This weekend’s penultimate round of the Mazda Pro8 South Island Series is set to be a thriller with a number of contenders emerging pre-race.
Whilst Will Kitching leads the series by 143 points heading into the fourth round he’ll have his hands full with a strong field behind.
A four car battle-pack fighting for second on the standings with Kris Mackie holding an advantage over Shane Roughan, Brad Dawson and Jared Pyke. Only 48 points separate the quartet meaning the battle up front will be hotly contested.
Throw in Australian RX8 Cup champion Tom Shaw, his father Ric Shaw and young gun Sam Wallace- who won all four races at Highlands last year- then we’re in for a wild ride.
Having the Shaw’s competing in the field comes off the back of a Trans-Tasman partnership struck up recently which will see Ash McConchie, Mackie and Jarrod Paramenter compete in April’s Bathurst 6 Hour in a RX8 Cup car.
In the style of true southern hospitality Mackie himself is loaning the Australian duo one of his RX8s for the round.
They’ll have to get used to some slight differences in the car first as New Zealand Pro8’s don’t run ABS whilst their Australian counterparts do. There’s no doubt they’ll be up for the challenge, however, both having experienced magnitudes of success in the RX8 Cup.
Twenty-two cars have been confirmed in the field which will compete across four races over the weekend, including Jeff Judd who returns after a thrilling first outing at Levels.
The event will follow the standard series format of a qualifying session to set the grid for Race 1. This is followed by a reverse top 10 for Race 2, a full reverse grid for Race 3 and the following Race 4 grid set by the amount of championship points scored that weekend.
Whilst Kitching has a good lead there are no certainties that will remain, 75 points awarded to each race winner for a total of 300 up for grabs over the weekend.
With such a range of talent on-track the weekend’s event will definitely be one worth following.
Image: Mad Angles Photography (supplied)
