The Star: January 10, 2019

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Thursday January 10 2019 33
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American teen to
make Ruapuna debut
• By Allan Batt
VISITS BY overseas sprintcar
drivers to Christchurch have
been few and far between in
recent years.
But one of the United States’
brightest prospects will make
his Ruapuna debut on Sunday
as part of a month-long South
Island tour.
Seventeen-year-old Michael
‘Buddy’ Kofoid, of Penngrove
California, has an amazing
resume for someone barely old
enough to hold a driver’s licence.
But he is already something of a
racing veteran, having won his
first sprintcar feature race aged
just 11.
Like many US racers, he
started off in outlaw karts at a
very early age, notching up more
than 120 career feature wins
before moving into winged 360
sprintcars. Many compare his
accomplishments to NASCAR
front-runner Kyle Larsen,
who also started his career in
‘small town’ California, racing
in karts before progressing to
850 horsepower sprintcars at a
young age.
In 2017, Kofoid became the
youngest driver to win the
iconic Johnny Key Classic,
one of northern California’s
biggest sprintcar races with a
NATIONAL champions will
be crowned at Moore Park
when it hosts the New Zealand
Speedway sidecar championship
on Saturday.
More than 40 sidecar
combinations from across
the country
will compete in
qualifying on
Friday to gain
one of 16 starting
positions in the
championship
Andrew
Buchanan
meeting on
Saturday.
New Zealand’s
top sidecar combinations will be
racing, as well as several up-andcomers
looking for an upset by
BATTLE-HARDENED after a
full year in the FIA European
formula three championship
and with the Macau Grand Prix
rookie title in hand, Marcus
Armstrong is home and aiming
to win the Toyota Racing Series.
The Christchurch-born driver
was third in the 2018 TRS,
BIG FUTURE: Up-and-coming American sprintcar driver
Michael ‘Buddy’ Kofoid (inset) will race at Ruapuna on
Sunday.
58-year history. In September,
he confounded the pundits by
setting the fastest qualifying
time at a World of Outlaws race
at Chico, California, along with
winning a heat race and trophy
dash before claiming pole
position in a field littered with
top US drivers.
A top five finish at the Gold
Cup race, sanctioned by the US’s
premier sprintcar organisation,
has seen him sign on to race
More than 40 sidecar combos
vie for speedway championship
TOP PICK: Andrew
Buchanan and Denny
Cox will be among the
favourites at the New
Zealand Speedway sidecar
champs on Saturday.
knocking one of the contenders
off their perch.
The local hope and one of
the hot favourites to take out
winning two races and standing
on the podium 10 times across
15 races.
He says the title should have
been his – and this time he aims
to make sure it is.
“I’m here to drive and I enjoy
all the circuits here in New
Zealand. I want to make good
next season in the US mid-west
region.
Kofoid will be racing a car
owned by Te Anau’s Daniel
Anderson who has competed
against the youngster several
times in the US.
Kofoid’s schedule will see him
return to Ruapuna for the Gold
Cup later this month and he
will contest the New Zealand
Sprintcar Championship at
Cromwell.
the title will be 39C Andrew
Buchanan and Denny Cox.
They have spent a considerable
amount of time racing in what
is regarded as the hot-bed of
sidecar speedway racing in
Australia, finishing on the
podium at the 2018 Australian
title, the FIM Oceania sidecar
championship and the FIM
sidecar World Cup.
Both FIM events are
international meetings, with
the top sidecar pairings from
Australia, New Zealand, the
United Kingdom, United States
and France taking part.
Friday’s qualifying starts at
3pm, while racing on Saturday
begins at 4pm.
on last year’s last lap loss,” said
Armstrong.
The Tatuus single-seaters used
in the TRS are levellers in terms
of pace and set-up, meaning
teams and drivers are evenly
matched. And Armstrong says
the top drivers will be pushing
each other at every opportunity.
WHEN THE Toyota Racing
Series starts in Cromwell at
the weekend, it will be the
latest example of Christchurch
becoming a second-tier
destination for sporting events.
When it comes to household
names, it’s hard to find many
Canterbury trophies in the same
league as the Lady Wigram
Trophy.
The likes of Jack Brabham,
Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren,
Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Jochen
Rindt, Graham McRae, Ken
Smith, Larry Perkins and Paul
Radisich have had their names
etched into the trophy on the
other side of the millennium.
For the past four years, the
trophy has been raced for as part
of the TRS. The international
stature of the series means the
trophy hasn’t dropped its prestige
in recent times. In 2015, it was
won by Canadian racer Lance
Stroll, who currently drives in
formula one.
However, this weekend the
trophy will not be raced for
due to the TRS moving its first
round of the championship to
Highlands Motorsport Park in
Cromwell.
It goes against a two-year
agreement which series promoter
Speedworks and the Canterbury
Car Club made in 2017.
It’s now the latest blow to
Christchurch’s reputation as a
holder of sporting events.
When you consider the All
Blacks won’t play a test here
until at least 2020, it’s hard not
to argue we’ve become a secondtier
destination. The fact Nelson
hosted the All Blacks last year
could even lead you to say we’ve
dropped to the third-tier.
Now Cromwell – previously
known to Christchurch residents
as a popular spot to get sunburnt
over the new year – has become
the latest town to steal a major
sporting event off us.
The trophy could still be raced
Armstrong eyes up Toyota Racing Series
The five-week championship
will deliver Armstrong (right)
race-fit, fast and ready for his
next challenge in the new FIA
formula three championship,
which will step up to new, more
powerful cars. It also has a
confirmed 30-car grid and will
follows the formula one calendar.
One-eyed Cantab
Gordon Findlater
gordon.findlater@starmedia.kiwi
Has Chch become a
‘second-tier’
sporting destination?
PRESTIGIOUS: The Lady
Wigram Trophy will not
be raced for in the Toyota
Racing Series.
for this year if the Canterbury
Car Club decides to put it on the
line during the formula 5000
programme at the popular Skope
meeting at Ruapuna next month.
However, if that’s the case, it
will undoubtedly be another
year in which the reputation of
the trophy has been tainted by
the class of the field compared to
those of yesteryear.
With the trend we’re on, it is
becoming increasingly easy to
become cynical when it comes
to Christchurch’s reputation for
sporting events.
Don’t worry though folks, we’re
about to get our biggest event of
the summer later this month at
Hagley Oval, when some of our
All Blacks play cricket against a
group of cricketers who reached
their prime 10-20 years ago. Let
the good times roll.