Brand New Formula Suzuki Championship Draws Much Interest
At the weekend the all-new Formula Suzuki Championship of New Zealand
got underway with much success and with it many enquiries into where the cars
came from and where they can be seen next.
Founder of the New Zealand Formula Suzuki Championship Kevin Varney was
pleasantly surprised by the attention the new formula received at the first
ever meeting of the open wheel class in this country.
"Every man and his dog wanted to talk to me about the cars and the class -
some who I had heard from before but an awful lot of people who were just at
the meeting."
"They all agreed the cars looked and sounded great so wanted to know more
about them." he said.
The cars have been imported from Asia for the local series by Mr Varney where
they were being used in a very prestigious championship.
"We got our original 12 cars from Malaysia where they were running along
with Formula One at Sepang as a class known as Formula Malaysia." he said.
The
cars are a front and rear winged chassis designed and developed for Suzuki
Motorsport by internationally renowned driver "Monster" Tajima.
The power plant comes from the exceptional Suzuki Hyabusa motorcycle which
lends the race cars a very handy 175 horsepower at an exciting 9,800 revs and
also a six speed sequential gearbox.
With a chassis weight of only 425kg that power can be translated into 400hp per
ton and all on slick tyres!
At the weekend Mr Varney was pleasantly impressed by the comraderie displayed
in the opening meeting with everybody coming together to make the meeting, and
hopefully the season, a very successful one.
"Just watching people when they came across problems and the amount of
help which descended on them from the others in the way of tools and parts - I
tell you what it was just like the old days - everybody shared information,
everybody helped out and I would like to foster that spirit in the series for
as long as I can." he said.
Experienced open wheel driver Caine Lobb was the man to claim victory in the
opening round albeit undergoing some tough battlling with Daniel Bray who took
the win in race one.
Lobb took pole position in very wet conditions on Saturday morning but when the
sun came out he placed second in the first race that afternoon and won both
race two and three on Sunday.
The Whangarei driver was most impressed by the car especially at how responsive
it was when adjustments were made to the suspension and aerodynamics on the
Suzuki.
"The
car feels and sounds really good and I think that when we all get used to them
and start working on the setups we will see the times start to come down."
said Lobb.
Auckland driver Bray placed second for the weekend with his win and two second
places.
Although suffering some teething problems at the weekend keeping him off the
pace of the leaders, talented driver Gene Rollinson can be expected to be a
strong contender in the championship.
Probably the most experienced driver in the pack as a member of Team Kiwi
Racing and season's in the NZV8s and the Fujitsu Development V8 Supercar
Championship he is also the only one to have driven the cars competitively
before the weekend.
Rollinson was the pace setter in the Suzuki a few years back when driving as
support to Formula One at Sepang International Circuit.
"I have been driving touring cars a lot lately so it's good to be back in
an open wheeler - in Malaysia I was winning my race before I had trouble with
my diff so hopefully I will have better luck this time around." said
Rollinson.
Gene Rollinson's two brothers Royce (21) and Kieron (15) are also competing in
the Suzuki's and will be keeping their older brother honest.
At Pukekohe Mr Varney stayed off the circuit to be on hand for any teething
problems which may have arisen however this weekend at Taupo Motorsport Park
will be hopping into his second car.
"I will probably just be making up the numbers this weekend, I don't
expect to be on the pace of Caine Lobb who is driving my other car." he
said.
This weekend is actually the first of a five round championship all held at
Taupo Motorsport Park where the class can take advantage of the Taupo National
Series.
"For us we get the A1GP circuit to run on plus there are plenty of run off
areas so our drivers will be safe as they get used to the cars and also it must
be the hardest track in the country to set up for."
"If we can use the Taupo circuit during the year to practice our set ups I
think that is huge which is why I grabbed the opportunity when they offered it
to me." he said.
This weekend expects to be an exciting round after the drivers have one round
under their belt and feeling more confident.
Adding to the excitement is the addition of two sports cars who will run on the
circuit with the open wheelers.
"This weekend we have ten cars coming to Taupo plus two Radicals so we
expect another good weekend." said Mr Varney
The 'Radicals' are a Hyabusa powered sports car which use a space frame chassis
and a fibre glass body.
Running on slick tyres with the same Hyabusa motor as the open wheelers they
weigh only about 40kgs more and could well be a perfect match on the circuit
put in the right hands.
"They are the perfect car for us to run with - Jeremy Clarkson from Top
Gear was blown away when he had a drive in one!" he said.
As well as the five round championship held at Taupo Motorsport Park the
Formula Suzuki Championship will be part of an upcoming meeting at Manfeild
Autocourse.
As part of Motorsport New Zealand's Tier Two series the Suzukis will be at the
Feilding circuit over the weekend of 27-29th March.
