A star-studded entry list for this year’s Valvoline Superstock Charity Invitational event has people buzzing, with some of New Zealand’s biggest motorsport stars hitting the speedway.
Four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy headlines the eight-driver ‘celebrity superstock challenge’ at Paradise Valley Speedway.
Murphy visited the Rotorua Speedway earlier this year and was taken aback by the superstock scene.
“Superstocks are a spectacle to watch, and to get behind the wheel of one is an opportunity I could not pass up,” Murphy said.
Inaugural TCR New Zealand champion Chris van der Drift has been confirmed to participate in the December event.
Van der Drift is one of New Zealand’s most versatile racers, a gun in GT machinery and a proven talent in single-seaters.
However, racing on a speedway will be a fresh challenge for the 35-year-old.
The driver with the most experience of off-road racing is Kiwi rally ace Hayden Paddon.
The one-time WRC winner is excited for the opportunity to go head-to-head with some of New Zealand’s best drivers.
“Receiving an invitational to wheel the beast of a machine that is a superstock is one that I could not turn down,” Paddon said.
“To race with some of my racing buddies in a contact class will get the adrenaline pumping.”
Richie Stanaway will make a return to racing two years since he announced he was hanging up the helmet.
Stanaway began his racing career in the youth Ministock in Rotorua before transitioning to single-seaters.
Two-wheel stars Avalon Biddle and Aaron Slight will also be on the starting grid in the charity event.
Both have experimented with rallying this year, making competitive off-road debuts in the Otago Rally.
Two more celebrity guest drivers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The event will be held over December 27-28, and proceeds will go towards Starship Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.
Really good to see a Awesome Group And A Fantastic Fun Raising for Starship.
Awesome Group thanks.
Great to see Richie Stanaway back in motorsport