The ASKO Appliances South Island Endurance Series roars into life at Teretonga Park in Invercargill this

Saturday with the fastest Endurance cars in the Country set to do battle.

This is the only series in the world where you see a late model the Aussie V8 Supercar go head to head with a

Porsche GT3 RSR, as the Matt Carter/Dwayne Carter BA Falcon Supercar makes its South Island debut against

the Porsche GT3 RSR of South Island Endurance regulars Scott & Lindsay O’Donnell. These two cars are likely

to be the pacesetters of the Series, as Carter/Carter look for a repeat of their 2007 Series win, whilst O’Donnell

will be hunting his first South Island Endurance Series Championship. But the ASKO Appliances catch phrase

“built to last”, will ring true as the old saying goes; to finish first, first you must finish and there are plenty of

other cars of all shapes & sizes capable of challenging for the Championship.

With the influx of 12 Porsche GT3’s last year the Porsche numbers are well down with only series regulars Alan

Dippie/Steve Grellet, Angus McFarlane/Michael Bushell and later in the series Lindsay O’Donnell/Mark Dwyer

entering their Cup cars in 2009. The only other Porsche in the field is that of Garry Cliff/Hayden Knighton who

have purchased the past North Island Endurance Series championship winning Turbo 996 4WD, so these guys

will be looking for some Teretonga rain.

With all of the above cars entered into the new ASKO Appliances GT class, the Southern Finance Ltd Class 1

(3501cc and above) is dominated by the traditional Kiwi Hybrids and picking a class winner here is equally as

impossible. 2008 Levels pole setters Craig McDermid/Peter Swaney return with their familiar green Twin Turbo

Corolla and George McFarlane will be back with the similar powered Altezza. Bruce Davidson/Dave Garden

will switch to the 2nd of their C5 Corvettes, being the newer & lighter car, and add in the Ford/Holden battle

between Series regulars John Wadsworth/Warren Croft & NZV8 runners Chris Adams/Dave Stewart in the red

team with their VY Commodores and Aussie based competitor Perry Scarfe with Stu Black in the GT Radials

Falcon Ute, this year with V8 grunt, in the Blue corner.

Other cars that are likely to surprise will include the WTCC spec BMW 320i of Warren Good/Arron Black, who

were the first non-Porsche home at Teretonga last year, as well as the North Island Combination of Derrin

Greenslade/Todd Murphy in the rapid Honda S2000 powered Datsun 1600. Local icon Inky Tulloch returns to

the series with the now turbo charged Honda Integra and of course not to be discounted are the BMW

SuperTourers of Dennis Chapman/Dale Chapman and Matt O’Donnell/Eric Swinbourne. All these cars will also

be vying for class victories in the Hagley Building products Class 2 (2001cc -3500cc) and Burnside Contractors

Class 3 (0-2000cc) as well as competing for the new Matt Heagney Memorial trophy, in memory of series

competitor Matt Heagney who was tragically killed in Blenheim recently. This memorial trophy will be awarded

to the first 4 cylinder home in the Series.

“There is a quality field rather than a quantity field at Teretonga” says SI Endurance Club secretary Chris Dunn.

“We have a heap more cars that will be joining us from the Levels round, plus we will have the added

excitement of the new 2 Round One hour series being held at Levels and Ruapuna also”

After the opening round at Teretonga, the ASKO Appliances SI Endurance Series moves to Levels Raceway in

Timaru on 17/18 October and the Grand Finale at Christchurch’s Powerbuilt Ruapuna on Saturday 31st October

2009. The overall 3hr series champion will be awarded the ‘South Canterbury Toyota Cup’, plus the Club has

been donated an original watercolor painting by High Country artist Norman Sinclair valued at approx. $10,000-

00 which will be given away as a spot prize. The overall One Hour series champion will receive the new

SIERDC 1 Hour Champions trophy and the Club also gives away prizes and prizemoney throughout the five

classes being McFarlane Group Developments Class 4 (0-1600cc), Burnside Contractors Class 3 (1601-2000cc),

Hagley Building Products Class 2 (2001-3500cc), Southern Finance Class 1 (3501cc and over) and the new

ASKO Appliances GT class.

Entries are still available for both the Three Hour and One Hour series’ and for more information on the South

Island Endurance Series, entries, or to be added to the South Island Endurance Racing Drivers Club’s e-mailing