Greg Murphy and Shane Helms will finally have their first opportunity to race the Renault R.S 01 in this year’s South Island Endurance Series.
The car was meant to make its New Zealand debut earlier this year during the North Island series.
However, before the opening round at Pukekohe, a gearbox issue forced the Race Lab team to shelve the entry.
The necessary parts then had delays getting into the country, which meant the car did not run for the entire series.
Now, that problem is addressed, and Race Lab confirmed to Velocity News yesterday that the Renault R.S 01 will be in action for round one of the South Island championship next month.
Car owner Helms will team with four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Murphy for the four-round mainland series.
Neither has had too much experience behind the wheel of the car.
Though testing times for Helms yesterday at Hampton Downs were in the 1.03-minute range, suggesting they are there or thereabouts on pace to other GT3 cars.
The R.S 01 features a V6 twin-turbo engine from a Nissan GT-R with a complete carbon chassis designed by Italian manufacturer Dallara.
Renault initially built the car for a one-make European championship.
However, that series was shortly discontinued after two seasons.
To make the car eligible for GT3 racing, Renault detuned and added weight to the R.S 01.
The car is not massive on horsepower but does generate a fair chunk of downforce, giving it some speed through the corners.
The first round of the South Island Endurance Series is at Ruapuna on September 4.
