Shop
The grid for the 10 Hours of Sydney Production Sports and Production Touring endurance race is building ahead of the inaugural January 13-15 event.
Promoted by the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club, the race will be held over two five-hour segments at Sydney Motorsport Park’s 3.9km Gardner GP circuit.
Open to more than 200 production models, competitors will race into the twilight on Saturday before reconvening of a final five hour run on the Sunday.
“Interest in the 10 Hours of Sydney has been very positive and we’re already approaching the point of having 20 cars from a very diverse group of competitors confirmed,” said event director Rob Curkpatrick.
“With more than six weeks remaining until entries close, we are very pleased with the early reaction.”
Among the first to confirm participation are Glenn Townsend and Anthony Soole, who will pilot and a Lotus Elise and the FPV GT pairing of Mick Benton and Hadrian Morall.
Experienced production car campaigner Benton expects the GT to be competitive having won Class B in the Prodcution Car Series in 2013.
“The car won Class B in 2013 and has proven to be reliable and competitive for a relatively heavy car,” said Benton.
“We will be making some small changes to the GT before the 10 hour to address driver comfort and reliability for a reasonably long, hot race.”
Likewise, Soole is confident the light and nimble Lotus will prove to be a strong proposition come January.
“We have been a pairing for a few years now in this car and have successfully campaigned it in the Wakefield 300 and Winton 300 endurance championship,” Soole explained.
“We plan to use this car as it should be somewhat cheap to run.
“Running a 2.4-litre Honda Accord engine, it packs a punch without the high price tag of many other exotic cars – and it’s still a great car to drive with plenty of pace when needed.
“I think this race will suit our car and hopefully we will see a few other Lotus Elise’s come along also.”
