A four-strong Kiwi team headed by ageless veteran Ken Smith (Lola T332) crosses the Tasman next week to contest the opening round of the Formula 5000 Australia Cup Series in Sydney over the August 31/September 01 weekend.

The round – at Australia’s big Muscle Car Masters meeting at Sydney Motorsport Park (nee Eastern Creek) – is the first of four (and possibly five) rounds of this season’s Australian series which members of New Zealand’s Formula 5000 Association have been invited to comepte at.

As such they complement the four rounds of the successful, this season strictly New Zealand-based, MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series.

Joining three-time MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series champion Smith in the New Zealand squad are Clark Proctor (March 73A) and Andrew Higgins (Lola T400), both from Auckland, and Tim Rush (McLaren M22) from Feilding.

The four will join 10 local drivers in the field led by last year’s Muscle Car Masters meeting standout Bryan Sala (Matich A50) and including – amongst others – category stalwart Aaron Lewis (Matich A50), the father of V8 Supercar brothers Alex and Will, Richard Davison (Lola T332), and young gun Tom Tweedie in the ex Peter Gethin Team VDS Chevron B24.

The four Kiwis will leave their cars in Australia and return to contest the second round of the 2013/14 Australian series in Melbourne in mid-September before shipping them back for the opening round of the four-round 2013/14 MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series at Manfeild over the November 9-10 weekend.

The MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series is organised and run with the support of sponsors MSC, NZ Express Transport, Bonney’s Specialized Bulk Transport, Mobil Lubricants, Pacifica, Avon Tyres, Webdesign and Exide.