John Hepburn Racing

MEDIA RELEASE
16 MAY 2009

HEPBURN SECOND IN ENDURANCE RACE

Timaru driver John Hepburn, along with co-drivers Shane Charlton and John Penny, drove a superb race to finish second in the Northern Sports Car Club's 6 Hour Challenge at Pukekohe Park Raceway today (Saturday).

The trio shared the driving duties in a Ken Hopper prepared Holden Commodore V8, covering 301 laps of the 2.8 kilometre Pukekohe circuit over the course of the six hour race.
Hepburn, Charlton and Penny were one lap behind winners Kevin Williams and Angus Fogg at the end of the race with Rick and Deon Cooper a further four laps behind in third.

The team took a relaxed approach to qualifying, placing the car eighth on the grid. When the race got underway at 2pm it was Aucklander Charlton at the wheel for the first two hour stint. The former V8 Development Series frontrunner did a great job to bring the Commodore through the field. Penny, of Taupo, drove through the middle segment of the race while Hepburn brought the car home, taking his turn at the wheel after dark.

The Commodore was to the fore throughout, running in the top three for much of the distance and spending periods of the race in the lead.

"Everything clicked into place," said Hepburn a short time after stepping out of the cockpit. "The Safety Car periods didn't really go our way. If they had we could have been challenging for the race win. "Shane did a superb job at the start and John (Penny) consolidated and then I brought it home, setting consistent lap times in the mid - 1 minute 7's and low 1 minute 8's." Of his first experience of night racing he said, "it was different." Catching some of the cars at speed in the dark proved to be a challenge. "It was a bit scary. I had two wheels on the grass through the high speed kink on the back straight at one stage!"

"It was an enjoyable thing to do," Hepburn said of the race. "It gave me a few more laps in an NZV8, even if it was in the dark! Ken Hopper gave us a good car."

The team had a smooth run with everything going to plan, their only pitstops being scheduled ones for driver changes and fuel.

The success has prompted the drivers to look at the possibility of contesting the second round of the Endurance Series at the Taupo Motorsport Park next month.

John Hepburn's motor racing efforts are supported by Auto Align, Timaru Signs & Graphix, Blastcraft, Petrie Mayman Clark, Robinsons Auto Dismantlers, Drummond & Etheridge, Timaru Metal Recyclers, Ashley Electronics, Paul Smith Earthmoving, Auto Gas, Pit Stop Otahuhu and Crash Repairs.