President:

Brent Thompson

Ph: 021-780272

Or: 09-6222355

Secretary:

Sam Elliott

Ph: 021-2227070

Or: 09-5795079

Treasurer:

Andy Duffin

Ph: 027-4394480

Series Co-ordinators:

Scott Smith

Ph: 02

Sam Elliot

Ph: 021-4394480

Series Scrutineer:

Nathan Strachan

Ph: 027-2255727

Committee:

Nicky Watt

Ph: 021-530076

Ant Te Rito

Ph: 021-0664285

** Plus all the executive

members above.

Newsletter Editor:

Bob Louie

Ph:021-941344

Or: 04-2971693

Email: bob.louie@xtra.co.nz

Website: www.ss2000.co.nz

Brent Thompson

Ph: 021-780272

PR & Sponsorship:

Committee Members

SS2000 Club

Contacts: Round 3 was a 1-day meeting

at Hampton Downs and it was

certainly a crammed but ex-

tremely close racing affair.

Right from the start, Andy

Duffin (RX7) and Kane

Walmsley (Corolla 2ltr) set the

scene. Both were the top two

qualifiers being separated by a

mere 0.188 seconds, with

Duffin claiming pole.

Race 1 was also a close affair

and although Duffin initially

took a small but commanding

lead, Walmsley’s Corolla

seemed to be working better

from mid race onwards. In the

closing 2 laps, Walmsley

closed up the deficit to be just

0.264 seconds behind Duffin

by flag fall.

Ant Te Rito (Civic 2ltr) showed

his traffic skills in the Handi-

cap Race 3 when he chased

down late race leader, Sam

Elliot’s Sentra turbo, to win by

just 0.360 seconds. However

that was nothing compared to

the 0.072 second margin be-

tween Elliot and 3rd place

getter, Brent Thompson.

Both handicap races saw a lot

of close tussles between many

drivers and it looks fairly obvi-

ous that our Series Co-

ordinator, Scotty Smith, has

Close Racing Features at Hamptons!!

The forthcoming Round 4 at Man-feild, has been dubbed “Christmas in the Park” replacing the tradi-tional “Thunder in the Park” at Pukekohe which was cancelled due to track renovations.

It will be a busy weekend in the mighty Manawatu district as the annual Feilding IA&P Show is also being held at the Manfeild venue alongside our IRC race meeting. The Speedway (Palmerston North) will be hosting a Stockcar Teams Invasion meeting on the Saturday and this promises to draw a num-ber of petrol heads of a slightly different kind.

Due to the sudden change of venue for this round, there are a few incentives to help attract com-

Round 4—”Christmas in the Park”

Series Sponsor:

certainly mastered the art of

setting the handicap race

grids.

Without being biased, the

racing was certainly more

entertaining that what some

of the other classes put on.

Either this, or all of our driv-

ers have a hunger to be com-

petitive no matter what!!

petitors. The transponder hire fee has been dropped, a full days testing will cost $100, single ses-sions have been made available for $40 per session and there is likely to be an IRC barbeque catch-up for all classes on the Saturday after racing has been completed.

To add to this all SS2000 competi-tors that compete in this round, will share a fairly substantial pool of funds, courtesy of the IRC and SS2000 Club. Again this is an added incentive to encourage as many competitors to yet again make the trip south.

Let’s hope the weather gods come to the party to really make the weekend an event to remember!!

2 Litre Racing at it’s Best!!

www.ss2000.co.nz Season: 2012-13 Nov. 2012—Issue #: 82

SS2000 CLUB NEWSLETTER

President’s Prattle

Well I have to admit that I am struggling to come to grips with the fact that

here I am writing only my second report for the season and we are all but half

way through our season, the 4th round being only just around the corner too.

I have it on really good authority that next season we will be back to starting

our season at Taupo on Labour weekend. The following meeting is likely to be

the traditional Thunder in the park at Pukekohe in mid November, followed by

Manfeild early December, then into January for the mid summer meetings etc.

I had a number of people (well 3 actually), comment to me how well the

handicaps worked at Hampton Downs. So well done Scotty and team (I under-

stand he did have a little help), for a great job done. Keep up the good work

as it is a big enough job on its own without having to think about racing as

well.

Manfeild is looking forward to having us again and we have plans of doing

something a little bit different on the social side. All I am going to say for now is that if you want to know, then make sure you are

there.

Just a reminder about the website forum. I don’t believe it gets used enough. If you have any questions, comments good or bad,

classifieds, gripes (well not too many of these) or just want to have a chin wag, feel free to use the forum as much as possible.

We only ask that you keep any posts polite, factual and not make them personal (in saying that, there is a “members only” section

if you really must). We also make any announcements we need to there so at least keep an eye on it. We hope to have the re-

vamped website launched any day soon.

Not sure how many of you are aware of this but the overtaking rules have changed in the Motorsport NZ manual. In short the onus

is now on both drivers to make sure overtaking is completed safely.

So if you’re being caught, watch your mirrors. If you’re catching someone be patient and pick the right time to pass.

That’s it from me for now.

See you all at Manfeild

Brent

Page 2 SS2000 Club Newslet te r

Motul Products available through these authorized Dealers:

• Auckland Engineering Supplies: 154 Beaumont Street, Westhaven, Auckland– Ph: 09-358 0910

• E & H Motors: 179 Manukau Road, Pukekohe, Auckland - Ph: 09-238 8987

• Exedy NZ Ltd: 151 Wairau Road, Glenfield, Auckland— Ph: 09-444 0901

• J Tune Automotive: 46 Carr Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland—Ph: 09-625 2808

• Trade Zone East Tamaki: 179 Harris Road, East Tamaki, Auckland—Ph: 09-272 9191

• Speed Source: 1/6-14 Glenmore Drive, Warkworth—Ph: 09-425 7030

• Xtreme RPM Ltd: 6 Karewa Place, Hamilton—Ph: 07-9581893

• SpeedFactor: 3 St John Street, Tauranga— Ph 07-571 2297

• WRC Developments: 36 Leyland Street, Onekawa, Napier— Ph: 06-843 8430

• R Works (NZ): 95 Ridgway Street, Wanganui—Ph: 06-347 1980

• Geartech Automotive Ltd: 334 Tremaine Avenue, Palmerston North—Ph: 06-354 7590

• MacLennan Performance Centre 2006: 303 Willis Street, Wellington—Ph: 04-801 5140

• Speedtech Motorsport Ltd: 7/115 Gracefield Road, Seaview, Lower Hutt—Ph: 04-939 0947

Please ensure you identify yourself as an SS2000 Club member.

Imported by Makay Imports Ltd www.motul.co.nz

2012-13 Hitech Motorsport SS2000 Race Calendar

• Rd 1—October 6th Manfeild (one day event)

• Rd 2—October 20th/21st Taupo (Labour weekend)

• Rd 3—November 11th Hampton Downs (one day event)

• Rd 4—December 1st/2nd Manfeild (replacement for cancelled Pukekohe round)

• Rd 5—January 26th/27th Taupo (Toyota Racing series)

• Rd 6—February 23rd/24th Manfeild

• Rd 7—March 30th/31st Taupo (Easter weekend)

Page 3 SS2000 Club Newslet te r

Race Calendar:

Track Chatter: • After his recent maiden race win, Sam Elliot decided to place

his Sentra turbo on the market (refer Trademe—Competition

Cars listings). Although the $10k asking price took a bit of a

hit due to a minor alternator issue of late, it certainly shot

back up again when he gained a 2nd place result in the last

race at Hampton Downs.

• Defending champ Ant Te Rito returned to SS2000 racing at

Hampton Downs, with his Civic running the same S2000

motor as last season, only now it is hooked up to a 6-speed

K20 gearbox. Clever bugger that Te Rito fellow but now he

just needs to sort out his CV issue!!

• Shayne Morgan recently had a mishap in his Sentra turbo

whilst out testing at Puke. The in-famous “mountain” corner

claimed him, damaging the Sentra. A change in the weight

balance of the car was thought to be a contributor to the

mishap.

• Ex SS2000 racer David Geraghty (acting as pit guy for

Scotty Smith at Hamptons) with his “never say die” attitude

and helped by Brad (part of the Morgan-Elliot pit crew), both

replaced Smith’s broken CV after Race 1. It allowed the Civic

to compete in the remaining races of the weekend. Unfortu-

nately the replacement CV, kindly supplied by one of the

Honda Cup guys, let go again towards the end of the last

race. Scotty was more than grateful for the gesture of help

from these guys and returned a great lap time of 1.15.737

in the last race, almost 9 seconds off his qualifying time!!

• James Parker, who ran the Lucas Oils sponsored RX7 batty

with an S2000 turbo motor, has recently sold this car and

the new owner is likely to join our race series.

• A Seat 2litre world touring car was granted an invitation to

run with us at Hampton Downs but whilst it didn’t eventu-

ate, watch this space as there are more of these cars due.

The CamOne Infinity is an ultra-compact still/video camera

that is designed to go where the action is.

Controls are very simple to use making set-up a piece of cake.

Just press a button to start filming or take a single shot. A

1.5" built-in LCD screen allows you to see what you're filming

in front of you.

The CamOne has two recording speeds, 30 FPS (frames per

second) in HD 1080p or 60 FPS filmed in 720p for dynamic

slow motion shots. Other features include auto white balance

and a built-in interval timer. These two features and more

(Tech Specs available) make the CamOne the ideal video

camera to take along to sports events.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER TO SS2000 MEMBERS:

SS2000 members can buy this amazing little action-cam, direct

from the importer, on an EXCLUSIVE deal to members:

CAMONE INFINITY CAMERA 1080P @ $399.00. In-cludes: Camera, divebox with tripod mount, bike helmet & flat

mounting, USB cable, AV cable, Tentoten access adaptor &

manual. MEMORY CARD NOT INCLUDED—USES MICRO SD

CLASS 4 & ABOVE. (has 2 x micro SD slots).

PLUS $100 WORTH OF ACCESSORIES FREE including: SanDisk 16GB micro SDHC Class 4 memory card; SanDisk mo-

bile mate micro SDHC data to PC transfer card reader; Soul 4

port USB 12v adaptor in-car charger.

To order contact Lacklands direct on:

09-630 0753 or sales@lacklands.co.nz

Page 4 SS2000 Club Newslet te r

Race Report:

Round 3: Hampton Downs 11th

November (1-day event).

Weather: Fine-Cloudy-Dry

TOP 10 QUALIFIERS: 1st– Andy Duffin

(RX7) 1:10.543; 2nd– Kane Walmsley

(Corolla 2ltr); 3rd– Ant Te Rito (Civic 2ltr);

4th– Graeme Smyth (RX7) 5th– Brent

Thompson (Civic 2ltr); 6th- Nathan

Strachan (Civic 2ltr); 7th– Grant Shirley

(Integra 2ltr); 8th– Brian Gray (RX7); 9th–

Todd Prujean (Starlet); 10th– Kevin Town-

send (Mini).

Post qualifying, both Smyth and Ivan Knauf

got warnings for dropping wheels off the

black stuff.

SCRATCH RACE: The race had all the mak-

ings of a showdown between Duffin and

Walmsley, being separated by only 0.188

seconds after qualifying. However pole set-

ter Duffin led and gapped the Walmsley

Corolla until mid-race saw Walmsley reduce

this gap quite dramatically. Ant Te Rito,

returning to SS racing, chased hard but

couldn’t quite match the front two’s pace.

Once again the 2 litre Hondas of Shirley and

Thompson seemed evenly matched, with

Thompson gaining only a slight advantage

for most of the race. Ex champion Brian

Gray had his mirrors filled with youngsters

Prujean and Dorset early on, until the wily

RX7 driver eventually got away. Gray then

went on to tail Strachan and Shirley ahead.

Prujean and Dorset continued to battle it

out over the closing laps as did Knauf and

Townsend’s Mini. It was no different for the

tail enders either with some great dicing

going on as it seemed no one wanted to be

last. In the end, Duffin prevailed for the

win, albeit by a smaller than expected mar-

gin. Scotty Smith was the only post race

casualty with a broken CV.

Results Race 1—Top 10: 1st– Duffin;

2nd– Walmsley; 3rd– Te Rito; 4th–

Smyth; 5th– Thompson; 6th– Strachan;

7th– Gray; 8th– Shirley; 9th– Dorset;

10th– Prujean.

HANDICAP RACE 2: Early retirement for

this race was Sam Elliot when the Sentra

turbo lost all power, the cause thought to

be a faulty alternator. Hamilton’s Capri

turbo led the way and continued to do so

for just over 7 laps. Prujean showed some

early exuberance when he exited turn 3

sideways and not long after, was involved

in a 3 car wide battle with Townsend and

Smith. The trio of 2 litre Hondas of

Strachan, Shirley and Thompson were all

chasing down Dorset in his S2000 powered

Datsun Coupe. Smyth and Gray were not

far behind this group and within three

more laps, both were past Thompson. Te

Rito was working his way through traffic

quickly but by now Duffin and Walmsley

were only 3 cars further behind. In the

final lap, Hamilton still led. Te Rito got

past him to take a short lived lead, then

slowed with a failing CV. Walmsley’s ef-

fort also came unstuck on the final lap

too when his Corolla slowed, the problem

thought to be a dropped cylinder.

Strachan got past the stricken Civic of Te

Rito, but then the flying Duffin came

through and crossed the line to take his

second win of the weekend.

Results Race 1—Top 10: 1st– Duffin;

2nd– Strachan; 3rd– Te Rito; 4th–

Hamilton; 5th– Smyth; 6th– Martin;

7th– Knauf; 8th– Shirley; 9th– Pru-

jean; 10th– Townsend.

HANDICAP—RACE 3: A similar starting

order prevailed for this race and Hamilton

found himself out front again, only this

time for 6 laps. Martin maintained the

gap to lie second for half the race before

Elliot over took him. Townsend ‘s race

came to an end when he parked the Mini

on the grass exit of turn 5 with a sus-

pected blown motor. Thompson,

Strachan, Shirley and Gray battled for

awhile until Thompson eased a small gap

to the following trio. Gray got ahead of

Shirley but now Smyth was catching the

Integra driver. Te Rito’s Civic was on the

move and soon he was also in amongst

this group of cars as well, passing all of

them to lie 10th with 2 laps to go. Duffin

now lay 4 cars behind Te Rito. Knauf and

Prujean were battling for 1600 honours

and would swap places continuously for

the last half of the race. By lap 7, Elliot

moved in to take the lead from Hamilton.

On the last lap, Smith slowed with yet

another CV failure forcing his retirement.

Thompson got to 3rd and would soon slip

past Hamilton for 2nd place. However, Te

Rito managed to chase Thompson down

and also just pip Elliot to the finish line to

take the victory.

Results Race 1—Top 10: 1st– Te Rito;

2nd– Elliot; 3rd– Thompson; 4th–

Duffin; 5th– Hamilton; 6th– Smyth;

7th– Martin; 8th– Strachan; 9th–

Knauf; 10th– Prujean.

Duffin won yet another round and contin-

ues to consolidate his championship lead.

Strachan and Thompson make up the top

3 positions.

Round 4 is at Manfeild again.

Page 5 SS2000 Club Newslet te r

Thanks Heaps!!

• To Sam Elliot, for organizing the angle grinder and T shirt

spot prizes and to Carters Building Supplies for donating

them!! Congratulations to Kane Walmsley for winning the

grinder.

• To Ian Martin, for getting some automotive car care prod-

ucts (Amor All—I think??) to use as even more spot prizes.

I am sure the winners will all put them to great use on

their race or road cars.

• To Grady Homewood, for circulating around the pit areas

at all of our round so far and offering help or useful advice

to competitors wherever he can. Remember you can return

the favour by using some of the services that Grady offers

at Hitech Motorsport.

• To Shayne Morgan at Lacklands, for donating one of his

great “CamOne” in car cameras as a round winning prize

and for also making an “exclusive” purchase offer available

to SS2000 Club members. Congratulations to Andy Duffin,

the Manfeild round winner, who is now the proud owner of

a “CamOne” camera.

Pit Exit It goes without saying that sponsors play a very important part

in our series, irrespective of what level of support they offer.

From the ‘07-’08 season through to ‘11-’12 season, Motul Oils

has served us well as our series sponsor and we are eternally

grateful to Tim and Kay Pollard for their contribution over these

past 5 seasons. Whilst it was sad to be faced with Motul’s spon-

sorship withdrawal, I am sure Tim and Kay will always be wel-

come attendees to our SS2000 Club activities.

Having said this, with Hitech Motorsport on board this season,

Grady has already filled some very big shoes. Not only are they

our new series sponsor but they also fund our after Saturday

race barbeques. To top this off Grady has been at all of our

rounds so far and has made himself available offering some

helpful advice and tips to our competitors. It’s also good to see a

number of our competitors also using the services that Hitech

Motorsport have to offer, showing that support can be reciprocal

for both parties. It’s a great start to a great partnership.

The NZ Motorsport top tier season is scheduled to begin soon in

December and it will be interesting to see how it fares going for-

ward. The biggest draw card will indeed be the Toyota single

seater class (TRS) which will again run over 5 consecutive week-

ends from January 11th to the 10th February. Our 5th Round will

be shared with TRS in the New Year, something that has worked

reasonably well last year too. It’s also a chance to see some of

the young overseas

talent mix it with the

best NZ has to offer.

Let’s hope for some

great racing, great

crowds and great

weather.

With 3 rounds down

and another just around

the corner, we are al-

ready nearing the half-

way point of our Hitech

Motorsport—SS2000

series championship. So far Andy Duffin is doing everything right

and is accumulating points at every round in the only way he

knows how, by winning races. Nathan Strachan in his Civic

Coupe 2litre has surprised many with his consistency and is now

Duffin’s closest rival. After a not so great start to the season,

Brent Thompson lies 3rd in yet another Civic 2 litre. Unfortu-

nately Kane Walmsley, whom looked to be an early threat to

Duffin, has suffered a few reliability issues which has meant he

has missed a few too many races. The car has the speed to

match up with Duffin but has just come up shy of the mark.

Without putting the “mockers” on, the next few rounds should

prove crucial for Duffin as he marches towards his first prospec-

tive championship title.

Manfeild is our next round destination, being the second of three

visits now scheduled for this season. There are some great in-

centives for competitors to attend, so here’s hoping for a good

turn out.

See you all there …. Bob.

NZ Racer Magazine

Did you know the NZ Racer Magazine is back?? There have been 6 issues since its re-

turn. It is a FREE magazine, and available from

most BNT Stores but if you struggle to get your copy let me know as I get sent a number of copies to distribute.

In it you will find a much condensed race report on our Hitech Motorsport —SS2000 saloon car championship rounds for this season.

If you would like to subscribe to NZ Racer, you can also email sales@nzracer.co.nz

Show your support to a magazine that is supporting us!!

Page 6 SS2000 Club Newslet te r

SS2000 thanks its Sponsors

Stick with Dunlop

0800 803567

www.dunlop.co.nz

Dunlop Motorsport supporting SS2000

Talk to:

Richard Fraser

Ph: 04-528 8009

Suppliers of a broad range of tools and products for the engineering

and trade sectors

154 Beaumont Street, Westhaven, Auckland Ph: 09-3580910

Supporters of the SS2000 Saloon Car Championship 2010-11.

“For everyone’s Engineering

Supplies”

Stores Nation wide.

Visit: www.tradezone.co.nz

We specialize in:

• Dyno tuning

• Race preparation & maintenance

• Motorsport & performance engines

• Motorsport fabrication

• Performance & classic car workshop

• Engine management sales & installation

• Carburettor sales, parts & rebuilds

• Performance parts & accessories.

Located at:

69 Creek St

Drury

Auckland

Ph: 09-2946001