Heimgartner gets behind the wheel of Super Black Racing’s ‘The Dark Horse’

8 February, 2015

Super Black Racing, the only New Zealand-based V8 Supercar (V8SC) team, have had their official launch at the Sydney Garden Island Naval base. Andre Heimgartner is all set to begin the official V8SC test following the big reveal of the Prodrive Racing (PRA)-prepared Triple One Falcon, alongside his PRA teammates.

Super Black Racing team owner Tony Lentino said, “We are so proud to finally be here and to be part of the Prodrive Racing team. We’re really excited about the year, and finally being able to reveal the car that we call ‘The Dark Horse’ is awesome.”

Aged 19, Heimgartner is one of the youngest drivers to ever compete in a V8SC championship, but is up for the challenge. 

“I know it won’t be easy, but I’m lucky to have such an incredible team of people behind me to help me learn, along with all of our awesome New Zealand fans,” Heimgartner said.

Also on board is Paul Radisich, the touring car legend, who joined the team in Sydney with his official role as team principal. This will see him guide and mentor the team with his experience, which spans across more than 20 years in motorsport.  

Super Black Racing is set to campaign the new Prodrive Racing FG X later in the season. The official V8SC Super Test runs for three days near Eastern Creek before the championship has its opening round in Adelaide in little over two weeks’ time.

Put a ring around that

Provenance is a valuable part of a classic car and DKW/Auto Union collectors Brendan and Bobbette Odell have a detailed documented history of a special car in their growing collection of these little two-stroke wonders.
Brendan’s hometown of Pretoria enjoyed more than its fair share of the marque, where their reliability and performance made them popular..
“There used to be a joke going round in South Africa that there were more DKWs in Pretoria per square mile than anywhere else in the world,” Says Brendan.
The Odells redressed that balance a little when they shifted to New Zealand as they brought some of the cars with them.
One of their DKWs also accompanied them to Tonga. Brendan’s green 1959 Auto Union 1000 two-door went with them from South Africa to Tonga from 2010 to 2013 where he worked for the local airline. It then travelled on with them to New Zealand. It is one of just 10 right-hand drive cars of the two-door basic model remaining worldwide.

Stag roars again

The Triumph Stag pictured here has been lovingly restored from what was once, in the owner’s words, “a horrible, terrible job”. Owners Glynn and Alison Gaston hail from Dunedin and along with their grandchildren now enjoy cruising in the Stag after a three-and-a-half-year restoration.
In 2011, Glynn was looking for a classic car to restore. After 21 years with Air New Zealand he was working as a Super Shuttle driver, with four days on and four days off, which gave him the time to take on such a project — something he had always wanted to do.
“I’d looked at quite a few cars over the years. The idea was to restore a car as something to keep me going. I had looked at different MGs and I would have quite liked an Austin Healey or something similar but they were really expensive.
“Then I saw a Stag and I thought, Ah, this is nice. This is what I would like.