Kiwis Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley, with German team-mate Timo Bernhard, staged an incredible comeback to win the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours. The drivers and Porsche crew never gave up even though the number two Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid was, at one point, 19 laps off the lead and second to last in the standings, and then won the famous race by a lap over the nearest car.
To all Clerks of the Course and Competitor Relations Officers
Please find below details of the upcoming training seminars:
22 July - COTC Rally- Wellington at MotorSport House
5 August - COTC Rally- Auckland at Jet Park Hotel
MotorSport New Zealand Inc.
Media statement
19 June 2017
Bamber and Hartley champion NZ motorsport with Le Mans win
Kiwis Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley, with German team-mate Timo Bernhard, staged an incredible comeback to win the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours. The drivers and Porsche crew never gave up even though the number two Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid was, at one point, 19 laps off the lead and second to last in the standings, and then won the famous race by a lap over the nearest car.
Seventeen-year-old Inglewood student Matt Podjursky will make his touring car debut when he joins the BNT NZ Touring Car Championship for round one in November at Pukekohe.
Podjursky will line up in class two of the championship in a recently purchased Ford Falcon – previously campaigned by Brad Lauder.
New Zealand’s Brendon Leitch showed he has some strong pace in a Formula 4 single-seater race car when he contested the second round of the Formula 4 United States Championship, which took place 8-11 June at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 22-year-old from Invercargill, who races with an all-Kiwi team as the only New Zealander in US F4, described the three-race event as “a very up and down weekend”. Despite his best efforts, Leitch was frustrated not to be able to convert his pace into a points-scoring result on the Indy road course.
Kiwi racing driver Taylor Cockerton this week heads to the Zhuhai International Circuit in China with high expectations for the third round of the 2017 Formula Masters Series. Located at Jin Ding town, Zhuhai City, in the Guangdong Province, drivers and teams will face three races over the weekend as the series reaches the half way mark for the season.
“My goal is to win this round,” commented Cockerton. “I think we can take the challenge to the three drivers in front of me. They are all in good form at the moment, but that’s the target we need to set.”
Hayden Paddon and co-driver Sebastian Marshall experienced the highs of leading Rally Italia Sardegna for eight of the rally’s 19 special stages, and the lows of crashing – twice – to end their hopes of a strong finish.
The Kiwi-Brit pair headed to the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship seeking to find the passion and enjoyment of competing at the highest level of world rallying.
Six co-drivers from around the country have been selected to attend the inaugural Rally New Zealand co-drivers Academy in August.
The Rally New Zealand Co-Drivers Academy to be held from 1st-3rd August is aimed at developing Kiwi co-driving talent to compete at the top level of the sport. Over the three days of the Academy the participants will receive coaching on all aspects of the co-driver’s role including practical pace note writing exercises, event planning, fitness training and media promotional activities.
The six attendees are:
A third-round winner in as many events has seen the Stadium Finance Mainland Rally Series thrown wide open after Matt Summerfield and co-driving sister Nicole took victory on their home event, the Lone Star Rally Canterbury, the third event of the series.
MRF Tyres New Zealand distributor Palmside NZ Ltd are delighted to announce drivers running their tyres have experienced massive success at the weekend’s Lone Star Rally Canterbury.
The event doubled as round three of both the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship and the Stadium Finance Mainland Rally Series and was held in the most challenging conditions seen this season to date.
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