Victorians Brett Hayward, Steve Riley and Anthony Kovco have entered varied machinery for the revival of New Zealand’s renowned Race to the Sky hillclimb from April 18-19.
The trio will be in the unlimited class against the eight-time winner Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima.
Hayward will run a purpose-built open-wheel RTTS Special while Riley will launch a 4×4 Holden Ute which debuted in the Australasian Safari Rally last year.
Kovco is set to enter the event for the first time in a purpose-built 4WD turbo-charged Nissan buggy.
Hayward, who has notched five starts at the event, set an open wheel class record of 8:41s over the 14.5km course in the South Island’s Cardrona Valley the last time the Race to the Sky was run in 2007.
“The new 2015-spec car took an intense six-month build,” Hayward said.
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“It’s longer in the wheelbase and wider in the track to improve stability for the higher anticipated speeds.”
Riley says his ute, modified for Race to the Sky, features a 7-litre engine with an Australian-made Harrop Engineering supercharger producing close to 1000bhp (745kW).
Riley is a two-time finisher of the Dakar Rally and competed in Race to the Sky back in 2002 when he was second overall.
*Speedcafe.com will provide live updates for this weekend’s Symmons Plains V8 Supercars event from Tasmania.
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