As the Golden Homes North Island Endurance Series comes down to the wire at Pukekohe Raceway this Sunday, all eyes will be on the two-hour race as the V8 Utes go head to head with the spirited 1600 & 2,000cc racers. Lap times across the three categories will be surprisingly close – the 400 horsepower V8 Utes having the edge on the straights, while the agile Hondas, Toyotas and BMWs will have the upper hand on the tight corners.
For the V8 Utes, this is true gloves-off racing. Unhindered by minimum weight requirements and control tyres, the Utes are able to lose weight and gain speed on Pukekohe’s flowing circuit.
With 27 confirmed entries for the 2-hour race, there will be a strong contingent of RYCO 24.7 V8 Ute campaigners including three family teams, as the Kroef, Ross & Fougere clans battle it out with Simon Ussher & Jake Stoneman, and Stu Monteith & Brett Rudd.
With three-rounds of the endurance series completed, V8 Ute drivers are looking forward to the 2-hour endurance format.
Simon Ussher in the United Movers ute commented, “It’s not as intense as our RYCO 24.7 utes series where you need to take every overtaking opportunity to get ahead. In a longer race you can always wait a lap and pick your moment before making your move.”
Together with co-driver Jake Stoneman, they’ll be looking to pick up points after spins and blowouts dropped then down the order in previous rounds.
The leading ute is the Stu Monteith and Brett Rudd entry. Likewise, father and son team Paul and Alex Fougere have run incident-free to a solid seventh overall in the series. Alex brings his kartsport racing experience to help him around the twisty stuff, while former off-racer racer Paul will be hoping to say on-road to move further ahead.
The 2-hour race kicks off at 9am Sunday – and with the chance of showers forecast, it could come down to who can best handle the wet conditions. In an endurance race where a wet track go dry all within 2 hours – or vice versa – tyre tactics could make all the difference between winning and spinning.
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