Brendon Hartley swapped testing the new Porsche LMP1 to watch the New Zealand Grand Prix.
Brendon Hartley swapped testing the new Porsche LMP1 to watch the New Zealand Grand Prix.
Hartley makes a detour from testing to take in NZ Grand Prix
Porsche factory driver Kiwi Brendon Hartley was back in his hometown of Palmerston North over the weekend and was at Manfeild for the 60th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix. The 25-year-old was on hand to watch the latest crop of TRS drivers line up for the NZGP, havingbeen one of the first drivers in the series when he was 15.
"Looking around the pits, I feel so old now. But then again, I was about their age when I first raced in the Grand Prix," said Hartley.
"I've tried to win it three times but haven't managed it and if you look at the names on the trophy it's a pretty prestigious thing to win.
"It's one of only three FIA-sanctioned Grand Prix in the world along with Formula One and Macau. And that's why so many international drivers come here to race for it."
Hartley said when he was racing in the category it was predominantly populated with New Zealand drivers. Now, 10 years down the track, you have overseas drivers queuing up to race here in the European off-season and the 20-car field this year had 16 internationals and four Kiwis.
"It's got a massive reputation in Europe now and all the media over there cover it. There are some really talented drivers who make the trip every year," he said.
Hartley arrived in New Zealand straight from testing the new Porsche LMP1 car in Bahrain.
"It's a brand new car from last year and it was a very successful test. We completed 5000km, which is quite a few laps. It was a performance test and not an endurance test and it looks very promising from the reliability and performance perspective.
"We know our competitors have been working hard over the winter break and it's shaping up to be another very competitive year."
The good thing for Hartley is he's in a stable environment at Porsche where he's with the same two drivers (Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard) he contested the 2014 World Endurance Championship with. An added bonus though, is that an old mate of his, Earl Bamber, has joined the German manufacturer as a GT sports car driver and has also been nominated to race a third 919 Hybrid at Spa Francorchamps and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
"It's unbelievable that Earl is now going to race the new car at Le Mans in the same team as me. We grew up together and raced karts against each other and we are very good friends.
"It's a big story for both of us really... We can both admit that at one point our careers seemed over, but in the typical Kiwi way we both stuck at it and we're both at Porsche now - unbelievable," he said.
Hartley's first round of the WEC is at Silverstone on April 12 and Bamber's at Spa on May 2.
Swede success for Paddon
Hayden Paddon and John Kennard climbed into the top five at Rally Sweden, exceeding their own expectations.Picture / Vettas Media
After a best-ever result at the Rally Sweden, the Kiwi rally duo of Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are heading to warmer climes for their World Championship event.
The pair took advantage of Norwegian Mads Ostberg's mistake on the last day of the rally to climb into the top five.
Paddon and Kennard now head to Mexico for round three over March 5-8.
Paddon was promoted into Dani Sordo's i20 Hyundai WRC car after the Spaniard cracked a couple of ribs in a training accident.
Paddon and Kennard had raced in the snow only once before, back in 2012, and were treating the event with a fair amount of respect. The object of the weekend's racing for the Kiwis was to bring the car home in one piece and get as many manufacturers' points as possible for the team.
"I'm really happy," said Paddon after the race. "To get in the top five is much more than we expected going into this rally. It's been a good rally for us overall and very important to gain the experience in these demanding winter conditions.
"This year conditions are probably the best they've been here for many years. There was a lot of snow before the rally, so there are really good snow banks and I guess that's been encouraging drivers to drive fast, to really lean on the snow banks. At the same time that's a catch-22, that's what's been catching some drivers out, including ourselves in some circumstances."
Paddon's result in Sweden has him sitting in eighth in the championship despite missing the first round in Monte Carlo.
