Lawson a star attraction as countdown on for Highlands and Ruapuna

Red Bull Junior Liam Lawson will be a star attraction at Speed Works’ first two race meetings of the year in Cromwell and Christchurch as major motorsport gets into gear for 2022.

The former TRS champ will be at both Highlands on January 15 and 16 and the Mike Pero Motorsport Park a week later demonstrating the Rodin FZero, the car which recently hammered Donington Park’s outright lap record.

Fresh from his Scuderia Alpha Tauri test in December, Lawson will put both the Highlands and long-standing Ruapuna lap records under serious threat in the spectacular car and is certain to be a massive hit for fans, officials and other drivers at the race meeting.

A full grid of the new Rodin Cars Super GT category is locked in for both meetings, along with the biggest ever field of Toyota 86 cars with 22 lined up for round one and two of a championship that will see the winner heading to Australia for a test in a Triple Eight Race Engineering V8 Supercar, the top prize in a $175,000 prize package. Also locked in for both events are the racers from the NEXEN Tyre Mazda Racing Series.

An additional field has been created to add to the fun and variety and will be on the racing schedule for the two weekends offering competitors four 30 minute races.

With interest in GTs currently surging, the grid will include the Carters Brabham BT62 and Lance Hughes’ Nissan GTR. A number of V8 cars are also entered in the class along with a good mix of production-based cars. With a balance of performance pit stop included, anyone could win but the most important thing is track time at two of the country’s best circuits for drivers keen to be part of the race meetings.

The action doesn’t stop there. At Highlands, the anything goes OSCA field will be a thriller as it joins the party for the third round of its championship while the spectacular Porsches and BMWs and Porsches of Rennsport will be out in force at their South Island spiritual home.