive in this race. It’s arguably the most challenging GT3 race in the world and I think this year was especially exciting! To be honest I was both excited and relieved to be back ...

I met Graham McRae just the once, when Michael Clark brought him down to Palmerston North to the New Zealand Grand Prix. On that occasion, there was McRae, Damon Hill and Josh Hill, Chris Amon and - if memory serves - also Howden Ganley all perched in the house bar of our hotel supping ales and swapping yarns.  I was happy enough to shut up and listen to some epic tales. This remains the biggest gathering of F1 drivers I have ever sat amongst. Travel well, Graham. It was an honour and a privilege to meet you. The image here is by good bugger and ace lensman Terry Marshall. Graham McRae 5 March 1940 - 4 August 2021 New Zealand racing driver and constructor Graham McRae has passed away. He had been unwell for some time and was aged 81. McRae was one of New Zealand’s most successful drivers and race car builders, a three-time champion of the Tasman Series, champion in the 1972 SCCA Continental 5000 series and multiple Australian Grand Prix winner (1972, 1973, 1976, 1978). Fe...