Dad's day racing draws big entries

The final round of the Manawatu winter series will be hosted at Manfeild on Sunday with the Father's Day event set to be the biggest of its type in New Zealand.

As a new formula of motor racing, the United Travel Race Series gives local racers a chance to experience a high level of competition, while remaining affordable. The overall winners will be decided on Sunday.

The Diamond Homes-Danny's Auto Services RS Cup is one of the classes that sets the standard for close racing. Colin Hoare leads the points, with a small gap back to Steve Rennie in his CRX.

Rennie has been the fastest in the RS Cup but technical issues have held him back.

This class is competitive, as proven by Anna Morgan when she took the class win in round 3.

"I'm really excited to have come out with the round win," she said.

"I am one of the slowest cars in the RS Cup, so getting a second place in two of my races was pretty amazing.

The BC Racewear IB Cup is the largest class this year with a field of 20 cars. Nick Stewart leads the series by 110 points over Adam Newell. Exciting racing is expected during their reverse grid races.

Ross Thurston is leading the ICS GT Cup, proving that his new car is fast. Colin Parkin and Phil Dravitzki are also hunting for the championship lead.

Colin Bary leads the Fujitsu Classics by 90 points over John Gray. Bary has had reliability issues over the past few years and it will be interesting to see if his car will last the distance.

The Formula First series is close with only 43 points spread between the first five cars. Kyle George has won every race he has entered this season, but Matthew Higham, Oliver Gordon, Hayden Pederson and Bramwell King are not far behind.

The Early Holden Owners Club is attending and there will be lunchtime hot-lap around the track. Every ticket has a chance to win a trip to Bathurst in October with the draw being made on Sunday afternoon.

Motorsport Manawatu will also make a special tribute out of respect for Feilding's recent tragedies.

- © Fairfax NZ News