Archive | Motor Sport

Hayden Paddon in action Rally Spain 2016.

New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon completed a strong Rally de Espana with a fourth place finish.

France’s Sebastien Ogier won the rally on Monday (NZ Time) to secure his fourth consecutive FIA World Rally Championship title.

Kiwi driver Nick Cassidy is a confirmed entry in a strong field of 27 drivers (with three still to be announced) for the 2016 Macau Grand Prix. The inaugural FIA F3 World Cup is shaping up as the culmination of some of the hardest-fought Formula 3 competition on record across multiple continents.

Going flat out down the back straight of a race track is a ‘bucket list’ experience for many people. Now Hampton Downs are helping make dreams a reality with their new HD Auto initiative.

Hampton Downs owner Tony Quinn reckons signing up for an HD Auto track day could be good for your mental health.

New Zealand’s world rallying duo Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have a clear focus as they head to the famed Tour de Corse rally this weekend.

Paddon says they are focused on continually improving their performance on tarmac surface rallies. The 29 September to 2 October French World Rally Championship event marks the second of three consecutive European tarmac rallies at the tail end of the WRC season, so performance on this surface is a vital component of Paddon’s current and future results.

David Holder and Jason Farmer in their Mitsubishi Evo 8.

Tauranga’s David Holder and co-driver Jason Farmer, from Hamilton, have won their first New Zealand Rally Championship titles by securing victory in the one-day Rally Gisborne. The pair drove the same Mitsubishi Evo 8 that Holder’s mentor Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon used to win the rookie and junior national rally titles in 2006.

Tony Quinn will drive his specially built Ford Focus hillclimb car at Pikes Peak.

Pikes Peak, or The Race to the Clouds as it is commonly known, is America’s second oldest motorsports race after the Indy 500.

1915 STUTZ Indianapolis 500 Special Race car

The show at the ASB Showgrounds on July 17 and 18 will feature 20 race cars and race bikes, dating from 1923 to the present day.

Hayden Paddon has continued his domination at the opening round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, powering to an eventual winning margin of 9 minutes 22.1 seconds, a new record.

While Paddon was in a class of his own in his brand new Hyundai i20, the battle for the remaining podium spots would go down to the final stage, with Ben Hunt’s new Subaru WRX STI holding off a fast finishing David Holder’s Mitsubishi by just 18.4 seconds.

Photo by Andy Vause Photography

Timaru’s Darren Galbraith/James Bracefield (Mitsubishi Evo 6) have won the 2016 Stadium Finance/REPCO Westland Rally for the second year running from Rangiora’s Matt Summerfield/Nicole Summerfield (Subaru WRX) with Deane Buist/Karl Celeste (Ford Escort) third. Held in wet and often slippery conditions, the rally threw up a number of challenges for the 57 entries, with only 39 making the finish line.