NZ Touring Cars Championship

The New Zealand V8 Touring Car Series (NZV8's) is the leading motorsport category in New Zealand.

Huge grids of distinctive Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores duel in this event that journeys to various racetracks around New Zealand. This series somewhat resembles but differs in many ways from the Australian V8 Supercars, primarily in terms of the level of technology. The NZ V8 series focuses on cost containment and control to make sure that the series is not dominated by one make or team. It is technically more basic than the Supercars, but also tends to be a bit more spectacular with a lot more close-action racing and plenty of biffo due to limited grip and braking capabilities. Unlike the Supercars, the NZV8 races are all sprint races so there is no requirement for elaborate pit crew setups. (In previous years a 500km endurance race was run, but this has been dropped). The vehicles themselves are visually almost indistinguishable from Supercars, and grids are typically 25 to 30+ vehicles in size. A number of Australian Supercar drivers now race in the NZV8's such as David Besnard, Luke Youldon and Cameron McLean for example, as the series has come to be recognised as an outstanding class in its own right, rather than a poor cousin of the Aussie Supercars. Supercar teams are also getting involved; Supercar team Team Kiwi Racing has run two-car teams in the series in the past as a development ground, while this year sees Tasman Motorsport running a single car team with Andy Booth driving (Holden Commodore).

The winner of the 2005/2006 season was Kayne Scott who drives a Holden Commodore, who took the trophy after a controversial season that initially saw Angus Fogg (Ford Falcon) awarded the trophy, only to lose it in the court room. The 05/06 season saw Fords dominating for the first time, and there were loud cries of lack of parity from the Holden teams. It was clear that the Falcons had a considerable edge over the Holdens in power in the low and mid-range, so significant that MSNZ changed the rules and allowed the use of a carb spacer on the Holdens to shift their torque curve. This has seen an improvement in the competitiveness of the Holden teams, with holden driver Kayne Scott dicing for the championship lead. However Andy Booth has been the only other Holden driver consistently in the top-ten, and the Falcons continue to dominate in general.

The Car

Power: The engine is a controlled 5.0l V8 (R302ci for the Ford and 304ci for the Holden). Most parts of the engine are controlled and unlike the Australian Touring Cars (V8 Supercar Championship) which uses fuel injection, the series uses a controlled caburettor. The other control parts for the engine are manifolds, exhausts, cam-shafts, rockers, air-filter/cold air box and ignition. The engines are rev-limited to 6400rpm. Top speed is 240 km/h.

Gearbox: The gearing of a NZ V8 is also controlled. All teams use a controlled gear set, clutch, flywheel and gearbox made by Richmond.

Tyres: A controlled Dunlop D14 non tread "slick" and R92 W08 treaded wet weather tyre. The contact patch is very small and therefore there is very little grip. Only six new tyres are given out to teams per round to spice up racing.

Brakes: Brakes are also controlled too. They use Wilwood six piston front and four piston rear brakes with controlled calipers, rotors and pedal box.

Aero: A standard aerodynamic package of a rear wing and end plates/mounting pedestals, a front splitter and side skirts are supplied to the teams of each make.

Suspension: Control Koni shock absorbers. Bars and springs are not controlled.

Bodyshell: Each car is loosely based on either the Holden VY Commodore or Ford BA Falcon production bodyshells, with an elaborate roll cage constructed into the shell from aircraft grade materials. Other modifications include wider wheel arches and pick up points for the front splitter and rear wing.

Weight: Minimum weight is 1420 kg with the driver included.

Cost: Has been said that costs can have been over NZ$100,000 to build a NZ V8 and up to NZ$400,000 to build a car from scratch and running costs.

Past champions include Andy Booth (two times), Mark Pederson, Paul Manuel and the late Ashley Stitchbury, amongst others.

Circuits

External links