With a unique two-driver/twin race format, teamwork will be the key to winning the inaugural Fathers’ Day 400 V8 SuperTourers NZ enduro at Taupo’s Ricoh Motorsport Park agree International Motorsport team drivers Jonny Reid and Ant Pedersen.
With Reid sharing his NZ Herald Driven-backed Ford Falcon with Indianapolis-based Kiwi IndyCar driver Wade Cunningham, and Pedersen his J.A.Russell-supported Falcon with New Zealand’s other US-based high-flier, Matt Halliday, the International Motorsport team has two of the best credentialed pairings in the 40-driver field.
But as Reid and Pedersen both say, Sunday’s two 60-lap/200kms races round the 3.3km ‘international’ circuit (the same one used when the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport visited the circuit between 2007 and 2009) could well be won or lost in the pits rather than on the track.
“That’s right,” says Pedersen.”The driver change is going to be the important bit and that’s where the teamwork comes in. What we’ve all got to do is maximise the amount of time the car is out on the track, and minimise the amount of time it is in the pits. The longer we are out on the track, the closer we will get to our goal of winning the race.”
This is one of the reasons why pairing drivers of similar stature makes so much sense.
As Jonny Reid adds; “the less things you have to change or adjust the quicker the stop. Obviously, each driver has to be comfortable, but the goal when you are setting the car up is to find a happy medium.”
Both International Motorsport Falcons have been stripped and re-built since the last sprint series round and having completed successful systems checks in their respective cars at the last official V8 SuperTourers series test day 10 days ago both Reid and Pedersen have been counting down the days until this weekend’s Father’s Day 400 event.
“It was fantastic getting back in the car last week, ” says Pedersen. “I’ve been cooped up in an office since the last sprint round so as far as I am concerned I just can’t wait.”
And Reid?
Since the final sprint race round at Hampton Downs he has been back and forward to Australia to compete in the Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia series – winning two of the three races and the round for his Hunter Sports team at Townsville – and prepare for his V8 Supercar endurance drives with the Tekno Motorsports team. But he feels the same way as Pedersen.
“I’m looking forward to everything about the meeting – the driving obviously, but also working as a group with Wade and the guys in the team. I was disappointed not to win the sprint series, for the team and the sponsors as much as for myself, but you know, there is so much more to this series to look forward to.
“There’s this weekend and the Ashley Stichbury Trophy, there’s the endurance series itself and then there’s the series overall. Every one down the pitlane wants the same thing, to win, but it is going to come down to who wants it the most and who does the best job on the day.”
As far as the team itself goes, International Motorsport team manager Nick Williamson says that the field assembled for this weekend’s meeting at Taupo is a credit to everyone involved in the new V8 SuperTourers series.
“They’re saying it is the best field assembled here since the days of the Wellington street race and it’s certainly one of the biggest endurance-style events we’ve seen in New Zealand for some time.”
Williamson should know too.
The team has a long and very proud record of success in endurance-style races here and across the Tasman. In fact, with drivers Andrew Bagnall and Ant Pedersen, International Motorsport has won the New Zealand Endurance Championship race and title for the past two years!
Action at the recently renamed Ricoh Motorsport Park at Taupo officially starts on Saturday with two hour-long practice sessions where either driver can be in the car. The drivers then have just 20 minutes each in the qualifying session in the afternoon to set a qualifying time with the co-drivers going first.
Each driver’s qualifying time determines where that driver starts the race and each driver must start one of the two 60-lap races.
In each race on Sunday there is a minimum (21) and maximum (39) number of laps any one driver can do with the driver change pit ‘window’ between laps 25 and 36.
After this weekend’s first series endurance event there will be two more, the first at Pukekohe Park Raceway on October 27 and 28, the second (and series final) at Christchurch’s Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park on November 24 and 25.
You can follow the progress of Jonny Reid and Wade Cunningham, and Ant Pedersen and Matt Halliday, on International Motorsport’s website (www.internationalmotorsport.co.nz) or on the team’s facebook page.
