166 entrants over nine classes for historic motorsport curtain raiser
One of New Zealand's most popular historic meetings kicks off this weekend at Waikato's Hampton Downs Motorsport Park -- the annual Icebreaker event.
A whopping 166 cars spread across nine classes will compete at the much-loved meeting. These nine classes include the Trofeo Series for Alfa Romeos, the Avon Tyres Historic Formula Ford series, and a diverse group of BMW and saloon-car categories.
Icebreaker is the curtain raiser for the North Island's historic motorsport community's season calendar that runs from September to next May.
Arguably the most hotly contested category will be the BMW Open Series, which features some of the fastest BMWs in New Zealand. Robert Berggren and Andre Mortimer's pair of screaming E46 M3 GTRs and Andrew Nugent's wild DTM-inspired Buro E92 M3 GT2 are likely to be the cars to beat.
At the other end of the scale is 18-year-old Jordan Baldwin, who was recently awarded a scholarship drive in the 2016–’17 Castrol BMW E30 series.
Baldwin, who brings experience in karting and speedway to the racetrack, won the E30 Scholarship during a rigorous test day.
The 41-car strong E30 class in which Baldwin will race is the largest at the meeting, and the largest grid to race at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park since the 2KCup Series last visited.
Among the other cars to compete is the 1972 Graeme Addis Chrysler Valiant Charger sports sedan. After a few seasons of production racing in the early 70s, Addis turned the Charger into one of the most menacing-looking race cars in the country -- effectively mating the modified Charger bodywork to a Lola T190 Formula 5000.
Other notable machines among the huge line-up include 'Racing Ray' Williams' V8-powered "Perana" Ford Capri, Peter Dudson's stunning Fiat 131 R, and the Bronwynne Leech's bright pink Race 4-D Cup Peugeot 205 GTi.
Icebreaker spans both Saturday and Sunday, with quick-fire races and limited breaks between sure to create an entertaining race meeting.