The 20th anniversary season of the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series gets underway this weekend at the MG Classic at Manfeild.
After a Covid-impacted past two seasons, a strong grid is expected due to the extra preparation time the long off-season has provided.
In 20 years, the series has continued to grow, NZ F5000 Association committee member and spokesperson Glenn Richards recognising it gets better with age “like a world class New Zealand wine.”
“That’s certainly the way it looks like from where we’re standing; at least at the moment, anyway,” he says.
“We’ve got a great group of people right now, all 100% committed to running in an open, competitive series where we are all just as interested in how the other guy is going as we are in our own progress.”
Among the runners is most recent race winner, Kevin Ingram, who will compete in the LolaT332 previously driven by Ian Clements.
Brett Willis, Russell Greer, Tony Galbraith and Bruce Kett will also race in LolaT332s of their own, whilst Glenn Richards and Shayne Windelburn will compete in the later model T400s.
Grant Martin will drive the only Talon MR1/A on the grid whilst Alistair Chalmers will pilot the sole Chevron B32.
There’ll also be a touch of something special on track come race weekend, the ultra-rare McLaren M22 to be driven by Tim Rush.
The Class A runners for older period cars is rounded out by the high-wing McLaren M10A of Tony Roberts and the McLaren M10B of Toby Annabell, previously raced by Kipp Ackermann.
Friday sees the launch of the season with a practice session, with qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday. Two races will be run on Sunday, including the longer feature.
Header: The McLaren M10B of Toby Annabell. Image: Fast Company/Matt Smith
