Moore roars back in V8 SuperTourers

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University of Canterbury student Richard Moore is studying the right topic to fund his passion.

He is one of three Christchurch entries in the V8 SuperTourers (V8ST) championship, which gets under way in February. Halfway through a commerce degree, Moore could well be remembered for his major rollover in a Mini at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna, in Christchurch, in 2007. Not deterred by the write-off, Moore moved into a Porsche GT3, which he raced for the rest of that summer. This may well prove to be the right choice for Moore in terms of race experience for a V8 Supertourer. Kiwi V8 Supercar drivers Fabian Coulthard and Daniel Gaunt also had good groundings in this class.

Eddie Bell and Andy Knight are the other local entries. All three V8ST chassis are in the paint shop before being prepared for track testing in January and the first event in February.

While Moore's is being prepared in Auckland alongside team-mates Greg Murphy and Paul Manuell, Knight's car is in Timaru after his team relocated their workshop following the September earthquake. Bell has his car being prepared in Christchurch.

Motorcycle fans have headed south for the Burt Munro Challenge, which is under way in Southland, with a festival of events run over four days by the Southland Motorcycle Club. It began on Thursday with the Bluff hill-climb. Beach racing is at 5pm this evening at Oreti Beach, Otatara. On Saturday, sprint races take place at Teretonga Park Raceway during the day. Oreti Park Speedway hosts more action that evening, while the finale sees street racing around the township of Wyndham on Sunday.

Geraldine's Haydon Paddon is celebrating his 2011 Production World Rally Championship win with a week-long national road tour. His South Island segment will see him in at various Placemakers stores in Nelson, Christchurch, Timaru and Dunedin between Monday and Wednesday with posters, merchandise and prizes for fans. He is still working on plans for the 2012 season and has been talking with a number of teams and sponsors, with the aim of stepping up a class from the production spec cars he has driven for the past two seasons to contest the World Rally Championship again next year.

While Mitch Evans and Richie Stanaway both retired from the Macau F3 Grand Prix last weekend, four other Kiwis will be racing at this year's Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals meeting in Abu Dhabi. The event has attracted 264 drivers from 60 countries with New Zealand represented by Daniel Kinsman (Senior Max), Kane Taylor (DD2), Steven Currie (DD2 Masters) and Reid Harker (Junior Max). NZ is one of the pioneering territories which has sent teams to every event since their inauguration in Puerto Rico in 2000.

Though we have yet to claim an outright class win we have been tantalisingly close, Palmerston North-born international Josh Hart finishing second in the Senior Max class. Christchurch driver Matthew Hamilton finished third in DD2 in Italy last year, and third in Senior Max in Egypt in 2009.

Benjamin Carrell is the online editor of nzracer.com