Two of Whangarei's better-known motorsport personalities are in central Otago this weekend to tackle New Zealand's most prestigious hillclimb - the Silverstone Race to the Sky. Both Barry Arniger (39) and Richard Maunder (40) take on the internationally acclaimed event where NZ's and some of the world's best will attempt toset the quickest time driving from the bottom to the top of the twisting, steep gravel course set in the Waiorau Ranges. Armiger will compete in the Rally Two Wheel Drive section and will be using a highly modified Mazda RX7. After attending the event as a spectator many times, Armiger decided to enter last year entered and placed first in his class, quite an achievement for a first-timer. That experience has enabled to make changes to the car in order to be more competitive at the extreme altitude of the tough course and deal with its 135 corners. Nine of those corners on the 14.5km course are tight hairpins and the longest straight is only 300m. "This year the aim is go a bit crazy and become the fastest two-wheel drive car in the history of the event," Armiger said. Arminger's best time last year was 9min:47sec. The world record held by Japan's Monster Jajima is 8:10, set in his 4WD Suzuki Escudo. Armiger's co-driver is Whangarei's Michelle Mitchell, who replaces Richard Maunder, who will compete in the Open Quad class on a fuel injected Suzuki LTR450, the Japanese company's flag ship racing quad bike. The race starts at a height of 460m and sharply rises to a finishline at a staggering 1525m.
