World test for kiwi team

New Zealand based Kiwi Team Nurburgring return to Germany in preparation for the annual Mt Everest of motor racing – the 24 hours of Nurburgring race (24-25 May 2008).

The third venture by the team, the 24 hour race is around the combined north-western based Nurburgring/Nordschleife circuits amounting to a massive 25.378km long lap.

Pitted against 225 other cars from all corners of the globe, they are again entering identical Honda Civic’s that have seen them claim the production Group N title for two years in succession.

Explaining why Auckland plastics surgeon Dr Greg Taylor established a team to take on such an event, he says human emotion is a huge motivator:
“It’s an incredibly buzzy place to go – it’s exciting. We sort of stand back and think about it – it’s the sort of opportunity not many people get to do in their lives and to be able to do it on a yearly basis is a fabulous privilege really. Now we are kind of established, we’ve been there, we know people and they know us and they make us very welcome.”

“The interesting thing about the Nurburgring 24 hour race is that it is a cultural event – it is motorsport in a big sense. There are more than a quarter million people actually at the track for maybe four or five days around the race, as well as that, a huge TV audience. I think the thing that is fascinating about it is the enthusiasm of the German crowds; the support that the individual teams and the collective get from this amazingly enthusiastic audience. I think actually the people who are watching the race are more interesting than the race itself.”

“The other fascinating thing is how teams behave, how teams deal with difficulties, how the driver behaviour changes as fatigue sets in over a 24 hour period. How mistakes get made - all those sorts of things – the triumphs and tragedies of it.”

The team of twenty including drivers and support personnel will also contain a cameraman to document the team’s week-long excursion to provide a documentary style feature to be aired on TV One show Powerbuilt Tools Motorsport (29th June).

Driving in shifts for the Kiwi Team Nurburgring using car numbers 240 & 241 will be: Dr Greg Taylor (Auckland), Brian McGovern (Auckland), Tim Martin (Auckland), Ali Taylor (Hawke’s Bay), Michael Eden (Wanganui), Stu Owers (Wellington), Lewis Scott (Wellington) and Mark Corbett (Auckland).

Support for Kiwi Team Nurburgring comes from: Silver Fern Farms, www.cosmeticart.co.nz, Racetech Seats, CarGlass, Pengellys World Transport Specialists, GDM Group, www.wanganui.com, Oracal, Hella NZ, Spies Hecker, Resene.

ENDS

For further information:
www.ktn.co.nz
http://adac.24h-rennen.de/en.html

Fast facts:

• The 36th running of the ADAC Zurich 24 hour race
• 280 cars are entered to the race, of which 225 are allowed to start
• It is the third visit to the race by Kiwi Team Nurburgring
• The Kiwi Team Nurburgring Honda Civic Type-R started 184th and finished 69th on debut in 2006.
• The team started 164 and 166 in 2007, finishing 60th and 68th.
• The team again won the Group N category for its second successive year in 2007 with the second car finishing runner-up.
• A lap covers 25.4km and will take the team just over 11 minutes.
• There are 40 right hand turns and 33 left hand turns around the 25.378km circuit.
• Known as the ‘Mt Everest’ of car racing.
• Is for production based cars, supported by many of the world’s car manufacturers.
• Well known parts of the circuit include the Karussell and long Döttinger Höhe straight.
• Previous Kiwi winners at Nurburgring circuit include Denny Hulme, Chris Amon, Aaron Slight.
• Entrants include WRC hero Carlos Sainz (VW Scirocco)
• Parts of the circuit remain unchanged since construction in 1927.
• The Nordschleife was dubbed ‘the Green Hell’ by Sir Jackie Stewart.
• Over 700 cars will take part during the weekend of racing – support classes to the 24 hour event
• Set in the Eifel mountain region, weather is changeable and often extreme.
• The team will be filmed for a 12-minute television documentary to be aired mid-June.
• Two identical Honda Civic Type-R cars will be numbered 240 and 241 and be driven in shifts by the eight driver team.
• Most car manufacturers are represented at the race.
• A 13 minute documentary style feature will show on TV One’s Powerbuilt Tools Motorsport show 29th June 2008.