SUBSCRIBE TO THE
MAGAZINE NOW
Facebook-f Instagram

Simon Evans to join V8 Supercars with Super Black Racing

21 February, 2015

Super Black Racing, New Zealand’s only V8 Supercar team, has gained another driver — Simon Evans, the talented BNT NZ SuperTourer racer. Evans will soon be getting behind the wheel of another Ford Falcon, this time as part of the V8 Dunlop Development Series in Australia.

With his recent success in the local SuperTourers series, the Dunlop Development Series is the next logical step for Evans, and one he is looking forward to.

“Representing Super Black Racing as the only New Zealand team in the V8 Supercars at the moment just makes it even more exciting. It’s great to have their support, as it can be really hard for drivers to break out of New Zealand,” Evans says.

It’s not going to be a walk in the park for him, though; this will be his first time racing in Australia, other than racing kart. Evans will face the added challenge of having to learn each and every track during the allocated practice sessions.

For Super Black Racing, the opportunity to help Evans was one they couldn’t ignore.

“The [Super Black Racing] team was started to help New Zealand drivers break into different levels of motorsport, so when this became a possibility, we had to make it happen,” said Tony Lentino, Super Black Racing team owner.

Both the team and Simon Evans will be waiting for the big day of February 26, the Clipsal 500 held in Adelaide, heralding the official start of both the 2015 V8 Supercars season and the Dunlop Development Series.

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.