Auto Trader NZ
Published 3 September 2020
Former motorcycle and truck race champion John Hepburn will move into big league car racing this summer after buying the ex-Darryn Henderson Holden Commodore along with Henderson’s NZ V8s Tier 1 franchise.
Henderson withdrew from NZ V8s to take up Porsche GT3s part way through last season.
Hepburn dabbled in Tier 1 racing at the end of last season with the Bartercard Racing Commodore, but after testing his newly acquired ex-Henderson car he said there’s clearly a difference in power. “The car definitely has more power, but I wasn’t happy with the handling during the test, so we’ve taken it away to play with the springs etc.
“With the experience we’ve had [working with race vehicles] we should be able to get it sorted.”
Hepburn said he enjoyed racing in NZ V8s and liked the level of professionalism within the category, but he now faces having to secure a naming rights sponsor for the summer campaign. “We have a number of smaller sponsors, but as much as I’d like to think we could, I don’t think we’ll be able to find the money required from within Timaru.”
