McIntyre joins Capri Racing TCR Honda Team in North Island Endurance Series
The Class 2 North Island Series Champions have also added multiple Touring Car and North Island Series Champion, John McIntyre. McIntyre (42) will guide young (21) Lochlainn Fitzgerald-Symes in the North Island Series at Taupo, Pukekohe and Hampton Downs. The burgeoning team from Karaka in Auckland have imported a 2016 Honda Civic from Dubai based Team Lap 57. The car built for the International TCR (Touring Car Racing) Series has been successful in its few races becoming Middle East TCR Championship winner taking out 5 of the 6 races. Now on NZ soil the car will compete in Class 2 for cars with engine sizes between 2000cc and 3500cc. The Turbo charged 2,000cc Honda produces approx 340hp and is front wheel drive. Fitzgerald-Symes has two seasons driving front wheel drive SEAT Leon Supacopa, McIntyre has not raced a front wheel drive since the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring in 2007, also in a front wheel drive Honda. “It’s going to be a bit of a shock to the system after all of these years in high powered V8’s and laterally a Porsche to this front wheel drive Touring Car with no ABS or Traction control. I am really excited to team up with young Lochie and Capri Racing. It’s going to be a great challenge. We enjoyed 100 trouble free laps at Taupo last week and I can now understand why TCR is a World-Wide phenomenon. The Honda moves around a lot and without ABS and Traction control that has become common in racing it requires a different driving style and some respect.” Commented McIntyre Fitzgerald-Symes is eager to expand his skill set in the new to NZ TCR Honda. With several Motocross seasons under his belt the young Aucklander had adapted quickly to the front wheel Seat, comfortably winning Class 2 in 2018 with father Bryan Symes. Now with Touring Car Champion John McIntyre as his co-driver, he has a great opportunity to learn from McIntyre to get the most out of his driving and the Honda itself. “Having Johnny as part of the team has really lifted the game to a different level, the things we were doing and changes we were making in testing last week were just unreal, god gave me two ears and one mouth for a reason, I intend to listen hard and take everything out of the experience” said Lochlainn Capri Racing completed 100 trouble free laps testing at Bruce McLaren Park on Thursday. Both drivers were ecstatic with the performance of the TCR Honda and hope that come next weekend they will have a chance to mix it in the top 10 overall. Capri Racing is very grateful to be supported by Ultra Interiors, Northern Scaffolding, Carlton Electrical, HiKOKI Tools, Capri Construction, Castrol Edge and Talley’s. 2019 North Island Endurance Series dates are; McIntyre and Gilbertson win endurance race title
Based on points across the three-round series, the second place at Feilding’s Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon rewarded the newly formed team with its first major title. “The series keeps growing and is getting harder to be at the forefront of competition.” “Against the McLaren GT3 of the Smith team, the two SLS Mercedes of Palmerston North’s Mike Racing and the Auckland based Super-Commodore you already have four cars that on paper are significantly quicker than our 2016 991 GT3 Porsche.” Having debuted last year as a partnership with Simon Gilbertson, the team is a hybrid of the championship winning Tulloch Motorsport and John McIntyre Racing, pooling personnel that have previously enjoyed success together. “We’ve learned a lot in a short space of time – from a win at the first round this season at Hampton Downs, the fourth at Pukekohe and second at my old home circuit. “Simon’s driving has just come leaps and bounds, which means in the race we can really fight. The signal that we were starting to feel good is when Simon set a time of 1min06.2 in qualifying 1 – a super impressive lap time for anyone that’s been to Manfeild.” Describing the competition and pace McIntyre says it’s more a three-hour sprint than race of endurance. “It all changed in the last 20 minutes of the race when the new race leader put us back into the overall points lead. We just had to hold third position for the race, though the racing was so intense we had a great duel to close and grab second overall for the race – cementing our overall series win.” The team now turn their attention to the three-round South Island series, plus the one-off New Zealand Endurance Championship event, being held at Highlands on 24 November. “Building on our solid driving combination, which is going from strength to strength, our next ambition is to win South Island series.” Calendar: 15 September – Invercargill, 29 September – Christchurch, 13 October – Timaru. CRC Speedshow back Leading Porsche for Pukekohe
Drivers Simon Gilbertson and John McIntyre are currently second in the three round series after a stellar performance at round one at Hampton Downs three weeks prior. However the race result is under protest and the fledgling team may just get their first Win if the results are amended. Either way, the team and drivers welcome the support of CRC Speedshow for this important Pukekohe Round. “It’s fantastic to have CRC Speedshow as our naming rights sponsor for the weekend, joining our existing family of Sponsors. I have been a big supporter of CRC Speedshow and have exhibited many times over the past 10 years. This weekend we will bring some more attention to the show by way of the signage on the car captured during the LIVE stream coverage thanks to The Fast Files. We are really hitting our straps as a team and driver pairing, so we hope for a bit more of that lovely Pukekohe rain to help us mix it up with the more powerful GT3 cars and Hybrid Commodores” commented John McIntyre. The North and South Island Endurance Series' have enjoyed continual growth over recent seasons and now see some of NZ’s best teams, drivers and endurance machinery gridding up at each meeting. This Saturday over 25 cars will take on the 3 Hour race at the high speed South Auckland circuit. Fans will be able to tune in live on The Fast Files Youtube Channel from 9AM this Saturday and see all of the action as it unfolds. www.thefastfiles.com CRC Speedshow, NZ's ultimate automotive show on the weekend of 21 22 July is coming fast, and while the show is keeping with the trend of past years, there is also new exhibits being show cased by the shows new owners. Retro-o-rama market, Motorsport seminars, and your chance to meet the original Top Gear STIG, Perry McCarty, and the Century Batteries Ultimate Garage Competition, just to name a few. CRC Speedshow wants to be more than just a two day show, and aim to develop relationships within the Motorsports scene with CRC Speedshow TV, a fortnightly online motoring show. GilbertsonJMR is proudly supported by; CRC Speedshow, Links Winery, Talley’s, Castrol Edge, The Tyre General, ProBrands, Men at Work, Endless, Big Brown Industries, Vortex Racewear and Printhouse. To watch the 1 Hour and 3 Hour event on Live STREAM visit www.thefastfiles.com at 9AM this Saturday. Schedule for Saturday SATURDAY 16th JUNE 2018 Race Day Programme Qualifying – ALL Drivers must qualify:
|
Family Endurance Racing Team Capri Racing will debut a Honda Civic FK2 in the up coming North Island Endurance Series opener at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park at Taupo this weekend.
Nelson based three-time New Zealand V8 race car Champion John McIntyre and Hawke’s Bay based ex NZ Porsche Champion Simon Gilbertson added the Three-hour North Island Endurance Race title to their portfolio’s in the weekend.
CRC Speedshow organisers will become the naming rights Sponsor of the GilbertsonJMR Porsche 991 MR at this weekend’s second round of the North Island Endurance Series at Pukekohe.
