One of the strongest fields of the season will contest Round 4 of the 2009/2010 Kumho Sport Saloon Series at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna in Christchurch this weekend.
All the frontrunners are on hand while a leading light from several seasons ago has rejoined the fray with a new car.
Nineteen cars have entered the round and spectators can expect a hard fought weekend of racing. Chris Small of Timaru currently leads the championship in his Mitsubishi EVO but the biggest threat that he and the rest of the field will have to overcome this weekend is defending champion, Neville Stowell of Timaru. Stowell has been all but unbeatable since he debuted his Nissan Skyline in the series at the beginning of 2007. A combination of the very potent Skyline along with Stowell's driving talent has made them the combination to beat. However Small and several other regulars are very fast and always near the front of the pack. Nick Smart in his Nissan Skyline always shines at this, his home circuit, while fellow Christchurch driver Gary Ridden in another Mitsubishi EVO has had his share of problems in his first season in the class but his speed is not in doubt. Meanwhile Timaru based brothers Nathan and Ivan McAuley, Raymond Hart of Timaru in a Nissan Skyline plus Temuka's Gary Duncan and Kaikoura driver Phil Hood in EVOs are also always to the fore.
However much interest this weekend will centre on the return to the series of Ashburton driver Michael Gallagher. Gallagher was a frontrunnner in the series before taking a break several years ago. In the intervening years he has taken his time to build up a rotary powered Mazda RX7 'Batmobile' with fuel injection and a close ratio gearbox. Gallagher has done one club event in the car and describes himself as "a bit rusty". However there is no doubting Gallagher's ability behind the wheel and he is looking forward to "getting going now before sorting out any finetuning the car needs over winter." Already his lap times at this circuit in his new car are considerably quicker than those he set in his earlier model RX7 several years ago.
Another recent series returnee, Luggate based Matt Edgar, has performed well in his turbocharged Toyota Starlet this season after a lengthy absence.
Two other hometown drivers will take to the grid this weekend. Jeremy Grice had a good round in his Subaru Legacy at his home circuit when the series last visited in January while Garreth MacKenzie had a tough time on that occasion with a variety of problems putting paid to his weekend.
Stan Moore of Temuka had a very good round at this track in January while Timaru drivers Grant McKissock, Grant Waters and Murray Beeby, plus Motueka's Noel Parish and Southlander Shane Crosbie are all capable of making an impact.
Competitors will have a 15 minute practice session on Saturday morning before qualifying at 12.55pm that afternoon. Race 1 of the round follows over 7 laps from a rolling start at 3.20pm. On Sunday a 7 lap handicap grid start event is scheduled for 10.50am followed by a 6 lap handicap event at 2.20pm.
