Experienced racer John Penny will partner Gene Rollinson in the Racer Products Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 R-EX for this year’s Golden Homes North Island Endurance Championship.
Penny and Rollinson will steer the Lamborghini in the entire four-round three-hour championship starting at Pukekohe next month.
Rollinson has already had experienced in the car, having driven it in the 2019 New Zealand Endurance final at Hampton Downs.
That race saw the Lamborghini suffer niggling issues with its tyres. However, the team recently rolled out a revamped suspension package, which is hoped to have resolved the troubles and create a more competitive package.
“It is great to have such a vastly experienced co-driver as John alongside me for this year’s Golden Homes Endurance Series,” Rollinson said.
“The Lamborghini is very similar to the Racer Products Audi GT3 I drove as they share the same V10 engine and basic aluminium chassis.
“However, the Reiter Engineering Gallardo’s suspension is quite different to the Audi, so it’s taken us a while to get our head around the best set-up for the car.
“We ran the new suspension set-up at Hampton Downs recently and it transformed the car, so I am really looking forward to the first race at Pukekohe”.
Penny, meanwhile, is hot off a successful return to the Best Bars Toyota 86 championship. Despite being absent from round one, Penny finished the season eighth in the standings.
“I have had more seat-time in preparation for this year’s extended Endurance racing series than I have had for a long time,” Penny said.
“I am looking forward to driving alongside Gene as I know he is a real benchmark in these GT3 cars, having successfully partnered Simon Evans and Neil Foster in their respective Audi R8 GT3 car’s. So he has form.
“Gene has also dominated the TCR Endurance racing class in Racer Products Hyundai i30N TCR car, so I think we should a competitive driving team.”
Rollinson and Penny will be guided on and off the track by crew chief Sam Mackenzie.
“Sam has done an awesome job prepping the car for this year’s series,” Rollinson said. “So, I am confident that we will be there or thereabouts at the pointy end this season.
“At the end of the day, it’s as much about the driver pairing as it is the car, and I don’t think I could have a better co-driver than JP as he is fast, consistent and very experienced.”
The first round of the Golden Homes North Island Endurance Series will be at Pukekohe Park on May 8-9.
