Nurburgring 2010

Brian McGovern and the ICT Protégé Porsche 944 Turbo S celebrated winning the Bridgestone Porsche Class A Championship at Taupo Motorsport Park over Easter weekend. ICT Directors Hayden and Rachael Burr were present in Taupo to participate in the success.

Holding a 30 point lead, plans for finishing the season on a high note were severely dampened in Fridays practice when a rattle in 3rd gear developed into a sinister rumble. With no time to source another quite rare gearbox the decision to rest 3rd gear as much as possible was made.

In Saturdays qualifying the team decided on only allowing three laps with full use of 3rd and the rest of the session was spent on developing race lines for using 2nd and 4th gear on what is mainly a 3rd gear track. Second fastest behind Brent Greer was achieved in qualifying.

Race 1 on Saturday afternoon saw 3rd gear used sparingly and a third place in Class A but an ever increasing rumble did not bode well for Sundays races.

Sunday mornings Reverse Grid Handicap saw the inevitable decision to not use 3rd gear at all to try and ensure the car finished the race. Greer in hot pursuit of the Class A title was cleaning up big time with another Class win while McGovern settled for 3rd.

With the last race of the 2009/2010 season to go the ICT Protégé Porsche was 14 points in front with Greer looking to get 15 points for a Class win which he comfortably made. McGovern continued to race with 2nd and 4th gear setting lap times less than 2 seconds behind Greer and securing Class A by finishing the race with a 3rd in Class and an eventual lead whittled down to only 9 points at the end.

Final season results had the ICT Protégé Porsche 944 Turbo S winning Class A, finishing 2nd to Ian Hayr in his GT3 RS in the Motorsport Championship and dropping to 3rd place in the Bridgestone Porsche Championship behind Class C winner Kevin Etches and Class B winner Chris Thompson.

Easter weekend saw Kiwi Team Nurburgring driver David Glasson finish top of his class at the final round of the IRC series held at the Taupo Motorsport park. David was racing his ElfinMS8 in the 3 Sports Car series and was up against some varied competition from Suzuki single seaters to NZ Sports Cars. David's final round of racing saw him complete his personal best lap time at Taupo scraping around at 1:37 and reaching 229kph which is comparable to one of the fastest muscle car lap times.

David is incredibly excited about the upcoming Nurburgring racing and is spending every spare moment he has behind his Playstation3 learning each and every one of the 100+ corners of the Green Hell. Photo courtesy of Graham Blow.

Westlake Boys High School encountered “Big Boys’ Noise” as two time New Zealand V8 series champion and Westlaker Andy Booth returned to Westlake Boys High School this week, also bringing one of his racing cars, allowing the students a rare close up look at the mechanics and interior of a purpose built V8.

During assembly, Andy shared a colourful and entertaining story of his successes and disappointments, as he led the audience of 2,400 staff and students through a brief journey of his time as a student, through his years racing overseas, and onto his career as a full time motorsport professional.  One of Andy’s messages to the young men was that it is okay to leave school without having a firm idea of where to next.  However, he told them that they should always know what they are passionate about and to take every advantage of any opportunity presented.

He reminded the boys that “No matter how successful you are in life and in your career, it is important to always remember to say “thank you” to those who have helped you along the way.”

Upcoming Formula First driver, and Year 11 student Nick Cassidy, introduced Andy and presented him with a Westlaker tie at the conclusion of Andy’s presentation.  Following assembly, Andy talked with many staff and students who had gathered around the car, answering questions and then jumping in the car to turn the engine over, filling the school quadrangle with the throb of its powerful V8 horsepower engine, and leaving more than a few of the teachers grinning from ear to ear.

Both Andy Booth and Nick Cassidy will be competing this weekend at the Taupo Motorsport Park round of racing, with Andy racing in the final round of the NZV8s in the leading Holden of Big Ben Racing.  In May this year, Andy will be furthering his racing career in Germany as he competes in New Zealand’s Kiwi Team Nurburgring in the 2010 ADAC 24 Hour endurance race for the 5^th consecutive year.  The team will be racing 2 Honda Civic Type R’s and a high powered Audi RS4 which will have Andy Booth behind the wheel.

Today the 2 Honda Civic's along with the team's race gear set sail for Hamburg with huge thanks to Hellman Worldwide Logistics for arranging all of the team's freight and logistics. "Travelling with 2 vehicles, and a full performance mechanical workshop takes a lot of organising, checking and double checking. Its great to be able to finally close the doors on the container and know that Hellman's will get the Kiwi Team Nurburgring plant up to the ring in one piece on time" - Brian McGovern.

Lodge Auto completed the rebuilds and updates to both Honda's right on time and to their tough and precise standards. We are all satisfied that the cars are ready to roll, and the drivers are now set on the next few weeks of their own preparations and getting ready for the Green Hell.