Category originals Kevin Bartlett, Howden Ganley and Ken Smith used a visit to a very special workshop in Salinas in Northern California on Wednesday evening to help officially launch the 16th annual SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series.
This season’s series again kicks off with a round at the ITM Auckland SuperSprint Virgin Australia Supercars meeting at Pukekohe Park Raceway over the November 03/04 weekend.
There is then a break until a mid-summer run of three meetings over three consecutive weekends starting with the annual Historic Grand Prix at Taupo’s Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park (Jan 19/20 2019) before heading north to support the Toyota Racing Series at the HRC/TRS meeting at Hampton Downs on Jan 26/27, then south to Christchurch’s Mike Pero Motorsport Park at Ruapuna to headline the annual Skope Classic on February 02 & 13.
Hampton Downs then hosts the coming season’s series final, at the HRC’s big Legends of Speed meeting in late March (23/24).
Thought the calendar has been ratified for just over two weeks now, members of the committee that organises the series thought they would wait until after the two big Rolex Monterey Motorsports before officially announcing the 2018/19 date/venue info.
Such has been the interest in SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series past, present and indeed future, since the 14-strong group of Kiwi F5000 drivers arrived in Northern California, that committee spokesman David Abbott said a decision was made to bring that forward to Wednesday evening US-time/Friday morning our (NZ) time.
“They (Kevin Bartlett, Howden Ganley and Ken Smith) were really good about it too. Because they were heading to Salinas we decided to do it there. And it worked very well. It is honestly unbelievable the interest there is in our little series up here in the ‘States and even if we don’t receive entries from – in particular – some of the US-based guys this coming season, I think you will find we will in 2019/20.
“Really, I can’t overestimate how important it has been for us to be here with a field of quick, reliable, well-driven cars. It’s really put us on the map.”
Legendary Australian single-seater ace Kevin Bartlett and Kiwis Ganley and Smith were invited to visit the workshop of Nick Slade, the son of Bob Slade, a New Zealand-born race engineer and race engine builder with close links to the UOP Shadow team of the late Don Nichols.
There – as if to confirm what David Abbott had just said – one of the questions that came up whenever Bartlett, Ganley, Smith and/or other members of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Association were talking with other guests was ‘what are your dates and venues for 2018/19?’
Fourteen Kiwis from the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series shipped their F5000 cars to United States this year to help celebrate the official US 50th anniversary celebrations of the category at the annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Pre-Reunion and Reunion meetings at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca circuit in Northern California last and this weekend.
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