Matt Adams - 1964 Brabham BT9

Aged 12 Matt had a go in autocrosses and hill climbs. Motorsport took a side- line until 2013 when he went along to a local rally to watch with Rod Millen compete. Here the family genes kicked in and he knew he needed a rally car. Since then he has become three-time New Zealand Group A Rally Challenge winner and he now drives a front-running Evo 9 in the Cat 5 Gull Rally Challenge.

1964 Brabham BT9:

This car had a Ford 4-cylinder, 1097cc engine and a Hewland gear box. Its history stems back to May 1964, when a group of British drivers left with their Formula Junior cars for the Japanese Grand Prix, which was a two-heat race round the 6km Suzuka circuit. One of the drivers was Mike Knight and he won the second heat and was the overall winner of the Japanese Grand Prix with this car. This BT9 also ran at Macau.

Paul Adams - 1970 BMW 2002 Ti

Paul began his motorsport career in the 1960s driving a Morris 1100 and competed in the first ever hill climb run at Cosseys’ Farm in Drury run by the Northern Sports Car Club. It belonged to a salesman working for his father, who had no idea it was being used to race on. From this small beginning, Paul went on to win three separate New Zealand championships; the NZ Rally Championship, the NZ Hill Climb Championship and the NZ Rallycross Championship. Paul was also a factory driver in New Zealand for both General Motors (Vauxhall Chevette) and Toyota NZ (Toyota Starlet and Corolla AE86). He has also competed overseas doing a number of the Southern Cross rallies in Australia.

1970 BMW 2002 Ti:

This car won New Zealand’s first international rally, the four-day 1970 Shell Silver Fern outright. It is competing with all the same livery that it had during that event 47 years ago. It was also used very competitively around the North Island race circuits, in the standard production class, thrilling the crowds especially at the Bay Park circuit in Tauranga with its very tail-out approach to Baypark’s unique turns. About 22 years ago Paul purchased this current car and began the restoration process (with tremendous help from Don Fenwick, Peter Davidson, Earle McFarlane, Peter Jordan and numerous others about six years ago. It runs a two-litre engine of around 200hp with a ZF five-speed gearbox and a limited slip differential.

Kurt Aikman - 1987 Holden Commodore VL

Kurt is from Te Puke, loves all things motorsport and has been racing and rallying since he was at school. Kurt has also been involved with the running of the Waimate 50 for years.

1987 Holden Commodore VL:

The VL is a 3-litre turbo, running the popular Nissan RB30 engine. Kurt has owned the Holden since 2007 and has built the car up. It is currently in the 1987 Bathurst-winning Mobil Brock graphics. It has done many hill climbs, street sprints, track days and racing across New Zealand, with class wins, plus other great results. This Commodore is the only car that has competed at every Waimate 50 since the revival in 2010.

Daniel Alexander - 1984 Toyota Starlet

Daniel Alexander has over 20 years rally experience and is current class leader in the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) Rally Challenge 2WD class. Daniel has rallied many cars over the years, starting in an early 1980’s Turbo DX Corolla and progressing to a Group-A Impreza. He has now settled back into a classic RWD Toyota and is in his ‘happy place’ going sideways. Daniel will be competing in the Silver Fern rally in 2020, like Leadfoot, this is something he has always dreamed of doing and has worked hard towards.

1984 Toyota Starlet:

Originally built in the 1990s, this Starlet has many years of rally completion under its belt, from rally sprints, hill climbs and dual sprints to rallies throughout New Zealand in the NZRC. In 2014, it was overhauled and only the best components have gone back in. A 7-speed sequential feeds the 230bhp engine and its 1800cc twin cam produces to the rear wheels, making it one of the country’s fastest 2WD classic rally cars. The car is a real crowd pleaser on NZRC’s rally stages – always living up to its famous ‘SDWAYS’ number plate.

Barry Armiger - 1981 Mazda RX7

Barry has been competing for about 34 years now and this weekend is celebrating 30 of them in this car, competing in a number of rallies around the North Island but now mainly hill climbs and rally sprints in the Northland area. Barry has built and developed this car himself. He competed in the last four Race to the Sky events, winning the 2WD rally course class in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2015. Barry has been a top finisher in a number of tarmac events over the past few years. He just likes showing the public how quick these old cars can go.
 

1981 Mazda RX7:

Barry built the RX7 in 1989 with the advice of Neil Allport. It was first raced in 1990 and has seen many changes over the years starting life with a mild stage 2 13B to now 30 years later, a self-developed fuel injected J-port 13B producing almost 300HP at the rear wheels through a TTI sequential gearbox. The RX7 was the only car to win the Race to the Sky 2wd rally course class in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2015, holding the 2wd record in 2006. It was almost lost to fire two weeks before the 2019 leadfoot but still manage to make the event.

Cole Armstrong - 1999 Nissan Skyline R34

The 2017 and 2018 New Zealand Drift Champion with the D1NZ Championship, Cole drives the 2001 250GT Skyline backed by Buteline Plumbing Systems. Cole has been involved in competitive drifting for the last ten years in New Zealand and worldwide, including competing in the Chinese World Drift Series, where he placed in the top five. Cole also competed throughout Australia with the ADGP.

1999 Nissan Skyline R34:

The Nissan Skyline has a 4 speed g force gear box and a Tilton clutch. It has a full Wisefab steering and suspension arm for massive steering lock and huge grip. It is powered by an 850+hp RB32 / 26 straight 6 monster and taking all that power is a 6 speed Albins gear box with a rally spec Tilton clutch. The kw 2way suspension gets all that power to the Zestino 265/40/18 semi slick tires.

Stephen Armstrong - 1972 Mazda RX3 Coupe Savanna

Stephen has been involved in motorsport since the 1980s, predominantly campaigning Mazda rotary cars at club and national level. He competed in the Production Supercar Series in a giant-killing RX3, before being part of the team that started and ran the North Island RX7 Class (now Pro7). He was also part of the Adams Rally Team building cars and navigating for Paul Adams. This is Stephen’s fourth time competing at Leadfoot.

1972 Mazda RX3 Coupe Savanna:

This RX3 Coupe has been racing on New Zealand circuits since the early 1990s. Over the last 15 years it has been developed into the specification that was raced in 1972 in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. It has some very rare MFR (Mazda Factory Racing) and Mazdaspeed components, including a 12aPP motor, 48IDA Weber, MFR close ratio gearbox, Mazdaspeed racing body kit and 13″ race wheels.

Alan Austin - 1992 Mazda RX7 Series 6 V8

Alan has been racing this car for over a dozen years and has competed in over 140 events. He holds several hill climb records, loves the challenge of a new event and gives it everything he has to try and beat the turbo and 4WD boys. He won the 2017-2018 Duncan MacKenzie Wellington region Hill Climb series.

1992 Mazda RX7 Series 6 V8:

This RX7 was imported to turn into a race car. A 1UZFE was chosen as the power-plant along with a Toyota W58 gearbox. The engine was run stock standard with a link ECU and a custom-made exhaust system. BC suspension was fitted and Ferrodo pads thrown into the calipers. The gearbox lasted a year then was upgraded to a R154. Four years later the engine got pistons, cams and head work, plus individual throttle bodies and the front brakes were up graded to Wilwood.

Fred Bailey - 1963 Ford Consul Classic

Fred is a retired mechanical engineer and has been involved in New Zealand motorsport since the mid-1960s. Fred joined the Triumph Car Club in the early 1970s with Allan Woolf and his team and he raced his Falcon UTE at Baypark and other club events. Fred then joined the Auckland Car Club in the mid-1970s, where he is still a member – competing in club and national race meetings with a Mini Cooper S, Ford GTHO Falcon, Ford RS2000 and Anglia twin cam.

1963 Ford Consul Classic:

The 1963 Ford Consul Classic saloon is a very rare original 116E, 1500cc, two-door model. It was assembled in England and is possibly one of only two left in New Zealand. Fred rebuilt this car many years ago for motorsport events, making a fiberglass bonnet, boot, front guards and bumpers to help reduce its weight. The engine is still the original non-cross flow design and is fitted with twin side draft weber carbs. Fred says it is still fun to drive and a great challenge for an “old boy and an old classic.”

Earl Bamber - 2020 Porsche Taycan

A professional racing driver from New Zealand, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship GTLM class. He is the 2014 Porsche Supercup and double Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion. He is a double Le Mans 24 Hours winner, having won the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans with Nico Hülkenberg and Nick Tandy and the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.

2020 Porsche Taycan:

The Leadfoot festival sees the first public appearance in New Zealand of the eagerly awaited electrified Porsche, the Taycan. The Taycan links Porsche’s heritage to the future, carrying forward the success story of a brand that has fascinated and thrilled people the world over for more than 70 years and marks the start of a new era.
Featuring the latest drive technology & 560kW (761PS), the top model Taycan Turbo S accelerates  0–100km/h in 2.8 seconds –  It’s heart may be electric, but it’s soul is undeniably Porsche.

Craig Bartosh - 1974 Ford Capri

At the age of 13, Craig bought his first Motocross bike and raced competitively for 12 years. Then he met his wife and family commitments took over for a few years. By the age of 35 he had restored a couple of classic cars and had a nice collection. By chance, Craig was offered an old Capri race car, formerly owned by Owen Lloyd, that had been sitting in a shed for a long time. After a lot of work, Craig got her to the track, hill climbs and sprints and had a lot of fun.

1974 Ford Capri:

This 1974 Capri has a Cosworth rear wing, Spax suspension all round, a 21 turbo engine producing 370hp on 14-pound boost, 6 speed gearbox, a Falcon ute rear end, and Willwood brakes, with the dry weight of 900 kgs. It’s best time at Manfield is 114.1. It was the winner of the 2015 GT Championship Manfield Winter Series. The build was finished in 2007 but due to a crash in 2010 the car was rebuilt to the specification you see today and is a pleasure to drive.

Shane Blucher - 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX Sti Spec C

After military service and some years in international security work, Shane returned to New Zealand. Having owned many performance cars and MX bikes, a major knee injury forced a move to caged competition. After competing in a scratch built rotary escort and drives in a BDA escort, Shane purchased his current class 10 WRX extreme Subaru competing in Time Attack Superlap, achieving 3rd place in Pro Street 4WD 2019, Targa NZ Class 10 Extreme and Leadfoot 2019 with a best time of 55.36s. Shane is pleased to be back and aiming to achieve a low 50s run.

2007 Subaru Impreza WRX Sti Spec C:

The WRX was built new by Possum Bourne Motorsport as a spare for the Motor Image Team to FIA group N specifications for the Asia Pacific rally championships but was never used. Shane purchased it in 2015 with only 3000km on it and unscratched. The WRX had not competed until Targa Hawkes Bay 2017 where the gearbox failed landing off a bridge in stage ten. HiTech Motorsport upgraded it with a new 2.2 forged stroker engine, sequential gearbox, AP brakes, Speedline wheels and heavier diffs and axles. The car build was featured in Classic Car magazine Behind the Garage Door.

Andy Booth - 1977 Ford Works Escort RS1800

A familiar name to New Zealand motorsport fans, Andy was part of the ‘establishment’ of NZV8 racing for over a decade. The first driver to win back-to-back championships (2004/2005), his honours’ list also includes New Zealand Grand Prix and Tasman series titles. Andy’s entertaining and aggressive driving style was developed early on in European single seater racing, before returning to New Zealand to be put to good use in the local V8 racing scene.

1977 Ford Works Escort RS1800:

This car was built by Ford at Boreham, England. During the 1978 season it was driven by Hannu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen and Bjorn Waldegard. Hannu won the 1979 Motogard Rally of New Zealand driving this rally car. Following this event, the car was sold to New Caledonia, with Jean-Louis Leyraud returning to New Zealand to compete in it and place 7th in the 1982 Rally of New of New Zealand. The car returned to New Zealand in 2002 for a full restoration by Peter Davidson and Blair Woodhead. With its original body shell, engine, running gear and interior, it is regarded worldwide as being one of the most original Ford Works Escort rally cars in existence today.

Jase Brown - 1990 Nissan S13 Silvia

Jase Brown currently competes in New Zealand’s D1NZ Pro Drifting series. Jase has been doing competitive drifting for over 4 years. He received the awards for smoke machine and best presented car at the 2018 D1NZ awards. Jase’s success has gained international recognition and allowed him to compete at 2018 World Time Attack International Drift Challenge.

1990 Nissan S13 Silvia:

Known as #07FRANKENSTEIN, the car started as a S13 Nissan Silvia shell. Jase custom fit a Rocket Bunny V2 BOSS body kit designed for a latter model Silvia. The engine that was fit to #07FRANKENSTEIN started as a speedway super-stock Toyota/Lexus 1UZFE and then a massive Detroit supercharger was added. A Nascar 4 speed gearbox sends over 650hp to the rear wheels.

Anton Bryant - 1991 Mazda MX5 Turbo

Anton from Taupo is an avid Mazda MX5 fan. He has owned this MX5 since 2001 as a road car. Anton started racing his MX5 in 2010 with the Taupo Car Club in dual sprints. He has also competed in the inaugural one and only 2011 Ohakune Giant 1000 Tarmac Hill Climb and the 2015 Taihape District Car Club Papakai Road Hill Climb. During this time, he was also driving in the Taupo Car Club Winter Series. Since 2015, Anton has been competing in the IRC Summer Series KSports/SS2000 events held at Manfeild and Taupo. He has been dominant in this class winning group 3 and the overall title in the 2015/2016 series.

1991 Mazda MX5 Turbo:

The Mazda MX5 has been developed from a 1600 road car over the years – first turbocharging the 1600 in 2012, then repowering it with an 1800 GTX engine in 2014. In 2017 the engine was rebuilt to become a fully forged BP1800 race engine. The MX5 has a new custom-built hybrid WAGS 6 speed MX5 gearbox, which has eliminated previous gearbox issues caused by the higher horsepower. This season Anton has added a new aero package to make the MX5 even more competitive and one of the best-looking MX5s around.

Julian Cameron - 1980 Nissan 280Z

Julian is from Picton where he runs Picton Tools and Tyres. Julian is a massive car enthusiast and always has been. His latest car to add to the collection for his 50th birthday was the McLaren M6GTR. Race day is generally a family affair with his two daughters and wife. The three of them fight over who gets to have a turn in the passenger seat as they all enjoy racing just as much.

1980 Nissan 280Z:

Julian built the car quite a few years ago. The engine is a mid mounted 500hp small block chevy with an automatic transmission. You can hear the roar of the car before you see it. Julian has competed in this car at numerous hill climb and street events. Julian also competed at the Waimate 50 just recently. Julian has received numerous top 3 placings competing in this car.

Tim Charman - 1986 Toyota AE86

Tim is the owner of TTT (Triple T) Auto. He has built a few of the cars racing at Leadfoot like Darren Kelly’s and Cole Armstrong’s drift Nissans. Tim has always had a soft spot for the cars of the 1980s and likes to think of himself as a crowd favorite by losing time to going sideways. Tim usually competes in local hill climbs and finds himself at the top end of the field, despite low power and an aged platform.

1986 Toyota AE86:

The cult classic Toyota AE86 has always done exceptionally well in all forms of motorsport. This car features period correct livery inspired by race AE86s from Japan in the mid-1980s and completed by another competitor Darren Kelly. Weighing in at less than a ton, this Toyota runs the legendary 4AGE engine in naturally aspirated form. These chassis are renowned for having near perfect weight balance and providing the ultimate driving experience.

Ross Clarke - 1983 TA64 Celica Turbo Group B

Ross entered rallying in the 80’s with a Mk1 Escort Mexico, then proceeded to a RX3 Mazda Coupe until late 1984, He then started a business and family which slowed the rallying until 1988 when he purchased a Mazda 323BMFR 1600 turbo 4WD to compete in the New Zealand Rally Championship and Rally New Zealand. In 2011 he built a Toyota RA20 Celica to compete in the Targa rallies, before eventually selling the car to a United Kingdom-based collector.

1983 TA64 Celica Turbo Group B:

Of the original 35 Toyota Group B cars built only eight still exist. This was the only true attempt to replicate the original cars. The motor is a genuine TTE Group B built in 1985 for the Juha Kankkunen car to compete in the Thousand Lakes Event.
In July 2019 the car and driver were invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom to compete on the forest rally stage. Later that month Ross and the Celica competed in the Eifel Rally in Germany.

Colin Cole - 1979 Ford Escort RS 1800

Colin has been competing in rallies and club events from the age of about 17. Serving his apprenticeship at Masport he grew up watching the Masport rally team and got hooked on Ford Escorts. He has built his own RS1800 and brings it to Leadfoot for a second time after experiencing this great event for the first time in 2018.

1979 Ford Escort RS 1800:

This Ford Escort started life as a rusted-out 1600 Sport. Over eight years Colin built it up to be a modern version of a historic Ford Escort RS1800. Owning an engineering business, Colin made and machined about 90% of the parts in the car. Instead of a classic BDG engine it has a dry-sumped Honda S2000 motor putting out about 250hp and a new for this year 6-speed sequential gearbox.

Bruce Commerer - 1969 Ford Escort Mk1

Bruce hails from South Taranaki and purchased his first race car – a Ford Escort Mk1 in 1994. His love of Mk1s has continued and now he is racing his fourth Mk1 since those early days. He belongs to the South Taranaki Car Club, Taranaki Car Club and the Egmont Classic Car Register. Bruce has competed in hill climbs, bent sprints and street sprints throughout Taranaki, Whanganui and Hawke’s Bay as well as the Taranaki Tarmac and Hamilton Rallies.

1969 Ford Escort Mk1:

This Escort was purchased from Christchurch, without an engine and gearbox. It was built in Timaru and mainly used for endurance races at Teretonga, Ruapuna and Timaru. Eighteen months later it now runs a dry-sumped 1800cc Zetec engine with twin webbers, Quaife 6-speed sequential gearbox, adjustable front platforms, 5-linked with coilovers in rear and Quaife LSD. It has 300mm front discs with Wilwood callipers, 235 rear discs with Toyota callipers and a Wilwood floor-mounted pedal box.

Sloan Cox - 2004 Evo 8 Hillclimb Special

Sloan Cox was a New Zealand Rally Championship competitor for several years and recently is concentrating on high profile hillclimb events and RallyCross. In 2018 Sloan competed in Europe with the RallyCross Academy in a front wheel drive Renault Clio and hopes the skills he learnt will help contribute to winning the Leadfoot Festival. Three years in a row at Leadfoot, Sloan has finished second behind Alistair McRae so its time Sloan gets that top step.

2004 Evo 8 Hillclimb Special:

The Taslo Engineering Hillclimb Beast has a 6-speed sequential Holinger gearbox with the lowest gearing, weigh’s 1,000kg using a custom space frame and carbon fibre body and Borg Warner EFR Turbo for low down power making 800HP. It has a great power/weight ratio making it fast off the mark. The main focus has been on improving the handling and balancing of the car. The radiator has been rear-mounted and upgraded to MCA suspension plus larger and better aero all round.

Steve Cox - 2002 F40 Silhouette

With over 35 years of racing, Steve has competed in and been involved in all sorts. He began at club events like hill climbs, sprints and motorkhanas. Then he progressed to the Wellington Street Race back in the 1980s, numerous national and international rallying events, plus karting at both a local and national level. Steve has also competed in circuit racing throughout New Zealand.This is Steve’s sixth visit to Leadfoot. He has a wide range of experience in circuit and rally cars and also spent a few years in karts.

2002 F40 Silhouette:

This car is a well-known replica of the iconic Ferrari F40. It is powered by a race-prepared twin turbo Lexus V8 pumping out 750hp. Drive is delivered via a heavily-modified Quaife 6 speed sequential transaxle. It was initially a five year project and is the only one left in New Zealand. It ran in NZ Super Sedans with great success in the mid 2000s before being retired. These days the only time it gets used in anger is at Leadfoot, and while not the ideal car for the driveway, Steve certainly enjoys throwing it at the hill.

Barry Cutelli - 2009 Radical sr3 RS

Barry’s interest in anything fast started in his very early 20s when he raced speedway. Moving on to jet boat marathon racing and winning the North Island twin rivers title, he held the Wanganui river record, and it is still the fastest New Zealand boat time to this day. Later in life he purchased a 1992 Fraser Clubman followed by a Radical sr3 when the racing bug got the better of him. Hill climbs and street sprints became favourite events and he competed in over 30 of them, achieving 20-plus class wins. This led to the purchase of Barry’s current car – a Radical sr3 RS.

2009 Radical sr3 RS:

This car was imported from the United Kingdom by Derick Neil, of Christchurch, three years ago after he purchased it from Mecktec Motorsport. The Radical had a major rebuild in 2012 by Radical Performance, bringing it up to full FIA-spec. The car runs an RPE 1475 Hayabusa engine with a 6-speed sequential gear box and a paddle shift with flat shift auto blip. Barry purchased the Radical earlier this year to run in street sprints and hill climbs. His first event was the Stratford Street Sprint, where the car was first overall.

Justin Davies - 2008 Cougar Class 1 Off-Roader

Justin has been competing in off road racing for the past five years. He grew up around the sport, watching his father race at the top level. He is one of the youngest drivers in the unlimited buggy class and already has some class wins and series wins under his belt. His next goal is the New Zealand Championship.

2008 Cougar Class 1 Off-Roader:

This off-roader was built in 2008 by Neville Smith at Cougar Racecars. Neville campaigned the Cougar for a few years and even shared the drive with national rally champion Andrew Hawkeswood before selling it to Lotto-winning millionaire Trevor Cooper. Justin purchased it three years ago.
It has a unique powerplant in the world of off-road racing and is made up of a full chrome moly chassis, powered by a 500hp 2-litre turbo reverse rotation Honda with an Albins AGB dog box transaxle and eight-times Fox shocks.

Andy Duffin - 1996 Mazda RX7

Andy has been competing in New Zealand motorsport for 20 years mostly in the Mazda brand. Winning two New Zealand titles in Pro7 Plus and one in Pro7 was a great stepping stone into more modified and faster machinery. After building a new car and moving into SS2000, he won that class as well. The GT2 class was next and after winning that in 2014/15, he has been invited to the World Time Attack in Sydney for the last three years.

1996 Mazda RX7:

This 3 Rotor Racing 1996 FD RX7 has a unique 3 rotor 20b engine built by Green Brothers Racing. It is naturally aspirated, peripheral ported and makes over 500hp at the wheels. When running in Time Attack trim, Andy uses a 200hp shot of nitrous. It is backed by a TTi industries 6-speed sequential gearbox. The suspension package by Fortune Auto uses three-way adjustable shocks and Endless Brakes provides the stopping power. This car has won SS2000 and GT2 titles and competed in Time Attack.

Lee England - 1997 Mitsubishi Evo 4 RS

Lee’s motorsport career started at age 12 with karting. At 15 he started racing cars and quickly moved into rallying – competing in numerous rally events. In 1986 he took part in the Rally of NZ and the New Zealand Rally Championship in a self-built Nissan Bluebird Turbo finishing third in Group A. After a 30-year break, in 2016 he returned and became the 2017 and 2018 Motorsport Bay of Plenty tarmac sprint champion.

1997 Mitsubishi Evo 4 RS:

This 1997 Mitsubishi Evolution 4 is a genuine RS version, which was a limited production run specifically for the World Rally Championship. It features lightweight body panels, thinner glass, a close ratio gearbox, quick steering and factory limited slip diffs. Originally built in Japan as a tarmac rally car, Lee has built up the Mitsubishi’s parts required to switch between tarmac and gravel spec depending on the event.

Ray Evernham - The Ghost

United States-based Ray was a former auto racing crew chief for Bill Davis Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, and ran his own team Evernham Motorsports from 2001–2010. A three-time Winston Cup Series Champion with driver Jeff Gordon, Ray won the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Illustrated ‘Person of the Year’. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Class of 2018. Ray has also dipped into television several times as an analyst.

The Ghost:

The Ghost is a custom-built race car housed in a 1936 Chevrolet Sedan body to look like one of the modifieds that Ray grew up watching race in the 1960s at short tracks in New Jersey but underneath it features state-of-the-art mechanics and electronics. It also has the aero performance of an Indy car and is powered by an 850 horsepower Chevrolet SB2 engine. Ray’s Ghost is the culmination of his 40-plus years of experience in auto racing. Along with his team, Ray wanted to design and build the car from the ground up the way they did in the 1970s and 1980s. No computers, no lasers, just using the knowledge they accumulated through the years. It’s called The Ghost due to the pearl white paint scheme.

Ray Ferner - 1931 Ralph Watson BSA FW32

Ray was brought up in a motoring family with a plethora of vintage and veteran cars including Alvis, Lea Francis, Minerva and Riley. A keen interest in cars developed and Ray spent much of his youth touring in an old Singer and Triumph TR6.
Ray’s more interesting vehicles include a rather pedestrian London Routemaster double decker bus and an Aston Martin DB2/4 MKII. The Aston had an early racing history and was class winner of the 1958 Tulip Rally and completed the Monte Carlo rally in 1958.
Ray recently restored the car from barn-find condition and it was a big job that took ten years. He has also become the keeper of the Ralph Watson BSA special and will campaign the car in various historic races and hill climbs.

1931 Ralph Watson BSA FW32:

The BSA was developed into a racing special by Ralph Watson in early 1950s. The car was modified with a lowered chassis, a lightweight body and doubled horsepower from the original. Ralph raced the car until 1954 when he sold it to develop the Lycoming Special.
Thirty years later the car returned to Ralph and he restored it back to its 1950’s form but with a new lighter body, new gears, a higher final drive ratio and a lighter real axle. Ralph raced the car around New Zealand and further developed it in the late 1980s to include rotary valves. They were a real engineering challenge and sealing the combustion chambers and the oil system took much experimentation. The result was more horsepower and more torque across the rev range. Ralph machined a new crank case from an aluminum billet. The BSA has been extremely reliable.

Ian Ffitch - 2002 BRM 1000 Superquad LT500R/GSXR1000

Ian has accumulated close to 40 national titles over nearly 30 years of racing. He has enjoyed success overseas and was the only non-American rider to win a United States national title achieving this back in 1996. Ian took 3rd in the prestigious 12 hours of Pont De Vaux in France in 1999 however some of his most special moments have being achieved at home competing on his Superquad at not only Race to the Sky but here at the Leadfoot Festival. At Race to the Sky Ian regularly placed in the top ten overall taking out top position in the quads all but once when he had a DNF. But bigger than all this was when he became the inaugural winner of the Possum Bourne Memorial trophy for his 3rd overall and 1st resident Kiwi home in 2004 – a feat he repeated at the last edition of the race in 2015.

2002 BRM 1000 Superquad LT500R/GSXR1000:

This Superquad was hand-crafted by 2 Way Industries with pure speed and handling in mind to conquer Race to the Sky and although it’s definitely not designed for tarmac and it’s a handful, it’s still fun to ride at Leadfoot. It started as an early 1990’s Suzuki LT500R 2 stroke quad before being replaced with a 2001 GSXR1000R in 2002. The original frame was modified to take the larger engine and only 20% of the frame is original and only 10% of the whole bike is original, with the rest custom-built. The engine package putting out around 140 rear wheel horsepower was sorted by Auckland’s BRM Dyno tune while the rest was built by 2 Way Industries’ owner Jason Way in Auckland. The suspension is custom-built by PEP suspension, in America, and handles the extra weight and power and maximises the many tuning features. The BRM1000 has a more than 230kmh top speed.

Ian Ffitch - 2008 HONDA TRX450R

Ian has accumulated close to 40 national titles over nearly 30 years of racing. He has enjoyed success overseas and was the only non-American rider to win a United States national title achieving this back in 1996. Ian took 3rd in the prestigious 12 hours of Pont De Vaux in France in 1999 however some of his most special moments have being achieved at home competing on his Superquad at not only Race to the Sky but here at the Leadfoot Festival. At Race to the Sky Ian regularly placed in the top ten overall taking out top position in the quads all but once when he had a DNF. But bigger than all this was when he became the inaugural winner of the Possum Bourne Memorial trophy for his 3rd overall and 1st resident Kiwi home in 2004 – a feat he repeated at the last edition of the race in 2015.

2008 HONDA TRX450R:

This 2008 HONDA TRX450R has a highly modified engine from Sparks Engine Racing USA, but runs the standard bore and stroke making it 450ccs. It runs a standard frame with mostly aftermarket chassis components. The suspension is by United States’ company PEP and its A-arms and steering components are made by Laeger custom fabricators. Its top speed is 120kmh but it is light, so you can be freely aggressive on the tarmac.

Jason Gibbs - 1989 Honda Civic

Jason is mad about Hondas and racing, He has successfully competed in two seasons of the Honda Cup, finishing an impressive second in class and 10th overall in his rookie season. Jason has done numerous race car liveries for others in the racing community and hopes to build on this involvement in the coming years. Growing up around cars and itching to learn to drive and then drive fast has been a focus point as long as he can remember. So, when the opportunity came up for Jason to pursue his passions on the track, he jumped at the chance to get into the thick of it.

1989 Honda Civic:

After being rescued from death’s door, this genuine EF9 Honda Civic has been transformed into a track weapon. It is fully equipped with a forged 1800cc Vtec engine producing 160kW, quad throttle bodies, upgraded suspension, brakes and drivetrain. Weighing in at just 900kgs, this makes for one seriously quick package. Its period-based livery was inspired by the mid-1980s Motul Honda Civic based in Japan. The ef9 is a cult classic and is becoming rarer all the time. All the work on the car has been done locally in Hamilton courtesy of Andrew at Waikato Honda and Mark at Motivation. The engine was built by Ivan Udy at Udy Automotive and tuned by Linn at CDM.

Peter Goodwin & Louise Blythe - 2008 Suzuki K8 1000cc

‘Pete the Pirate’ Goodwin, with ‘Ken-Doll’ Dunlop are current NZSBK National Sidecar Champions. Competing as Team Pirate, they are looking to retain the Championship in the 2019 racing year. However, Ken-Doll is taking a year out, and the new team passenger is Louise Blythe. Pirate Pete raced in sidecars for five years in the United Kingdom, before moving to New Zealand. Before that he raced in the Grass-Track Sidecar class for seven years. Team Pirate has close ties with Carl Cox Motorsport.

2008 Suzuki K8 1000cc:

The LCR chassis is made in Switzerland by Louis Christian and holds a 2008 Suzuki engine 1000c GSXR. The rear slick tyre is 10 inches wide by 14 inches in diameter. If the track is wet, then they switch to a patterned, treated tyre. The front tyre is an 8 inches wide by 13 inches in diameter slick. The sidecar tyre is 10 inches wide by 13 inches in diameter. The fuel used is 98 octane and the gear change is a semi-automatic button change. The Suzuki offers an integrated brake-system operated by the left foot only and a conventional wrist-operated throttle.

Chris Green - 1974 Mazda RX3 GT Savanna

Chris makes up one half of Green Brothers Racing in Tauranga – specialists in Mazda rotary-powered competition vehicles. Chris participates in autocross, motorkhana, hill climbs, and drag racing – owning and driving New Zealand’s quickest street-legal import drag car. Chris would like to thank Andy Duffin for the loan of his GT Savanna RX3 for the Leadfoot Festival.

1974 Mazda RX3 GT Savanna:

This car was built in the ‘Yanky’ style in the 1980s – a large fender/spoiler style popular in Japan at that time. It’s basically a standard RX3 with bolt on ‘race-looking’ parts. Aside from a mildly-modified engine and some decent brake pads it’s essentially the same as it was in Japan in the 1980s. It was imported into New Zealand by Warwick Mortimer then sold to Justin Hicks. It is now owned by Andy Duffin.

Keith Hamnett - 1979 Vauxhall Chevette

Self-confessed petrol-head, Keith has a life-long love of all things cars, but high on the bucket list for many years has been the Leadfoot Festival.
Starting out in the United Kingdom, Keith’s passion was for stock car racing and rallying, both behind the wheel and as part of a service crew. He moved to New Zealand in 2007 and re-kindled his love of motorsport, so retirement has never really been a consideration, because the lure of a V8 has proved too much.
The Chevette was Keith’s last rally car in the United Kingdom, and when this particular car was seen at Hampton Downs with Tony Lynch, he just had to own it – especially because it was in the exact colour of the rally car. A dream come true.

1979 Vauxhall Chevette:

Re-engineered from the suspension upwards, this 1979 Chevette is a dream to drive. It was built for Targa and circuit racing. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, the Chevette has a 4-litre Lexus V8 engine which has been completely reworked, producing 327hp and 288 ft. pounds of torque. With a top speed of 260kph (plus) and a rev limit of 8500rpm it makes for an exciting ride. The gearbox is a Toyota W55 Supra 5-speed with a custom gear set and the rear axle is a modified Hilux LSD 4.5:1. All the brakes and both front and rear suspension have been custom-engineered for the car.
 

Dean Hansen - 1972 Holden HQ

Dean Hansen currently races his yellow 1972 Holden HQ in the Central Muscle Car series. Dean purchased his car late 2016 and after a season in Northern Muscle Cars moved to the highly competitive Central Muscle Car series where he achieved 3rd overall in Group 1 and Rookie of the year. Dean spent a few years in his 20’s racing karts and afterwards did the odd hill climb in an Evo 4 RS but ultimately he was drawn to the big car, big horsepower of the 70’s era. Nothing beats the look and sound of big V8

1972 Holden HQ:

This Holden is a 4 door, 412ci Dart block (ex sprint car engine), 16 degree heads and braswell carburetor. It makes just shy of 800hp with a GForce 4 speed H pattern gearbox, aluminum 4 inch driveshaft, 9 inch ford Detroit locker diff, massive AP brakes front and rear and runs on 17 inch Simmons wheels. The HQ won three Central Muscle Car Championships with Dean coming 3rd in 2017/18 season. It recently competed at the Waimate 50, taking 1st place in the Australian & American Muscle Class, best performance in Touring Cars and coming 11th overall out of 55 competitors.

Scott Harland - 1978 Leyland Mini

Scott started racing in 2010, buying a road-going 1978 Mini and building it himself at home. He then went on to race it for the next five years in car club events with the Taranaki Car Club and South Taranaki Car Club, plus other lower North Island events. He picked a Mini to race because he likes them, and they are classic. In early 2016 he gave the Mini a freshen-up and a retro look. Over the last six years he has been A class points champion six times for Taranaki and two times for South Taranaki.
After 120-plus sealed hill climbs and sprints, Scott has made the change to gravel. He competed in the 2019 engine room automotive gravel sprint series, coming away with 1st in class, 1st rookie and 3rd overall in the series.
He raced at the 2019 Ashley Forest Rallysprint and offered a drive to Mini-loving WRC driver Hayden Paddon and they went on a demo run. It brought back some great memories for Hayden and created some for Scott.

1978 Leyland Mini:

This 1978 Leyland Mini started off as a stock road-going car that Scott bought in 2010. He then striped it out and sent it off to get a cage. Everything else has been done at home in the shed with some help from his brother and dad. The current setup is nothing special, but it gets Scott out there doing what he loves. The motor is 1293cc, running a 40mm side draft weber carb. The gearbox is bone stock with only an upgraded clutch fitted. It has adjustable suspension and shocks all the way round and 10 inch rose petal wheels for the classic look. Scott has never had it on a dyno and tunes it the best he can at home and if it goes well, he is happy. He has competed in close to 70 events over the last six years and it has only let him down once.

Andrew Hawkeswood - 2017 Mazda 2 AP4

Andrew started racing dirt track cars at Meremere Dirt Track Club aged 15 and competed in his first hill climb at age 17. He has been involved in national championship rallying since 1995, but only committed to full seasons four times in the last 20 years. He has finished on the podium three times. Andrew was a National Hill Climb Champion in 2002; has competed in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship and has been to Pikes Peak International Hill Climb twice – narrowly missing victory there in 2005 due to a puncture. He has also raced off-roaders, off-shore power boats, speedway, endurance racing and the Hump 100 Camel Race. After finishing runner-up three times over the years, Andrew won his first New Zealand Rally Championship in November 2017.

2017 Mazda 2 AP4:

This is the latest version of the new generation AP4 rally cars being built by Force Motorsport for the New Zealand Rally Championship. They are now being exported to Australia and China. This car runs a larger 2.2-litre engine, which puts out about 500hp and it will be sporting carbon-fibre panels to keep its weight down.

Leigh Hopper - 2004 Subaru STI C Spec RA Targa

Leigh is a regular competitor in Targa events. His first Targa was in 2007, driving a standard WRX STI and he progressively built modified versions over the years. Competing in the unrestricted 4WD category with six wins under the belt often leads to crashes and there have been many, including shaving some bark off one of the substantial pine trees here at the Leadfoot Festival.

2004 Subaru STI C Spec RA Targa:

This Subaru has many of the mechanical components of Leigh’s previous Targa cars. The last car experienced an unceremonious encounter with a power pole during the prologue for the October 2015 Targa Rally. Built by Leigh’s nephew Ricky Gray of Mach1 Engineering, the car has a healthy 400kW output and is coupled to a 6-speed Modena sequential gearbox. Extracting reliability has been a progressive exercise over the years and Leigh has made incremental improvements and adjustments to keep up with and on occasions ahead of other competitors with far more modern, computer-assisted technology.

Jeremy Hosking - 1969 McLaren M8B

Jeremy is a 44-year-old civil engineer from Auckland and a long-time motorsport fan. Jeremy raced Yamaha and Rotax karts around the North Island for a number of seasons in the early 2000s. After several years away from the sport, Jeremy purchased the McLaren M8B replica and has campaigned and presented the car at various events and shows around the country.

1969 McLaren M8B:

The car is a visual replica of Denny Hulme’s 1969 McLaren M8B Can-Am car. The McLaren team (of Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme) swept the 1969 Can-Am season, winning every single race, driving McLaren M8B cars. This car was built in New Zealand in 2009. It weighs in at 650kg and features a modified all-aluminum GM V8 with four Dell’Orto carburetors, mated to an Audi 5-speed transaxle.

Barry Howard - 1947 Bruce McLaren Stanford Special

Barry’s first racing experience was in 1975 in a vintage invitation pre-Grand Prix race at Pukekohe, driving his 1932 Sunbeam Saloon. He has extensive hill climbing experience with different sports cars and motor bikes and competed at club level at Hawkes Bay, Chelsea and Pebblebrook hill climbs. Barry is an enthusiastic motorsport owner/driver. He purchased the Bruce McLaren Stanford Special in 1993 in poor condition and completed the car’s restoration in 2010. Barry has been invited and has attended six previous Leadfoot Festivals in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

1947 Bruce McLaren Stanford Special:

Built as the Stanford Special in 1947 by Bob Crisp, he hill climbed it throughout New Zealand, winning the South Island Championship in 1950/51 and the New Zealand Championship Hill Climb Northern Sports Car Club in 1952. Bob sold the car to Bruce McLaren in 1955 and Bruce fitted an 1172cc Ford engine, then raced it and won a sports car race at Western Springs in May 1956, and an autocross at Kumeu in November 1956. He also raced the car at Muriwai Beach. Barry purchased the car in 1993 and finished restoring it in 2010. The car features a 1937 Standard flying 8 chassis and Ford 100E running gear. It is 1172cc and supercharged, with a hand-built alloy body.

Ben Hunt - 2003 Subaru WRX Sti

Ben is very passionate about all forms of motorsport and is the 2019 Gold Star New Zealand Rally Champion. This season he won five out of the six New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) rallies. He has been competing in the NZRC since winning the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Scholarship in 2009. Along the way he has picked up various titles, including winning the 2015 New Zealand Rally Championship in his 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Ben is now a Subaru of New Zealand Brand Ambassador and competes in the NZRC in a 2015 Subaru WRX STi.

2003 Subaru WRX Sti:

This Subaru R4 car has a forged 2-litre Boxer engine with gas ring arc spec and high compression. It runs a 6-speed sequential gearbox, R4 Reiger suspension with AP gravel brakes, a Motec engine management system and has custom carbon work by Speedhub Motorsport, who maintain the Subaru along with Hunt Motorsport.

Marty Irvine - 2017 BMW M2

Marty spent many years of racing MotorX and Thundercat Boats before deciding to try his hand at racing cars. He joined the BMW Race Driver Series and in nine years had 8 season podiums, 5 Championship wins and 3 Champion of Champion titles. Seeking more challenge he moved onto something a little more powerful and proceeded to build NZ’s first BMW M2 circuit car. It is proving to be a whole pile of fun as well as a competitive machine in a number of classes.

2017 BMW M2:

This BMW has a 3 litre turbo, N55 engine, 450 HP, 750nm/torque, 7 speed twin clutch. It is the first M2 circuit car in NZ. A lot of components have been custom-built including molly-cage, aero, Koni hand-built shocks, inter-cooler, ducting, exhaust, wheels and even wheel studs. Marty’s family is involved in racing and they’ve been nicknamed “Team Minion” due to their obsession of anything minion on their cars – so it was only apt to nickname the M2, “Gru the M2” (the human father of the minions).

Tim James - 1990 Porsche 964 Carrera 2 Cup

Tim has competed in Targa, NZRGT, both the North and South Island Endurance Series and the Pirelli Porsche Series. His highlights are winning the 2013-2014 Pirelli Porsche Series and Motorsport New Zealand Porsche Championship and various class placings in Targa.
Tim has support from race engineer Aaron Robinson and Continental Cars mechanic Ricky Urry. He has also had lots of help from Continental Cars, Castrol and Woods. Special mention goes to Viv James who supports his motorsport passion. Tim competed in the 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Leadfoot Festivals and is looking forward to running an older Porsche up Rod and Shelly’s driveway in 2020.

1990 Porsche 964 Carrera 2 Cup:

The 1990 Porsche Carrera 2 Cup car is #09 of 20 constructed to race the inaugural German Porsche 911 Carrera Cup in 1990 and again in the same series in 1991. This car raced at Spa, Zolder, Monza and Hokenheim and completed the 1990 Nurburgring 24-hour race.
This car was imported to NZ in 1994 by Maurice O’Reilly from Tauranga, and raced in the NZ Porsche Championship, in addition to, the Wellington Street Race, Bathurst and Indianapolis. Maurice won the Class A Porsche Championship. The car was then passed to Steven Neville who won the NZ Porsche Championship in 2006.

Stefan Johansson - 2020 Ferrari 812 GTS

For over three decades Stefan Johansson has been one of the top drivers in the world of international motorsports. He has been successful in Formula One, IndyCar and Le Mans style sports car racing, winning both the 12 hours of Sebring twice (Porsche, Ferrari) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Porsche).
Throughout his career Stefan has driven for some of the most prestigious teams and manufacturers in the world including: Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Audi and Acura. He is still keeping very active with his racing career and is currently racing in the Le Mans prototype category as well as the newly formed Speedcar series.
When not overseeing his business interests or tending to his own racing career, Stefan is something of a Renaissance man with interests in art and design. He is also an accomplished painter with several exhibitions under his belt. In design his talent runs the gamut from creating all the watches for his Stefan Johansson Växjö watch company soon to be followed by other equally exclusive products such as Mobile Phones, Optics, Luggage, and other Accessories. Stefan has also consulted on a number of Race Track design projects. He runs his own Driver Management Company, which includes the current Indianapolis 500 and the 2003, 2008 and 2013 Indycar Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon. Stefan has on several occasion acted as an expert TV Commentator, he is an adviser and consultant to various Racing Teams and Tracks; his participation as special guest in racing and community events around the world includes the following clients: Ferrari, McLaren, Audi, UBS Bank, UPS Shipping, Nissan GT Academy, and much more. Stefan is also the Sporting Director for Ferrari GT Racing program.

2020 Ferrari 812 GTS:


Released September of 2019, exactly 50 years from the debut of the last production series Spider in the Ferrari range to sport a front mounted V12, the 812 GTS hails a triumphant return. Like its historic predecessors, the 812 GTS sets a new benchmark in terms of performance and exclusivity.  Sporting Ferrari’s majestic 800cv V12, it is the most powerful production Spider on the market.

Andrew Johnson - 1972 Datsun 1600

Racing red Datsun 1600s since the early 1970s, Andrew has stayed faithful to the model and colour ever since. While never achieving the success of other drivers of the era, he has been a consistent starter at Whanganui car club events and has been historic racing at Manfeild ever since. His devotion to motorsport is evident in the years he has spent on car club committees and his expansive collection of anything 1600-related.

1972 Datsun 1600:

Spurred by a late offer of sponsorship, the car was hastily assembled for the 1975 Heatway Rally. While the event was a good adventure for the young lads, unfortunately the Datsun was damaged during testing afterwards and tucked away in a corner. Late last year the car was lovingly restored based on the discovery of the original Heatway door cards, which along with other signwriting have been reproduced to return the car to its 1975 livery. While visually the car is the same, it has benefited from the addition of a modern cage, works 180b East African safari suspension and a modified L20b engine.

Kingsley Jones - 2016 Skoda Fabia R5

Kingsley Jones is 50 years old and married to Waverley Jones. He has three kids and started rallying in 1988 in a RX3 which he rolled first time out. A Group B RX7 followed before the shift to Mitsubishis with a VR4, Evo3 then an Evo7. In 2007, he won his first rally in an Evo 6 and in 2009 he won his second in an Evo 8. His first national title came in 2016 when he won the category 5/5a class.
Kingsley has been a volunteer fireman for 19 years.

2016 Skoda Fabia R5:

This 2016 Skoda R5 chassis number 71 was built by Skoda for Esapekka Lappi for WRC2. The car won two rounds and had three seconds (and no DNFs) to win the championship. It was sold to Australia and did a couple of Australian Rally Championship events, until Kingsley bought it in 2017. It has a 1600cc turbo with a 32mm restrictor and WRC boost limiting. It is a permanent 4WD with a Strachey 5-speed sequential gearbox; Sachs WRC shocks; weighs 1230kg; puts out 205Kw at the wheels and runs 98 pump fuel.

Peter Jordan - 1951 Citroen Light 15 V8

Peter is a highly skilled panel beater and fabricator. His driving experience started with hill climbs in the 1970s with Northland Car Club and in the 1980s with Kaikohe Car Club dirt track racing. Followed later by racing in Waihi and Waiuku, Harrisville and Waharoa Speedway. As a member of the Northland Car Club, Peter has competed in events such as the 60th Anniversary of Doctors Hill in 2015, Ruakaka Street Sprint, Springfield Road and Doctors Hill 2017-18, which are all exciting timed events. Peter was invited to bring the Citroen Light 15 to Leadfoot as a competitor in 2016, where he achieved a second place in the Pre-60’s category and a third in 2018.

1951 Citroen Light 15 V8:

The Citroen Light 15 V8 was built by Peter over a 7-year time period. Some donor parts came from wrecking yards, but Peter still used many of the original body parts to fabricate and redesign the Citroen. It went from the original 4-cylinder engine which had no power, to a 351 Windsor V8, with plenty of power. Peter changed it from manual to auto, from front wheel drive to rear wheel drive, with independent suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes.
He hand-fabricated the floor, mud guards, running boards, bonnet, boot, grill and pretty much everything else.

Darren Kelly - 2011 Nissan R35 GTR

Darren is the 28-year-old driver of the 800+hp RB34det Straight 6 Nissan-backed R35 GTR. He has competed in professional competition for eight years and has never gone away from Nissan. Currently he has an R32, R34 (Pro Championship-winning car) and an R35 – all set up for drifting. Starting with an R32 chassis, he competed in many drift events, becoming New Zealand Pro-Am Champion in 2011-2012 and then winning the D1NZ Pro Championship in 2013-2014 in the R34. Darren has also competed in other countries and has returned for the International Drift Challenge in Sydney, Australia. Darren is super pumped to be returning to Leadfoot Festival this year and put on a show for the crowd.

2011 Nissan R35 GTR:

This car started as a bare shell from Dodson’s Motorsport and over the space of two years has been turned it into what we have here today. It was an extremely hard and long build with everything custom made and very few off the shelf parts. TTT Auto Engineering has done an amazing job with the car and helped with developing it to its gen2 version that we will be bringing to Leadfoot Festival 2020. Driveline: This GTR runs an 800+hp dry-sumped RB34det with a TTI sequential 6-speed gearbox, Winters 10.5inch quick-change diff and Driveshaft Shop axles which spin an 18×11 Work wheel coated in a 265 Zestino semi slick. Steering: Ireland-based TDP created a huge lock steering kit to bolt into the R35 chassis. Cooling: This car has a Fenix radiator mounted in the boot. ECU: Link ECU kitted out the R35 with the Link Thunder and their Link Dash 2 Pro.

Alex Kelsey - MC2

Alex started racing at 14 years old in local hillclimbs and always enjoyed building & developing his own race cars. \He became youngest ever winner of a New Zealand national rally in 2012 at age 19. Alex also won the 2013 New Zealand Rallysprint Championship building his MC2 which first competed in 2014 and 2015 achieving a large following online. He is a few years now from racing and really is looking forward to leadfoot 2020.

MC2:

MC2 (Mad Creation2) is a handmade tubeframe rallycar with a Formula Renault 3.5 V6 engine. Designed from the ground up for rallying, it features a mid mounted engine, 6 speed paddle shift 4wd transmission, carbon & fibreglass bodywork.

Hamish Kelsey - 2017 Yamaha YXZ 1000

Hamish started racing quad bikes in 2012 at the age of 14, after many years of racing his brother Alex around the farm. He also had good success in New Zealand with his UTV before heading to America in 2018 to compete in the Lucus Oil Off Road Series driving a pro modified UTV. He will head to the mid-west of America again this winter to compete in the Championship Off-Road Series. Hamish, also known as Topo, is the quarry and contracting manager of Coromandel Quarry and Contracting.

2017 Yamaha YXZ 1000:

This UTV was built in 2017 by Greaves Motorsport for Rodney Van Eperen to complete in the 2017 Torc Off Road Series in Mid West USA. The car won 6 out of the 13 rounds including the Red Bull cup race at Crandon. It has a Yamaha 3 cylinder 1000cc engine, 5 speed paddle shift transmission with 17 inches of suspension travel.

Steven Kirk-Burnnand - 1994 BMW 318ti

Steven didn’t really have a choice when it came to becoming involved in Motorsport. His old man Barry took him round all the race tracks as a kid, so he got the bug at an early stage. Steven started riding and racing motorbikes at age 4 and when he was old enough progressed to paddock cars. He learnt a lot in those years. He bought his first rally car (a 1300cc Toyota Corolla KE70) and fell in love with gravel rallying, although he has ended up a Targa tarmac guy because of the amount of Kirk-Burnnands racing in it. Good family fun!

1994 BMW 318ti:

Bought as a shell in 2011, this car went straight to the shed and emerged a couple of years later with a lackluster 180hp, 2.8-litre straight six ready for the 2013 Targa NZ. It ended up finishing in an incredible 4th overall. It’s now currently running a supercharged S54 M3 engine and making approximately 400hp. It has constantly been a top five finisher in all Targa events and won last year’s Targa Rotorua outright. This car punches well above its weight and is a blast to drive.

Michael Lowe - 1964 Fiat Abarth Berlina Corsa 1000

Mike Lowe has been both circuit racing and tarmac rallying for over 40 years on both sides of the ditch. A confirmed Italian car nut, Mike was part-way through a restoration of his 1964 Abarth when Targa NZ was announced. Despite crashing on stage 4, Mike finished the first Targa with an enthusiasm that remains undiminished to this day. In the last 25 years, he has competed in all but one Targa NZ events, plus the Classic Adelaide and Targa Tasmania with great success.

1964 Fiat Abarth Berlina Corsa 1000:

The definition of a true giant-killer, this rare 1964 Abarth 1000 is instantly recognised by most people as the ” ENZED Abarth” Targa car. It is the only car to have started and finished every Targa event for 20 years. It was retired to the National Motorsport Museum in 2014 but brought out to run the 25th anniversary Targa last year. The Porsche badges on the doors get crossed off every time one was over-taken!

Philip Macey - 1972 Ford Falcon

Philip commenced racing in 2004, starting with a 1961 Sunbeam Rapier then progressing to an Evo 2 for Targa racing. He competed in three Targas, winning the Index of Performance class in 2013. Philip competes in vintage speedway events, owing and racing a VW LTC and Holden-powered midgets. He is moving towards classic circuit racing at selected events and has competed at the Leadfoot Festival three times previously. His 2020 goal is to clock a sub 58 seconds up Rod’s driveway.

1972 Ford Falcon:

Leadfoot 2020 is this vehicle’s first event having only recently been completed. The car is a replica of Dick Johnson’s 1977 Falcon and has been built to compete in Historic Muscle Car events. It is powered by a 351 Cleveland block mated to a top loader gearbox and Ford 9-inch diff. The car was purchased as a body shell in 2010.

Craig Marshall - 1915 American LaFrance Speedster

Craig is the owner of a number of American LaFrance Fire engines and speedsters and he has a passion for the preservation of the iconic machines. He recently competed in the Peking to Paris Rally – a 16,000km adventure across the Gobi Desert, with his wife, at the wheel of a 1937 Dodge Coupe. Craig has a collection of other desirable classics, which he houses down the road at Waihi Beach.

1915 American LaFrance Speedster:

This ex-1915 chain-driven American LaFrance fire engine begin life in Missouri. Like many of these mammoth 14.5L T- head machines, at the end of its working life it was converted into a speedster. While its history is relatively unknown, American LaFrance speedsters dominated the Vanderbilt race track and where renowned for having the reliability of a locomotive and reaching speeds of over 160kmh. This reconstructed example is completely period correct, sporting oversized rear sprockets, a transaxle, dual ignition and will pull away from the curb in top gear at 300rpm!

Craig Marshall - 2011 Ford Fiesta S4000 V6

Craig Marshall first entered the 1994 Rally NZ at age 20 in a Peugeot 106. Followed by campaigning his 306 in 1995 finishing 2nd overall in the International F2 Championship. Through these and local successes Craig gained a drive with Ralliart NZ in the their Group N Mitsubishi Evolution 3, becoming NZ Junior Champion. Some 30 years later, and with some fantastic experiences along the way, rallying in some exotic locations, Craig is still mildly competitive and enjoying a spectacular range of rally cars with his family. Leadfoot is going to be one of those experiences in the Fiesta V6.

2011 Ford Fiesta S4000 V6:

Privately built in Scotland using M Sport contractors for the majority of the rolling chassis, The Marshall Family purchased the car as new and untested, shipping it to Barbados for a tarmac rally enroute to its final destination here in NZ. The car has since had its V6 engine rebuilt, sleeved and stroked to 4000cc, developing over 500 BHP. With a Maktrak 4WD transmission as used in European RallyCross cars and weighing in at 1200KG this car should be snapping at the heals of the turbo 4WD cars.

Mike Marshall - 2004 Peugeot 206 GT

Mike’s first events were reliability trials in the 1960s. His first stage rally was the 1970 Shell Silver Fern driving a 1600cc Ford Anglia. He led from stage one but a navigating error on a touring stage cost him the lead after missing several stages. Subsequent results were: 1971 Heatway Rally third overall; 1972 Dukeries Rally England eighth overall; 1973 Heatway Rally second overall; 1973 Snowman Rally Scotland third overall and the 1975 Heatway Rally first overall.

2004 Peugeot 206 GT:

The Peugeot 206 started life as a GTI180 demonstrator for Peugeot New Zealand. After a small incident at a press testing day it could no longer be sold as a new car, so Mike bought it to build into a rally car. Originally designed for gravel events it has competed in three Silver Fern Rallies – coming second overall in 2008. In 2014, it was converted to tarmac specification to compete in the 2015 Barbados Rally in the Caribbean where it finished three times in consecutive years. For 2019, it has been converted to a 206 GT with the extended bumpers used to homologate the 206 WRC. It has also been fitted with super 1600 subframes and suspension for a wider track.

Nick Marshall - 1999 Peugeot 206 WRC

Nick started competing in a Peugeot 106 Rallye at 19 years old, in the Top Half Series. He then progressed to a Peugeot 106 S16 and drove in Australia and in the New Caledonian National Championship. On returning from New Caledonia the car caught fire in Maramarua Forest and was destroyed. The team built a replica Peugeot 106 Maxi and competed in the New Zealand Rally Championship. It was then that Nick changed his focus from driving, into locating rare and unique cars. His dream rally car was the Peugeot 206 WRC – driven by his hero Marcus Gronholm.

1999 Peugeot 206 WRC:

One of the most successful cars in World Rally Championship, Peugeot won the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships three years consecutively with the 206 WRC. Nick located this 206 WRC body shell in Ireland 15 years ago. The car was then transported to New Zealand, where the shell underwent a full recondition. Over the next few years Nick found a team in Italy looking to sell many parts, including a full dashboard, steering rack, anti-roll bars, intercooler, fuel tank, and engine. The engine came with an intake manifold, exhaust manifold and turbo. All it needed now was an X-trac gearbox to complete the major components. To keep the car 100% original, Nick found out Vaison Sport was servicing the 206 WRC cars in the French Championship and the company provided the remainder of the smaller components. All the wiring and ECU was abandoned in favour of a lightweight wiring harness with a Motec ECU, PDM and dash. This Peugeot was driven by Marcus Gronholm and Gillies Panizzi in the WRC.

David McArthur & Tony New - 2008 DTM Racing F1 Sidecar

David hails from Te Awamutu. He rode dirt bikes from a very young age before deciding to give road racing a go. David raced solo bikes for a number of years including Superbikes before turning his attention to sidecars. The 48-year-old passenger/swinger Tony is from Tauranga, who also comes from a two-wheeled solo back ground – racing motocross for 12 years, then Super Motard, before switching to sidecars.

2008 DTM Racing F1 Sidecar:

The DTM Racing Sidecar is a New Zealand-built machine completed in 2008 for the Lawrence brothers by Peter Anderson. The frame is made from aircraft aluminum and is powered by a 2008 Yamaha R1 (1000cc). The Lawrence brothers campaigned the sidecar to New Zealand titles before David and Tony purchased it for the 2017 season, making them only the second owners of this now iconic Kiwi sidecar.

Paul McCarthy - 1974 Ford Escort RS 1600

Paul has been involved in motor racing since his early teens, helping his father race his Lotus 7 S4. The classic car bug was instilled early and his first car was a Mini Cooper 998, purchased when he was 14 years old. Since then he has owned several RS Fords and raced various cars including a March 722, Lotus 47 GT and BTCC Mazda.

1974 Ford Escort RS 1600:

This Ford Escort was rebuilt as a representation of a Group 2 Zakspeed car that ran in the DRM championship in 1974. It has many correct components, like a Lucas mechanical fuel-injected BDG Cosworth engine and magnesium centre-lock BBS wheels. It was built to be light-weight and weighs 720kg wet and ready to race.
This car has been raced for last five to six years with good results at Hampton Downs and the Leadfoot Festival.

Richard McCarthy - 1974 Lotus 7 S4

Richard has raced classic cars since the mid-1980s in several cars – a Mk2 Lotus Cortina ex-Ronnie Moore, Escort Mk1 Mexico Group 4 and a Mk1 escort twin-cam Group 4. Richard is currently racing a Peugeot 205 GTi that he won the 2K Cup in during the second season of the championship.
He also went on to win the ERC (European Racing Classics) the following year. Richard is the older brother of Paul (Zakspeed) McCarthy.

1974 Lotus 7 S4:

The car is a NZ Steel Brothers-built, 1650cc all-steel, dry-sumped, Holbay twin-cam, straight-cut 4-speed, LSD, which has been owned by Richard’s dad since the 1980s. It holds the lap record at Bay Park for the up to 2-litre sports cars and it is the winner of the Hamilton Street Race for sports and GTs. After a major crash at Hampton Downs, this car was totally rebuilt from the chassis up by Richard and his brother.

Bill McEwan - 1970 Ford Escort RS2000

After servicing and co-driving on Targa events with the late Graham Marshall from Taupo, Bill bought his Escort in 2009. He competed in his first motorsport event at the age of 57, making him the oldest novice in the Hamilton Car Club at that time and proving it’s never too late to follow your dreams and become actively involved in motorsport. A member of the Hamilton Car Club, Bill competes regularly in hill climbs, bent sprints and tarmac rallies.

1970 Ford Escort RS2000:

This lovely example of a 1970’s car was converted from a standard 1970 Escort 1100 in 2000 by Bruce Kirk in Auckland and raced by his daughter Michelle in Historic Saloon Car races until Bill purchased it in 2009. The car has a certificate of description with Motorsport New Zealand, as an RS2000 replica, and has been kept as it would have been run in the 1970s. While the Ford has been extensively modified, Bill is keen to keep the Escort period authentic, so it runs a Ford 2.0-litre SOHC motor, 4-speed Rocket gearbox, original style Ford rear axle and 13” wheels.

Stuart McFarlane - 1974 Porsche Carrera 911

Stuart started competing aged 15. He was a top competitor at Mystery Creek Rallycross events in the mid-1970s in a purpose-built rallycross Mini. After his driving career ended in 1980 following a serious eye injury, he took up rally co-driving with many top New Zealand drivers, including Stuart Eyre, Gary Smith and Ken Adamson. He even had the opportunity to co-drive with Bjorn Waldegard. Stuart competed in the 2000 London to Sydney marathon rally with ex-McLaren team boss Alistair Caldwell.
Recently Stuart has been competing with his son Brad in classic rallying in a Porsche 911, including driving in the Silver Fern Marathon Rally around the South Island last November.

1974 Porsche Carrera 911:

This is an old classic 1974 Porsche gravel rally car. It is running rally suspension, so the crowd should see plenty of front wheel lifting in the corners. It may be not the fastest up the hill but it is quite spectacular! The Porsche has a 3.0-litre air cooled engine with a close ratio gearbox and limited slip diff. The car is a classic unrestored Porsche with the odd rust bubbles to prove its age.

Roger McKay - 2019 Yamaha YXZ 1000

Roger was from a horse-riding family but all he wanted to do was compete in motorsport. He bought his first motocross bike with his show jumping prize money and his first six weeks’ pay. After three years of motocross, he purchased a Datsun 1200 rally car, followed by a Mazda RX3 – running each of them for three years. In 1990, he purchased a Toyota Corolla AE86 (ex Stu Warren). Roger owned this car for 24 years and competed in over 130 rallies with only two DNFs. He had many victories in the Corolla, racing in the 1600cc class, including winning the 1996 South Island Rally Scholarship. Roger did 68,000 rally kilometres in the Corolla. He then tried his hand at 4X4 winch challenges. This included competing in the Malaysian Rain Forest Challenge and the Australian Out Back Challenge. He is now competing in off-road racing in his U Class Yamaha YXZ 1000. Roger has won the South Island U Class title and three consecutive Class 6 New Zealand titles. After moving from Invercargill to Taupo in 2014, he has continued to compete in off-road racing and in 2019 won the North Island U class title. 
Roger’s brother, Ross owns and restored Rod Millen’s BMFR. 

2019 Yamaha YXZ 1000:

This Yamaha has competed in four events. It was built by Roger and Bike Torque Racing. It won the 2019 North Island Off Road Racing U Class (Production Class). It also raced at the Waitomo Rally, which is a first for the New Zealand Rally Championship and for Off-Road Racing.

Donn McLaren - 1970 Ford/Madza Escort

Donn (“Hopper”) has been competing in Mazscort from 1984 till now. He had some great results in the South Island. Then continuing with Rallysports, Hillclimbs and Tracks, winning the Annual Ashburton Club Speed Championship 20 times and the Timaru Club Championship 3 times. Hopper has included and fostered numerous amounts of new competitors gaining a life membership of the Ashburton Car Club. Hopper is so impressed with his supporters, “Darcmiester” Prendergast, Wayne Haughey and the crew of enthusiasts from the South, who are coming along to see the car in action.

1970 Ford/Madza Escort:

This “Mazscort” has been converted from running Ford Motors in the later 1980’s to use a “Hayshed Rotary’s” (Paul Hayman & Paul Sheddon) PP 13B Mazda Rotary engine with lots old cheap 1970’s parts. It has become one of the more successful club sport cars in the South Island winning 12 overall titles of the Rutherford Gravel Sprint, 2 overall wins of Akaroa Tarmac Hillclimb and the Opihi Gravel Hillclimb and including more than 14 victories in gravel and tarmac hill climbs and sprints, beating many good 4WD cars. The car was featured on the “Hillclimb Monsters” website, following 2WD wins at Ashley Forest Rally Sprint.

Rob McNair - 1931 Riley Nine Special

Rob is an aircraft engineer by trade and his business specialises in the restoration of vintage aeroplanes and classic cars. Rob’s passions include vintage aviation in his Tiger Moth, yachting and classic cars of all periods. Rob’s current projects include building a Pitts Special aerobatic aeroplane and a vintage-style ultralight aircraft with his son Louis and his father Wallace. Rob’s current work project is the building and restoration of a set of wings for a Beech Craft Staggerwing, which is being restored in Wanaka in the South Island. Rob’s vintage motoring includes using the Riley whenever possible and competing in club hillclimb events. The Leadfoot Festival is definitely the highlight of Rob’s motorsport calendar.

1931 Riley Nine Special:

Rob built his car based on Riley 9 components and fitted with an engine from a De Havilland Tiger Moth. He was inspired by the Brooklands Riley, the Type 59 GP Bugatti and the GP Delage from 1927. He is an aircraft engineer by trade and had just restored a Tiger Moth for himself when the Riley project was starting to happen. The remaining engine parts left over from the Tiger looked like a obvious solution for his vehicle special. Rob incorporated aircraft-style riveting on the body and aero instruments of the period, to give the car an aero-nautical feel. The result is a car with performance similar to proper Grand Prix cars of the time and it has intriguing details. Aero-engined cars were famous for record-breaking and high-speed touring in the early days due to their effortless performance with the big engines. This is also the case with Rob’s Riley. It has been campaigned at the Leadfoot Festival four times, with the highlight being winning the pre-1960 class here in 2016.

Alister McRae - 1998 Vantage Motorsport Subaru WRX

The king of ‘Millen’s Mile’, Alister McRae has proved he is a hard man to beat up the Leadfoot Festival driveway with a hat-trick in the Vantage Motorsport-owned, ex-Possum Bourne 1998 Subaru WRX STI. The defending champion will be aiming to make it four this weekend and helping him achieve this will be the fact that along with the three previous wins at Leadfoot, Alister has also used the Vantage Subaru to win Race to the Sky in 2015 and the Ashley Forest Rallysprint in 2018, being the first international driver to do so. Although it was only his first time competing at the Canterbury forest event, he beat some stiff competition in the form of WRC driver Hayden Paddon and Leadfoot arch rival Sloan Cox.
Sloan is back this year and would dearly love to best the huge-horsepower Subaru, with his similarly-potent Mitsubishi but he has some history to contend with.
Scottish rally legend, Alister blazed up the 1.6km Coromandel-based hill climb last year in a blistering time of 47.99secs in his Vantage Subaru. It bettered his 2018 time of 49.15secs, showing that Alister can increase the pace each year.
“It’s going to be great to be back behind the wheel of the Vantage Subaru at Leadfoot. The car is a monster and the venue is an amazing place to drive at – and having won the last three years, the pressure is going to be on. The boys at Speedhub are constantly refining the car so hopefully we can drop the time even further this year. The competition gets tougher each year ” Alister says.
Alister’s been spending more time watching son Max behind the wheel, rather than driving himself, but with an outing in Belgium in a MKII Escort and continued testing he should be match fit.

1998 Vantage Motorsport Subaru WRX:

The Subaru WRC has won at the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Leadfoot Festivals and was second here in 2016. It also won the South Island’s iconic Ashley Forest Rally Sprint in 2018. It is an ex-Prodrive Subaru 1998 WRC car, which was driven and crashed at Rally New Zealand by Finnish driver Kuha Kangas in 1999. It was then purchased by Possum Bourne. In 2001, after rebuilding the car, Possum drove it to victory at Race to the Sky. In 2003, Vantage Motorsport purchased the car after Possum’s death.

Ross Meekings - 1983 Toyota AE86 Levin Hatch  

Ross competed in the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) for 20 years from 1982 to 2001. During this time, he contested 18 Rally New Zealand events. Ross has a lot of history with his AE86 Toyota. In the 1988 Rally New Zealand he was sixth overall and competed as a FIA ‘B’ seed, which was the only time ever that a 1600cc car received this classification. The following year he was third overall in the NZRC and also won the 2WD category, plus the 1300-2000cc class. Ross also campaigned his Toyota in the New Zealand Group A Touring Car Championship in 1988 and 1989 and in the 1990 Wellington Street Race, where Aaron Slight co-drove with him. He was sponsored at the time by Hills Industries, Duckhams Oil and Toyota New Zealand. This car is now owned by Gary Cowan in Christchurch.
 

1983 Toyota AE86 Levin Hatch  :

This Toyota AE86 has a 2.0-litre 3SGE generation 3 engine, running dual 45 Webber carburetors and a W57 Supra gearbox, with a Hilux rear diff. Built in 1995 by Head Motorsport, it runs Nissan GTR brakes on the front and rear. The AE86 was purchased by Rex Alder in 1999 and competed in the Targa Rally from 1999 to 2007. It was purchased by Brian Tanner in 2007 and competed in the Targa and Motorsport Bay of Plenty events. In 2015 Daniel Haines bought this car and continued competing in the same events as Brian.  

Antony Michell - 2017 Ariel Atom 3.5

Antony has been involved in motorsport since the 1970s, initially as a schoolboy motocross rider in the United Kingdom, then in Hong Kong where he lived for 25 years, and now in New Zealand. Antony, and his wife Corinne, are both petrol-heads with a shared collection of over 25 cars. These range from an Aston Martin DB5 to a Citroen DS and a couple of Ariel Atoms, such as the one he is driving today.

2017 Ariel Atom 3.5:

The Ariel Atom became big news after Jeremy Clarkson test drove one in Series 5 of Top Gear. The Ariel Atom was referred to by Clarkson as ‘the face changer’ because of its incredible acceleration – a result of combining a 2-litre Honda Civic Type R racing engine with a super-light exoskeleton. The car accelerates from 0-100kmh in 2.7 seconds and has a top speed of 250kmh. Whilst it is certainly not designed or set up for hill climbing, it should make for an exciting ride and spectacle, as it races up the driveway!

Steve Midgley - 1968 Austin Minibusa

Steve Midgley is a self-employed contractor from Hawera in south Taranaki. He started competing in motocross at the age of 10 and rode motorcycles until he was in his mid-30s. Steve won many club championships and in 1989 he clinched the NZ 250cc Championship. He has been racing this bespoke Mini for the last 10 years in hill climbs, street sprints and circuit racing.

1968 Austin Minibusa:

This Austin Mini (Minibusa) has a 2006 Suzuki GSXR1300 Hayabusa engine fitted in the rear of the car and is chain driven to the rear wheels. The Minibusa weighs 620kg and is approximately 200hp. Everything has been hand-built by Steve over two-and-a-half years. The Minibusa has won the New Zealand Super Mini Challenge open class championship three times and the overall championship twice. It has also competed in many hill climbs and street sprints.

Rod Millen - 1974 Mazda RX3

Motorsport and racing legend and all time nice guy, Rod developed a reputation as a leader in rally driving in NZ in the 1970s. Moving to the USA in 1978, Rod turned his attention to off-road stadium racing where he dominated the Mickey Thompson off-road racing series. He became the only driver in the twelve-year history of the series to win three consecutive Grand National Sport Truck titles.
During Rod’s racing career, he conquered the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb, where it has become known as ‘Millen Mountain’.
Rod captured the record for the fastest ascent as well as achieving the fastest overall time, five times. The challenges of Pikes Peak became part of the inspiration to create the Leadfoot Ranch racetrack driveway which this weekend will become the perfect hill climb.

1974 Mazda RX3:

The Mazda RX3 was a very rare car in rallying. Rod’s RX3 was a three-time winner of the New Zealand Rally Championship from 1975-1977. This immaculately prepared RX3 was built by Rod’s brother-in-law Peter Davidson, a name many rally fans will recognise. The aggressive flared wheel arches and the sound of a screaming Rotary engine is a sight to behold and provides a real flashback to Rod’s hat-trick of title wins in the late 1970s.

Rod Millen - 1994 Pikes Peak World Record Celica

Motorsport racing legend and all-time nice guy, Rod developed a reputation as a leader in rally driving in New Zealand in the 1970s. Moving to the United States in 1978 Rod turned his attention to off-road stadium racing and dominated the Mickey Thompson off-road racing series – where he became the only driver in the 12-year history of the series to win three consecutive Grand National Sport Truck titles. During Rod’s racing career, he conquered the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb, where it has become known as ‘Millen Mountain’. Rod captured the record for the fastest ascent as well as clocking the fastest overall time five times. The challenges of Pikes Peak became part of the inspiration to create the Leadfoot Ranch racetrack driveway, which this weekend will become the perfect hill climb.

1994 Pikes Peak World Record Celica:

The Pikes Peak Toyota Celica raced in the Unlimited Class at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb to claim two overall victories and set the fastest time of 10:04:06. This record was set on an all-dirt track in 1994, which stood for 13 years and was only broken when 75% of the road was paved. The Pikes Peak Toyota Celica shares little with its production inspiration. A potent 2.1 litre turbo charges an inline 4–cylinder engine, which mates to a tube frame chassis and runs through a custom 4WDsystem. The one-piece carbon composite body shell looks the part, but it is also about aerodynamic performance!

Ryan Millen - 1983 MAZDA RX 7

Ryan Millen is a competition driver in US stage rally and 2017 National 2WD champion in both the American Rally Association and NASA Rally Sport championship. In addition to stage rally, Ryan’s versatile resume includes competition in desert racing, hill climb, and stunt driving and has class wins in notable races including the Baja 1000 and Pikes Peak. 

1983 MAZDA RX 7:

This car was built for the US Rally Championship with main the focus to beat the dominant Audi Quattro factory team in 1985. It won the Manufactures Title. This was the third 4WD car at Rod Millen Motorsport applied lessons learned from the previous cars. It is a 300 hp PP port rotary engine. 5 speed dog gearbox and 5.375 final drive. This third edition was lighter, better balanced and lower geared than the previous 4WD cars. It weighs 970 kg with a top speed of 190 kph at 10,000 RPM. The focus was to make the car with faster acceleration for the typical type twisty and tight roads for the USA rally series.

Josh Mitchell - 1997 Subaru Impreza

Josh is from Christchurch and loves all things racing. He originally started out in grass karts, before moving into a Toyota Starlet gravel car, and then built this Subaru for tarmac events. He has worked for well-known racing driver Trevor Crowe since he was a teenager, so has learnt most of his race-craft from him. When Josh isn’t behind the wheel you can usually find him in the pits or spectating at most local motorsport events.

1997 Subaru Impreza:

This car was built by Josh from a standard road car over the last few years. It runs a 2.5L engine making 500hp and a sequential gearbox. Josh has won nearly every street sprint in the South Island in this car, and is the current record holder at Ashburton, Cromwell and Greymouth street sprints, as well as the famous Waimate 50 street race which he has won twice in a row.

Greg Murphy - 2019 Rodin FZED V8

Greg was born and bred in the Hawkes Bay and started his motorsport career at the local kart track aged 8. Winning the inaugural Shell Formula Ford Scholarship in 1990 was his entry to car racing. After initially chasing the single seater path and a life in the United States, Greg took the opportunities offered by the Touring Car categories in Australia and began a professional career that spanned 20 years. Driving for a number of Super Tourer, ATCC and V8 Supercar Teams, he amassed over 400 V8 Supercar starts that included 28 race wins, 13 pole positions, 83 podiums, two Sandown 500 victories, one Bathurst 24 Hour victory and four Bathurst 1000 victories. Greg has now retired from professional competition but is still involved in the sport at different levels including working with the SuperCars’ television broadcast team and SkySpeed for Sky Television in New Zealand.

2019 Rodin FZED V8:

In January 2016, David Dicker, founder and CEO of Rodin Cars received an email from Lotus offering him the opportunity to purchase the T125 project; a single seater designed to be as close to an F1 car as possible. Within an hour of receiving the email, the deal was negotiated and completed. Since then, the Rodin Cars team have removed many kilogrammes by replacing standard parts with new 3D printed titanium versions. The 22-strong engineering team are continually researching and improving the FZED to make it the most exhilarating open wheel experience in the world. It is entirely in a class of its own. Located in Waiau, two hours north of Christchurch, Rodin Cars is a new contender – stamping its mark on the global motorsport industry with the introduction of its first car, the FZED. The Rodin FZED delivers Grand Prix pace and precision in an open-wheel, single-seat race car, which offers unprecedented reliability, longevity and durability. Powered by a Cosworth 3.8-litre V8 boasting 675bhp, in a total package that weighs just under 600kg, the FZED is as close as any enthusiast can get to owning a Formula One car without the cost and complexity.

Bob Neville - 1928 Ford Model A Boat Tail Racer

Driver and owner, Turangi’s Bob Neville is a Global Creative Director in the sports industry, who when not enjoying old cars, is on planes heading to the next project somewhere in the world! His car Lucky 17 is a Model A Ford Boat Tail racer. Lucky 17 runs a 1932 four-cylinder model B engine with a Thomas high compression head, twin 97 Strombergs and various other racing modifications. Lucky 17 is registered with the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand as well as the Federation Internationale Des Vehicules Anciens (FIVA).

1928 Ford Model A Boat Tail Racer:

Lucky 17 was built back in the day from an old, beat-up, original Ford Model A family car in Michigan. This depression-era, home-built racer, has been raced and modified over the years, as skills and budget allowed. Bob bought the car from the original owner and builder, who is now in his nineties, and sent it home to New Zealand after having fun in the United States and United Kingdom. With GMS Vintage Speed, Bob has been busy breathing new life into what was a heavily-used, much-loved member of the original builder’s and racer’s family.

Hayden Paddon - 2016 Hyundai i20 AP4++

Hayden was introduced to motorsport at the age of 6 through karting and competed in his first rally in 2002 at the age of 15. He began competing in the NZ Rally Championship in 2006, going on to win 4 national rally titles. After winning the Production World Rally Championship in 2011, Hayden debuted for the Hyundai factory WRC team in 2014 before signing a multi-year contract. 5 years at the elite level in the WRC brought with it 1 event victory (Argentina 2016), 8 podium finishes and 38 stage wins. He finished 4th in the 13-round 2016 World Championship.

2016 Hyundai i20 AP4++:

The AP4++ is built from a production-based Hyundai i20 road car to meet AP4 specifications. Hayden has competed with the car in New Zealand Rally Championship events since 2006. It can be converted between Rally and Hillclimb specification depending on the event. In rally-specification the car utilises an 1800cc restricted engine paired
with a Sadev 4WD sequential gearbox and long-travel EXT suspension. A MoTeC Engine Management unit controls the vehicle and driver displays in both specifications. For Hillclimb-spec the car uses the rally-spec chassis with a few upgrades. The team have built a bigger horsepower engine producing 750hp. Along with the additional horsepower, the aerodynamics have been improved. This is achieved by employing a much larger rear wing, which is wider, higher and has more elements. Additionally, a rear diffuser is fitted to the rear of the vehicle while up front the team have developed a front splitter which incorporates larger dive planes.

Hayden Paddon - 2020 Semog Crosskart

Hayden was introduced to motorsport at the age of 6 through karting and competed in his first rally in 2002 at the age of 15. He began competing in the NZ Rally Championship in 2006, going on to win 4 national rally titles. After winning the Production World Rally Championship in 2011, Hayden debuted for the Hyundai factory WRC team in 2014 before signing a multi-year contract. 5 years at the elite level in the WRC brought with it 1 event victory (Argentina 2016), 8 podium finishes and 38 stage wins. He finished 4th in the 13-round 2016 World Championship.

2020 Semog Crosskart:

Semog Crosskart is a new form of Motorsport in NZ with Hayden Paddon leading the way bringing the unique race cars into the country. This Semog Crosskart is built in Portugal, and fine tuned and developed in Nz by Paddon Rallysport. Running a motorbike GSX-R 750 engine with a 6 speed flat shift gearbox, this 300kg buggy is putting out 160bhp at 14,000 rpm. All the bells and whistles of a traditional car such as hydraulic brakes, hand brake, adjustable suspension, reverse and competition components make this very enjoyable to drive – but also very low maintenance.

Jared Parker - 2018 University of Canterbury Motorsport 18-C

Originally from the Wellington region, Jared has previously raced karts at a national and international level. After moving to Canterbury to attend University, Jared took up a passion for coaching junior drivers and joined the University of Canterbury motorsport in which he has tested and raced for them in Australia and New Zealand for the past 3 years. Alongside competing in Formula SAE, Jared is striving towards following in his father’s (Shane Parker) footsteps in rallying.

2018 University of Canterbury Motorsport 18-C:

Designed and Built from scratch at the University of Canterbury by a group of super hard-working engineering students. This car is built for a specialised competition (Formula SAE) that University students from around the world compete in.
This car has competed once at the 2018 Formula SAE Australia. The engine is a Triumph Daytona 675 offering 51 kW with a 3/4 Carbon Monocoque with 1/4 rear chrome-moly spacefame chassis and weighing in at 234 kg.

Mark Pearson - 2006 Lotus Elise Sports Racer

Mark got involved in motorsport as a teenager, racing go karts and achieving success by becoming the New Zealand Junior Karting Champion. Motorsport was interrupted by university studies, but Mark later returned to it, racing an ex-Shellsport Datsun Coupe at Clubmans level with many class successes. Recently Mark has been involved in classic motorsport, campaigning a 105 Alfa. Currently working and living in Thailand, Mark is excited to be home for this iconic event driving his Lotus.

2006 Lotus Elise Sports Racer:

The Lotus Elise Sports Racer is a special edition model that was built in limited numbers. With a total production run of 199 units worldwide, only two of these vehicles made their way to New Zealand. Running through a 6-speed close ratio gearbox, its mid-mounted transverse 1796cc engine produces 141kW (189hp) at 7800 rpm. With a curb weight of only 860kg, the Elise delivers a driving experience true to the Lotus marque.

Paul Radisich - 2004 Nissan March

Paul began his motorsport career in 1983 driving a Toyota Trueno with his father Frank. Paul went on to have a very successful 25-year professional racing career. Notable highlights are: New Zealand Gold star champion, New Zealand Grand Prix winner, Australian Grand Prix winner, Fuji 500 winner, Nissan Mobil series winner, New Zealand Touring Car Champion, runner-up American Super Vee series, two-time runner-up Bathurst, runner-up BTCC and two-time World Touring Car Champion.

2004 Nissan March:

This car weighs 1100kg and has a mid/rear-mounted VQ35DE + TT Nissan V6 twin turbo engine, producing about 650hp. It is AWD via a custom reversing transfer case, with a Nissan five-speed manual gearbox (H pattern). The Nissan has 18” by 9″ front wheels, 18” by 10″ rear wheels (DTM Gravity) and Nissan 370Z disc brakes all round (with about 14″ rotors). It also has full custom suspension and subframes, electro hydraulic power steering and a carbon fibre roof, which is aluminum/composite and aero designed for the New Zealand Superlap series. All fabrication work was carried out by Glenn Hodges from The Lab Limited. The Nissan was featured in Performance Car Magazine (in RWD format) and placed third in Pro Open class of NZ Superlap series in 2017/2018.

Richard Ramson - 
1996 Ford Mustang Cobra

Richard is a heavy machinery broker from Palmerston North.
He regularly participates in Targa New Zealand, in either a classic 1984 Ford Sierra XR4i, or his 1996 Cobra Mustang, which he ran at the 2019 Leadfoot Festival. Richard has competed in 18 Targas, finishing 17 of them. He’s an active member of the Manawatu Car Club, competing in Manfeild’s Winter and Summer Series. The Sierra is well known in Targa circles and competes in classic class events at Manfeild. Richard is married to wife Jacki and they have two daughters, Ruby (6) and Paige (4) who both love being at the race track for the hotdogs and ice creams!


1996 Ford Mustang Cobra:

The 1996 Mustang Cobra started its life with a factory 4.6 quad-cam engine, which was replaced in 2016 with a genuine GT500 Shelby 5.4 supercharged engine, coupled with a 6-speed Tremac gearbox. The car is fitted with a Maximum Motorsports grip kit, including a strengthened chassis, replacement K-member and adjustable suspension. It has been dyno tested at 650hp and has been built primarily as a robust Targa tarmac rally car. The car was previously maroon but following an incident at Manfeild, which saw the car parked on its roof, an opportunity was created to change the colour to safety first orange!

Karl Rastrick - 2012 Falcon V8 Supertourer

Karl Rastrick has been involved in competitive motorsport for 10 years. With a recent upgrade from a 4WD Mitsubishi Evo into a Ford V8 Supertourer, Karl has enjoyed racing at numerous events, including national race series, with great results and several wins. More recently, Karl competed in the North Island Endurance Series.

2012 Falcon V8 Supertourer:

Karl’s Ford V8 Supertourer chassis was built by Pace Innovations, which is the same chassis builder that the Supercars in Australia use. The car is powered by a 7-litre V8 race engine, with a six-speed sequential gearbox that produces 600 rear wheel horsepower. The car was originally built and raced by Eddie Bell in the V8 Supertourer series and by Brock Cooley in the current NZV8 series format. Upgrades to the Supertourer include traction control and engine enhancements to increase the power to about 600hp at the wheels. The car is now being campaigned in both sprint racing and endurance racing. It is proving to be reliable, competitive and a heap of fun to drive.

Carl Robertson - 1989 Ford Laser GTX

Early in his career, Carl constructed his own Laser TX3 of the FWD persuasion and nabbed himself the cover of New Zealand Performance Car with his immaculately constructed JRCOZY. Over the next five years together they would win more than 30 trophies, win two consecutive Turbo 2WD National drag championships and in 2014 set a front-wheel-drive street-tyre record — a record that still holds today. Now Carl Robertson Racing has progressed to tarmac rallying with their new 4WD toy, WRCOZY, which debuted here at Leadfoot Festival 2018.
 

1989 Ford Laser GTX:

This Laser tarmac rally car was campaigned in the early 2000s by Neil MacFarquhar and has now fallen into the hands of fellow Laser fanatic Carl, who brought it back to life after 10 years in storage. Carl and Neil owned the two most modified Lasers in the country, with Carl managing to purchase the vehicle early in 2017. The Evolution 7 running gear has made this little weapon no longer prone to the Mazda/Ford drive-line curse! 2020 sees a 4G63 Evo engine proto set up added to the package to give some much needed torque for the hill we all know as Leadfoot.

Lionel Rogers - 1935 Bugatti Type 59/50S

Lionel joined the Auckland Car Club in 1967 after working in the United States for three years. He raced a Mk1 Escort, twin cam Anglia and 3-litre Capri in many events then sold all his cars in 1970 to start a business. He sold his business in 2003 and bought a 350Z for Targa New Zealand that year, finishing 12th outright with a near stock-standard car. He then did Targa Tasmania in 2004 and added a supercharger for Targa NZ from 2004 to 2007. He has now ‘retired’ from speed events and concentrates on road rallies around the world.
Lionel is an avid follower of F1.

1935 Bugatti Type 59/50S:

Bugatti dominated Grand Prix racing from 1921 until early 1930s until it was overtaken by Auto Union, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Mercedes, who were backed by German and Italian governments. In 1935, in a final attempt to beat them, Bugatti built a car for Robert Benoist for the French GP at Montlhéry. They put a T54 4.9-litre engine into a T59 chassis. The car Lionel has built over the past six years is an authentic replica of the original. He took the car to Europe and campaigned it at the Montlhery Revival (30km south of Paris) where the original car was run for the first time. Then it went on to Prescott Hillclimb in the UK.

Stuart Rose - 1990 Toyota Hilux

Stuart is a self-employed earthmoving contractor in Taranaki. He has been racing the ute since 2005 in Targa and tarmac rallies. He was seeded 113th in his first rally and came home 9th overall! Stuart has regularly placed in the top 10 in the Taranaki Tarmac Rally. He has won Targa Rotorua and led the Targa New Zealand classic category for the first three days and ended up second in the classics and 9th overall. Stuart also races speedway – currently running in sprint cars – and was 2nd in NZ modifieds in 2009. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing and having a beer (or seven) and enjoys motorsport in general.

1990 Toyota Hilux:

This Toyota Hilux is Stuart’s old work ute! It started out as a bit of a laugh one night – the lads reckoned he should put a V8 in it and do some car club events. The next week a Toyota V8 appeared with an invoice attached. It has turned out to be competitive from day one and was built with big brakes and a pedal box from the start, which meant there was not much to upgrade in that department further down the track. Although, there has been a few other modifications, with the track widened, floating hubs fitted and several gearbox upgrades. And of course, there was the supercharger added so that the Hilux now runs a supercharged 4-litre Toyota V8, G Force dog box and floating hub.

Gary Rush - 1965 Hillman Rally Imp

Gary Rush has become known as the Swift DB4 driver, who won the current Matos Formula Libre series, in recent times. His driving career started in Hillman Imps at the age of 16, when he rescued a Bank of New South Wales Series race Imp. He rallied an Imp in local events in the 1980s, and also a Shellsport Escort, when it was the White-Hot series at the time. He gained many awards in the Pre-65 Series and won the Chris Amon Trophy in the Swift DB4.

1965 Hillman Rally Imp:

This Rally Hillman Imp is an English-built FIA homologated historic works replica. In the United Kingdom, its claim to fame is competing in the 2004 Armajaro British Rally Championship and coming fourth in class (which excludes Escorts) behind three Porches.
In New Zealand, the Imp has competed in rally sprints, hill climbs, and Pre-65 races, driven mainly by previous owner Gary Rush. It is also raced in the Pre-65 Series by Gary’s son Aaron, as well as by Ian Perry.

Kevin Sanderson - 1984 Toyota Hayabusa Starlet

The first event Kevin competed in was the 1974 Woohill Rally in a Holden Torana XU1, coming home seventh outright. He has done numerous hill climbs over the years in a variety of cars – his most memorable being his VW Beetle powered with a Chev Corvair flat 6, which won the Auckland Interclub Hill Climb Championship several times in the 1980s. Another winning car, a lightweight rally sprint Subaru RX Turbo was jointly-owned with rally legend Possum Bourne. This car also secured the Auckland Hill Climb Championship. Kevin worked servicing/crewing for Possum on his New Zealand and international rally programs from the mid-1980s until Possum’s untimely death in 2003.

1984 Toyota Hayabusa Starlet:

The KP61 Toyota Starlet was built in 2006, firstly powered with a Toyota 1580cc 5K pushrod engine and T50 close ratio gearbox. In 2012 Kevin re-powered it with a 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa gen 2 engine, which is 1340cc, producing 198hp@10200rpm. It has an 11400rpm limiter and comes standard with an ultra-close ratio 6-speed gearbox. The engine gearbox unit is very lightweight and weighs under 80kg. The diff is a 1984 AE86 with TRD limited slip diff. The brakes are Wilwood 4 pot calipers.In the 45 events this Starlet has done with the Hayabusa engine, it has been super reliable, finishing 44 of them. Its best result to date was first outright in the Taupo Classic 2WD Rally in August 2016.

Leon Scott - 
2001 Mitsubishi Evo

Team LSM run one of New Zealand’s fastest Evolution time attack cars with 10 years of podium finishes. They are the 2016 overall and pro class Superlap Championship title holders and own the pro open class championship-winning car, driven by Leon Scott of Auckland. They have competed in time attack racing and superlap racing in New Zealand, for over 10 years and have run the same car through various stages. Leon and the team have stayed true to the roots of the sport and competed from the start with semi slick tyres (not full slicks). The fastest semi slick lap team LSM laid down in the superlap series was an official 1.07 at Hampton Downs.


2001 Mitsubishi Evo:

The LSM Evo pushes out 700hp on E85 fuel. It has a 2.3 stroker race engine, Holset race pro series turbo, Quaife sequential gearbox, ATB and Cusco RS diffs and runs a Haltech elite ECU. It also features an Endless brake package, Wedsport ultralight wheels and Hankook 295 semi slick tyres, along with Intrax suspension. The Evo was the 2015/ 2016 New Zealand Time Attack/Superlap series pro championship winner and the 2016 New Zealand Time Attack/Superlap overall championship winner. At the 2017 Leadfoot Festival it achieved a top 15 placing (first attempt) and achieved a 53.6 time. Also at the 2017 NZ Time Attack Outlaws, LSM placed third overall. With ample show and race awards, along with over 30,000 online followers, the newly-built Team LSM Evo is set to make some waves in the 2020 season.

Michael Sheehan - 1958 Scarab Roadster

Michael Sheehan joins us from Hawaii. He has driven many race cars since he was old enough to see over the windscreen. He currently has numerous Ford Mustangs with the only Troutman-Barnes Special race car, “Momma” of this Scarab, and two more Scarabs in Hawaii. Michael has driven sling-shot dragsters, motorcycle endure races and just about anything that has a motor to propel it.

1958 Scarab Roadster:

This car is SCARB continuation number 12 after the original four cars built by Reventlow Racing from 1958 to 1060. They were hand built by Troutman and Barnes and other talented individuals in Reventlow Racing Shop in Southern California. The Scarabs have raced all over the world and with a small block Chevrolet motor they were a terror of the sports car tracks of the world. The body is made of aluminum nestling on a tube frame with a 4 speed transmission, quick change rear diff and can be built either right or left hand drive. These cars are being built at Scarab Motorsports in Shawnee Mission, Kansas in the USA.

Tim Sillay - 1993 Mallock Mark 31

Spending his formative teenage years sitting beside Wairarapa country roads watching race cars go by, Tim knew he was going to go hill climbing. The Datsun bug bit hard, and ignoring the Australian V8 advice of his apprentice mates, it was always going to be the pursuit of light weight and balance, rather than a horsepower chase, that inspired him. Tipping a 240RS over a cliff was a low point in Tim’s motorsport career and after a lot of soul searching it was time to build a sports car. Bucking the trend of big horsepower 4WDs claiming victory, Tim has won the Wellington Hillclimb Championships three times.

1993 Mallock Mark 31:

Scratch-built in a Wellington shed over two years, this is a copy of the last of the front-engined Mallocks. Clubmans sports cars are front-engined – requiring a triumph of packaging to get the driver, the engine and a decent floor (that supports some aero) in between the wheels. Using the unusual choice of an old Nissan FJ20, this homebuilt special can hold its own on the circuits against the Radicals, Junos and more modern rear-engined cars. It has won the Wellington Hill Climb Champs twice, competing in the outright ‘unlimited’ class.

Malcolm Smith - 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV RS

Malcolm took up tarmac rallying in 2009 and entered the Targa Bambina Rally and achieved great success with his third place overall. He also raced Targa Rotorua finishing in fifth overall. A second-place overall finish was netted at the 2010 Targa Bambina and Malcolm claimed another third overall in 2011. He then took five years off and came back in 2016 to finish third overall in the Targa Bambina. Malcolm’s future plans include returning to tarmac competition; working towards achieving similar success in the three and five-day Targa events, and building the car to achieve it.

1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV RS:

Imported into NZ in 2008 as a very tidy road car, immediately converted into a Tarmac Rally Car in 2008 in preparation of its inaugural competition entry, the 2009 Targa Bambina. Essentially running a Group N specification (no turbo restrictor) in the interest of reliability has proven the key with this vehicle with not only a 100% finishing record but also an overall podium position on 4 of 5 Targa events it has entered. And in the interest of creating nostalgic significance, livery is 100% period specific of the WRC Championship winning Evo IV in the hands of Tommi Makinenen

Rayden Smith - 1968 Willment Ford Escort Twin Cam

Rayden’s first event was a hill climb in a Singer special in 1962, followed by gymkhanas and grass track events. After establishing his farming career, Rayden participated in club motocross and trials then on to scrambles and enduros. In 1989, he realised a childhood ambition by racing a Ferrari 365 GT4 at the Ardmore Reunion. In 1990, Rayden purchased the ex-Jim Richards Willment Escort Twin Cam and has competed in various events over the past 29 years.

1968 Willment Ford Escort Twin Cam:

This year marks 50 years since Mike Crabtree won the 2-litre class of the 1969 British Saloon Car Championship with this car. Walter Hayes of Ford provided it to the John Willment Group, who developed it to the Group 5 specs for Mike to compete alongside many well-known car/driver combinations, including Roy Pierpont’s Falcon Sprint and Frank Gardiner in the Alan Mann Escort X00349F at many circuits including Brands Hatch, Chrystal Palace, Thruxton and also the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It was imported into New Zealand by Jim Carney in December 1969 for Jim Richards to race under the livery of Carney Racing – then Radio Hauraki – and is still often referred to as the Richards Twin Cam. Jim put on many giant-killing displays against larger and more powerful cars, including winning every round of the 1971 National Touring Car Championship. This is one of the first Escort twin cams. It has been a race car all its life and still retains its original body shell. Its period specs are: Lotus Twin Cam 1720cc, Ford 4-speed gearbox with Quaife internals, LSD, disc front, and drum rear brakes.

Craig Stevens - 1975 Ford Escort MK2

Craig Stevens started rallying in 1999 and in the last 20 years has competed in over 100 rallies, all in his MK2 Escort. During that time, he has had some stand-out results, such as, winning the 2WD class in the 2008 Rally Extreme series (previously known as the New Zealand Club Rally Championship) and in 2009 he won the Top Half Rally series outright against the 4WD machinery. Craig has also had multiple class wins in regional rallies and rally sprints throughout New Zealand.

1975 Ford Escort MK2:

This 1975 MK2 Ford Escort is powered by a 2-litre Ford Duratec engine. Craig’s Escort was first built as a rally car in 1988 and was initially powered by a Mazda rotary engine. The vehicle’s second owner converted it back to the Ford single overhead cam engine and campaigned it for several years before Craig bought it in early 1999 as a rolling shell needing a lot of work. Craig put it back into action with another single overhead cam engine, before swapping it to the Duratec in 2004.

Ivan Stewart - 1992 Toyota Off Road Truck

An off-road racing legend Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart has successfully tackled the toughest challenges in the sport. A 36-year relationship with Toyota, has resulted in Ivan’s unparalleled success in stadium and desert racing. His racing career began in 1973 at the Ensenada 300. He was scheduled to race in a Class 2 buggy with co-driver Bill Hrynko, but Bill broke his leg and Ivan took the wheel and drove to victory. He continued racing and winning for ten years until he joined Toyota’s factory-sponsored effort with the Precision Preparation Inc. (PPI) race team in 1983.

Ivan and several other talented Toyota teammates played an important role in Toyota’s dominance during the 12-year history of the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) stadium series. Along with Ivan’s three driver’s championships, Toyota earned 11 manufacturer’s championships and 42 main event victories. Ivan holds the record for all-time MTEG wins with 17. In 1984, Toyota and PPI expanded their racing efforts to compete in the desert. Within the first two years, Ivan drove to six class victories, including two SCORE World Championships.

Ivan claimed Toyota’s first Baja 1000 victory in 1993 and clinched his second SCORE Overall and Unlimited Class series championships, matching his 1990 record as the only driver in the series’ history to earn both titles in the same year.  The 1998 season proved successful as Ivan won both the Baja 500 and Baja 1000. In his career, he has accumulated 84 career victories and 10 driver’s championships. The wins include 17 Baja 500s, eight Mint 400s, four Parker 400s, three Baja 1000s, and four SCORE World Championships. 2019, The Motorsports Hall of Fame in Daytona, Florida, announced that Ivan would be the first driver to be inducted in a newly created ‘off-road’ category.

1992 Toyota Off Road Truck:

This is one of three identical trucks built by Precision Preparation to campaign the Mickey Thompson Off Road Series from years 1991-1994 driven by Rod Millen and Ivan Stewart. The three trucks were identical with the exception of the driver seat. They shared the Manufacturers Championship 1992-1994 and Rod Millen drivers championship in 1992-1994. The engine is a Toyota V6 3.0 litre and about 300 hp. Transmission is a Wiseman automatic one speed. Suspension is 22” in the front and 24” in the rear and was one of the first off-road trucks where position sensitive dampers were designed for long travel suspensions. Steering is half a turn lock to lock to suit the often challenging indoor stadium off road courses. In many stadium events the truck would see the top speed of 35mph but spend 20% of its time air-born over the man made bumpy courses. The highest jump was 25 meters off the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Todd Stewart - 1976 DPL Mustang 2

Todd has driven the PDL Mustang 2 since 2004. He raced a Formula 5000 LOLA T430 HU3 and held the lap record at Sandown for 15 years. It was recently broken by Australian John Bower in the Southern Muscle Cars series. Todd has raced a HT Monaro, Formula Holden and a Formula Ford.

1976 DPL Mustang 2:

The PDL Mustang 2 blazed its way into New Zealand motorsport history in the hands of Leo Leonard in the early 1970s. The PDL Racing Team are very proud to be bringing the old girl up to Leadfoot to compete.

Mark Strawbridge - 1973 Mazda 616

From his early days of drag racing and car shows, then later focusing on circuit racing, it’s the adrenaline-fueled challenge of hill climbs and street sprints that Mark prefers to focus on. With a passion for over-revving rotary engines, it’s this love for all things rotary that drives him to push his period styled 616 well beyond its capabilities. Having competed for two years at Leadfoot and placing fifth in class both years, despite finding some extra pace in 2019, he feels there is some unfinished business with the 616 and Millen’s driveway.

1973 Mazda 616:

Imported from Australia in original condition in 2006, a small team of friends spent four years completely rebuilding the 616 from the ground up, in preparation for racing. The build had a period focus that means many people now mistakenly assume it to be an ex-works car from Japan. The 12A PP engine (screaming to 11,000rpm) has been a mainstay in the car, and runs ag a 48mm IDA and Link ECU. The car is always a crowd-pleaser and last year it dropped over a second on its personal best at Leadfoot. With a few gearbox modifications, the team are confident it will go even quicker.

Ben Thomasen - 2005 Version 9 Subaru WRX STI

Ben has raced for Polaris New Zealand and has competed in the ORANZ Off-Road Championship for the last six years. Ben won the championship overall in 2015 and 2017. He also won the NZ 1000 (the longest and toughest endurance race in the Southern Hemisphere) in 2015 and 2017. He has been involved in motorsport all his life, including motocross, drifting and rallying. Ben had a top 10 finish at Leadfoot in 2017 & 2018. He’s turned his hand back to rallying this year and competed in the NZRC category 5. He achieved 2nd over all and won the rookie championship for 2019. 

2005 Version 9 Subaru WRX STI:

Ben purchased the Subaru in 2011. It is an ex Sam Murry car winning car from the 2007 group N NZRC Rally championship. Ben won the NZ Hill climb championship in 2012 with this car. It’s Currently set up in group A specs and running in the NZRC. The current modifications are a forged 2 litre engine built by speedhub, Motec ECU, centre diff controller, Proflex canister suspension and a 6 speed sequential Modena gear box. Ben will be running unrestricted for Leadfoot Festival. 

Anne Thomson - 1957 D Type Jaguar Replica

Anne has been involved with owning and racing Vintage and Veteran cars for many years including the 14 litre Grand Prix Darracq she has raced at speed during previous Leadfoot Festivals. Most of her racing to date has been in the Edwardian class. The D-Type Jaguar is new to the stable and having a car with brakes that work will be a new experience for her.

1957 D Type Jaguar Replica:

Built during 1990 and 1999 as a replica of the works D Type Jaguars that won the 24 hours of Le Mans race in 1955, 1956 and 1957 with many other successes and places in major events.
The Jag is based on the original D-Type XKD 534 when it was still in New Zealand and owned by Noel Foster. This car has a full alloy body built by Ray Larsen. The motor is a 3.8 litre Jaguar with 3 twin choke Dellorto Carbs with dry sump lubrication. As a Le Mans entry, the D type was capable of speeds in excess of 180 mph at Mulsanne but was tractable enough to be driven to and from the circuit. The E type Jaguar followed the D type with similar construction but with IRS.

Ross Thurston - 1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 GT1

Owner and driver, Ross Thurston started competing in motorsport in 1981. His national achievements are: 1989/90 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship 0-1300cc class second overall; 1990/91 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship 1300-1600cc first in class; 1996-99 New Zealand Rally Championship and a B-seeded competitor. Ross started racing speedway from 2000-2003, with a second place finish in the 2002 New Zealand Superstock Championship in Gisborne. He was first in the 0-2000cc class in the 2004/5 New Zealand Production Car Championship and first overall in the championship’s 2005/6 season, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8. Ross is a Motorsport New Zealand steward and a former drivers’ standards observer for the NZV8s from 2007-2011.

1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 GT1:

This Evo 4 RS was imported by Ross in 2007 to be used as a fun car. The end result got a little out of control after its three-year build time! The car weighs 1170kgs with a 2.3 stroked engine producing 575hp, a Holset turbo, Modena 6-speed sequential transmission, 365mm front rotors with Alcon 6 pot calipers plus 4 pot rear calipers – all controlled through a floor-mounted pedalbox. The Mitsubishi also has Nitron 3-way adjustable shocks and 18 x9.5″ lightweight wheels. It has raced at Manfeild, Taupo and the Hamilton Street Race, where it won in the wet.

Mike Tubbs - 1992 BMW 325i M3 Coupe E36

Mike competed in his first motorsport event in 1998, the same time as buying the ‘Foxing’ BMW 325i coupe. From 1998 to 2011 Mike rallied in most Targa events achieving class wins and top five overall. The North Island endurance race series were also favourite racing events for him with co-driver Mike Ashton and they had an exciting outright series win in 2004. The car #31 BMW 325i/M3 coupe and Mike were also active in Hamilton Car Club events and Taranaki rallies for 12 years.‘Foxing’ is the car’s nickname and Mike’s is ‘Tubbsy’.

1992 BMW 325i M3 Coupe E36:

In 1993 this E36 BMW coupe driven by Brett Riley was fourth in the Wellington 500 street race and first in class. The New Zealand Touring Car Championships from 1994 to 1998 saw the BMW Motorsport team car #31 driven again by Brett and the #2 car driven by Craig Baird. Craig won from 1994 to 1997. Brett was second and won in 1998. Jason Richards also raced car #31 from 1994-1996.

Neil Webb - 1993 Mitsubishi Mirage

Neil is a two-time New Zealand Clubsport Champion and a two-time New Zealand Hill Climb Champion. He mainly competes at the top of the South Island and has won both of the Marlborough Car Club Street Sprints over a dozen times. He also enjoys competing at the Greymouth Street Sprint and the Denniston Hill Climb, which he has won multiple times. Neil raced at the Race to the Sky in 2007, coming fourth in the rally class.
The most recent highlight of Neil’s motorsport career was coming second to Alister McRae at the 2018 Ashley Forest Rally Sprint.

1993 Mitsubishi Mirage:

The car was bought in 2005 as a 1993 factory 4WD Mirage. A roll cage and 1600 Mivec motor was fitted and the car was run in this configuration with moderate success for a couple of years. It was then run for a year with standard Evo 3 running gear, before being fitted with its current 2.3 stroker motor running on e85 fuel and producing about 600hp. It’s driven through a PPG dog box, using a sequential shifter.

Mark Webber - 2020 Porsche Taycan

A nine-time Grand Prix winner, FIA World Endurance Champion, Porsche ambassador, Red Bull athlete, TV pundit, public speaker, outdoor enthusiast, sports lover and qualified heli pilot. Mark Webber is arguably one of motorsport’s most popular and high-profile stars who despite the glamorous trappings and lifestyle of F1 has stayed true to his laid-back Aussie roots and traditions. His no-nonsense, straight-talking personality combined with his strong sense of sportsmanship and fair play have endeared him to fans the world over.

2020 Porsche Taycan:

The Leadfoot festival sees the first public appearance in New Zealand of the eagerly awaited electrified Porsche, the Taycan. The Taycan links Porsche’s heritage to the future, carrying forward the success story of a brand that has fascinated and thrilled people the world over for more than 70 years and marks the start of a new era.
Featuring the latest drive technology & 560kW (761PS), the top model Taycan Turbo S accelerates  0–100km/h in 2.8 seconds –  It’s heart may be electric, but it’s soul is undeniably Porsche.

Luke Wellacott - 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

Luke is into his forth year of racing his Evo X. The passion Luke has for this sport has spread to his family and friends, with his wife and two young daughters going to support him at every race meet, and friends working on the car with him. Luke still has a lot to learn but with the support network he has, they are always there to offer advice and help when needed.  He looks forward to seeing what his Evo X will do in the future.

2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X:

Once a family-driven vehicle, this Evo X is now a race-proven, street legal time attack machine.  It is currently the fastest of its type in the country.  The team at LW MotorSport have massive goals for this car, including competing in the World Time Attack round in Sydney.  This is one car to watch in the future of New Zealand motorsport.

Dave West - 2000 Freightliner Argosy Super Truck

Dave has always enjoyed watching motorsport and raced a couple of seasons of dirt track in his late teens. After then work always seemed to get in the way. Finally, he managed to get the work/ life balance better sorted and raced dirt track for seven seasons, where he won several class and feature titles. With diesel in his veins from being around trucks in the family transport company from an early age, the thrill of driving a race truck, makes it the perfect combination for Dave.

2000 Freightliner Argosy Super Truck:

This race truck was built for the 2015/16 New Zealand Super Truck series. It is powered by a Series 60 Detroit engine, running compound turbos producing around 1600hp through an Allison automatic 6-speed transmission. After four seasons the team have had a lot of fun and a bit of success to go with it.
Dave and his team are looking forward to having some fun up ‘Millen’s mile’ for the third time.

Ray West - 1962 Morris Mini Cooper

Ray has been working in the motorsport industry since the mid-eighties. In 1988 he started competing in his 1967 Cooper with the Auckland Car Club. In 2007, Ray competed in a Mazda 323 and Subaru STI. In 1989 he started as a race car tech at International Motorsports (IMS) on the BMW Touring Cars and the team won seven consecutive seasons as the New Zealand Touring Car Champions. This then led into Porsche GT3 Cup racing through the 2000s both in New Zealand and Australia. Ray is now working for IMS as the panel and paint shop manager, overseeing major restoration projects for the International Motorsport Group.

1962 Morris Mini Cooper:

This 1962 Morris Mini Cooper has a 997cc engine with twin 1″-1/4 SU carbs and a works-type three into one extractor exhaust system. It has a modified head and rockers running on the standard 997 camshaft. The Mini is driven by a 4-speed manual close ratio straight cut gearbox and has adjustable suspension and dampers on the front, and all stock Mini parts on the rear. It has 7″ disc brakes on the front (the first Mini with disc brakes) and drum brakes on the rear (with no booster).

Mad Mike Whiddett - 2017 MAZDA MX-5 3rotor RADBUL 

Waikato-based Mad Mike has grown to international stardom in the world of Drifting. Mike represents some of the worlds most known brands and this years celebrates 11 years with Red Bull and factory backing by Mazda and Lamborghini. Mike has won the both the Formula Drift Japan Championship and Formula Drift Asia Pacific Championship; is a three-time New Zealand Drift Nationals Champion; A World Powerslide Champion and a three-times Revelation of Goodwood Festival of Speed to name a few. He has also achieved the International Ambassador Award for Motorsport and an Outstanding Achievement Award through Motorsport NZ. Also a finalist in Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year in recognition for his service in Motorsport, work with youth and Charity organisations across New Zealand. sport and an Outstanding Achievement Award through Motorsport New Zealand.

2017 MAZDA MX-5 3rotor RADBUL :

MAZDA/PPRE 20B Triple-rotor Race Prepped, 397hp at the wheels, Peripheral Port, Modified Mazda OE rotor housings & plates, Modified Mazda OE rotors, Mazda OE 3mm apex seals, NGK spark plugs, 3-piece eccentric shaft, custom exhaust manifold, 55mm Throttle bodies, rear-mounted PWR radiator, PWR inline water-cooled oil cooler, Mazdaspeed dry sump, Mechman alternator, Haltech Elite 2500 engine management system, WB2 Wideband Controller, CAN Hub modules, Racepak SmartWire solid state power module, Aeroflow fuel system, custom 3.5-inch Stainless exhaust system. Aeroflow lines and fittings, K&N Filters, Turbosmart regulator FPR3000. The driveline is Holinger Engineering 6-speed sequential transmission & flat shift shifter, Direct Clutch sintered iron twin-plate clutch & fly wheel, Winters Performance Quick Change rear end by ASD, Custom diff cradle, The Driveshaft Shop axles, The Drivehsaft Shop – Carbon Driveshaft. The suspension and chassis are Competition 3-way adjustable coilovers with remote reservoirs, Megan Racing adjustable arms & links, custom MM Motorsport steering lock kit, 6 point roll cage, seam-welded. Wilwood Performance brakes forged billet Dynapro 6-piston callipers & Ultralite rotors (front), Dynapro 4-piston callipers (2 pairs), Ultralite rotors, Wilwood brake bias adjuster, ASD hydraulic handbrake. Rotiform LHR / MM Custom 3 piece wheels 17x 10″ front 17×12″ rear, TOYO Tires T1R Tyres 215/40ZR17 (front), TOYO Tires R1R 255/40ZR17 (rear). Mazda ND Front & Rear, Modified FD3S RX-7 Rocket Bunny aero, Goodwin Racing carbon fibre doors, Goodwin Racing carbon fibre hard top, Hybrid Lab FRP front & rear fenders, modified Mazda OE bonnet, Rocket Bunny rear mount wing & blade.

Mad Mike Whiddett - 2015 Mazda Repu B2000 Stadium Truck 13B Rumbul

Waikato-based Mad Mike has grown to international stardom in the world of Drifting. Mike represents some of the worlds most known brands and this years celebrates 11 years with Red Bull and factory backing by Mazda and Lamborghini. Mike has won the both the Formula Drift Japan Championship and Formula Drift Asia Pacific Championship; is a three-time New Zealand Drift Nationals Champion; A World Powerslide Champion and a three-times Revelation of Goodwood Festival of Speed to name a few. He has also achieved the International Ambassador Award for Motorsport and an Outstanding Achievement Award through Motorsport NZ. Also a finalist in Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year in recognition for his service in Motorsport, work with youth and Charity organisations across New Zealand.

2015 Mazda Repu B2000 Stadium Truck 13B Rumbul:

The Rumbul has a 1300cc Mid mount Pulse Performance Race Engineering 13B PP, 3” stainless exhaust, Borla Muffler Haltech Elite 1500 Engine Management, Haltech Electronic Dash, Haltech Coils, Aeroflow Fuel System, Aeroflow lines and fittings, NGK plugs, K&N Airfilter, Turbosmart Regulator FPR1200. It has a full custom chromoly tube frame, TAKATA 5 point harnesses. The driveline offers a 4spd Mendeola Gearbox, Direct Clutch custom single plate sintered iron clutch, Fox Racing triple bypass shocks. It has a FRP B2000 truck body, KC HiLites, Graphics by Mad Mike Motorsport. Raceline Beadlock wheels, Toyo Tires M/T 31 10.5 R15, Fox Racing triple bypass, Wilwood brakes, Wilwood Rotors, Wilwood calipers, and Autosport Dynamic Hydraulic hand brake.

Gaz Whiter - 1994 Fenix LS3 V8 S14 Silvia

Gaz has been drifting for 16 years and has achieved the most event wins of any current or retired drifter in New Zealand. He has won the D1NZ Drift King Title four times, along with two out of three Mad Mike’s Summer Bash Series events. Gaz has also competed on an international stage in Australia and the United States. Most recently, he competed at the Red Bull Drift Shifters in Liverpool, England, against some of the world’s best drifters in the world and took home # 1.

1994 Fenix LS3 V8 S14 Silvia:

The Nissan Silvia S14 is a stroked LS3 V8 with a Harrop supercharger. The majority of the car was built in Gaz’s dad (Tony’s) shed in Dargaville. It has custom made 8 to 1 headers, which produce a unique V8-powered sound that is really amazing to hear up close and personal!

Racing Ray Williams - 1970 Ford Capri Perana V8

Racing Ray has been racing for more than 45 years and has won more than 300 races. He has raced a variety of cars, including, Escort, Nissan, Porsche and Formula Ford, through to Formula 5000 and a March Indy Car. In 1996 Racing Ray set the New Zealand Outright Land Speed Record at 316 kph in his Porsche 930 Turbo (some of his records still stand). In 2006 Ray was part of the team to set New Zealand 24 Hour Endurance Records.

1970 Ford Capri Perana V8:

This 1970 Ford V8 Perana was built in South Africa as a production car. The engine is a Ford Windsor V8, producing 460hp. Neil Tolich built this car and won his class in Targa several times. Neil also won many races in the classic race series. Luckily for Ray, Neil decided to let him buy it from him!

Fanga Dan Woolhouse - 2019 Ford Mustang RTR Drift Car 

Daniel Woolhouse, aka ‘Fanga Dan’, is a two-time D1NZ Champion and professional drifting driver from Whangarei. Fanga Dan started drifting professionally 17 years ago when the D1NZ National Drifting Championship was first-born. Over the years he’s gathered quite the trophy collection with 40-plus podium finishes and two D1NZ Championship titles. In 2018, Fanga Dan started campaigning two new Ford Mustang RTRs, finishing third overall in the 2019 D1NZ National Drifting Championship. 

2019 Ford Mustang RTR Drift Car :

The 2019 Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-D has a Ford Performance supercharged Ford Coyote, 5.0-litre V8 engine with comp cams. It also has a full RTR Spec 5-D widebody kit, X-Force exhaust system, AutoART VY wheels and 265x35x18 Tri-Ace Racing King tyres. This weapon was built by CTB Performance & Accessories. 

Bevan Wright - 1965 Gulf Almac Cobra 427R

Bevan has been a competitor in grass roots level motorsport for the last 25 years, competing in street sprints, hill climbs and circuit racing. He has had a passion for racing Minis, Escorts and his Cobra replica. He also enjoys racing and meeting other drivers at any level of the sport. Bevan has raced at Leadfoot Festival several times in his Gulf Cobra.

1965 Gulf Almac Cobra 427R:

This 1989 Almac Cobra 427R is a 1989 Shelby Cobra replica built by Graham Berry Race Cars as a purpose-built race car in the classic race series. The Cobra has been a front runner with the Whittaker’s Tuscan, Stew McCondack’s Ferrari and has raced against the Lighting Direct Porches, plus the PDL Mustang at Ohakea Airbase, and at the Wellington Street Race. The Cobra is powered by a 454 Chevrolet LS7 engine and is Hillborn-injected and dry sumped. It is running about 650hp. The bodywork is kevlar. Bevan brought the Gulf Cobra to Leadfoot in 2013 and is keen to be back into the top 10!