Team Kiwi Racing
Encyclopedia
Team Kiwi Racing was a V8 Supercar team that competed in the Australian V8 Supercar series. The team has since returned at much reduced scale, in New Zealand running in domestic one-make series racing. In 2010 they made their V8 Supercar return, running Matthew Hamilton in a MW Motorsport prepared Falcon Fujitsu Series
.
Although the majority of races in the V8 Supercar series are run in Australia
, Team Kiwi Racing was the only team to be headquartered in New Zealand. Their offices were in Hamilton
while the team itself was based out of a variety of different workshops in Australia. For much of the second half of the teams V8 Supercar career they partly or wholly run by other teams from their workshops in Queensland or Victoria.
The ability of the team to operate became doubtful after bankruptcy proceedings took place against majority owner, David John in New Zealand, Despite this the team attended the 2009 pre-season test at Queensland Raceway
.. but John's bankruptcy was later annulled in November 2009 and he was reappointed to run the team again.
In 2009, after the second round in Hamilton, New Zealand; the team's license was bought out by the driver, Dean Fiore
and a new team established named Triple F Racing
ending TKR's involvement in V8 Supercar.
s as their cars until the end of the 2006 season. TKR are currently a single car team.
TKR only had very limited results with their best result a Pole Position at the 2004 Winton event in very wet conditions. They also had only one podium in the 2005 Shanghai round, claiming 3rd.
During the 2006 Bathurst 1000
endurance race at Mount Panorama, driver Paul Radisich
crashed at around 200 km/h head on into a tyre barrier, flipping the car on the roof. The roof had to be cut off to be able to get Radisich out and he was taken to hospital where he was in a serious but stable condition. The car was so badly damaged that it was written off and TKR was unable to race at the Indy 300 round at the Gold Coast
. The team leased the chassis that was used by Paul Morris Motorsport earlier in the season as car #39.
and Prodrive
Australia so that TKR could use Jason Bright's 2006 car and technical data. TKR was grouped with FPR due to their technical partnership, effectively reducing both team available testing days. Radisich was retained as lead driver although missed the season opening Clipsal 500 as his recovery from the Bathurst accident continued. For that round Adam Macrow
substituted.
Ford Performance Racing terminated its contract to supply and service the TKR Falcon on 31 May 2007. Paul Radisich said he had terminated his contract with TKR following the team's fallout with Ford Performance Racing (FPR) that ran the car on behalf of TKR. "TKR is in breach of contract and I have therefore terminated my contract with immediate effect."
After missing the Eastern Creek Raceway
, Hidden Valley Raceway
and Queensland Raceway
rounds, TKR struck a deal with fellow Ford team, Stone Brothers Racing
. New Zealand rookie Shane Van Gisbergen
was retained to replace Radisich.
In the 2008 season despite announcing experienced Fujitsu series driver Kayne Scott
, Scott only raced eight rounds and the team had rotated through a number of drivers with Chris Pither
, Australian Steve Owen, Bahrain domestic series driver Fahad Al Musalam and Daniel Gaunt
all racing the car at various points.
racer Dean Fiore
driving.
in Australia. Hamilton will drive a Ford BF Falcon
Team Kiwi have contracted MW Motorsport
to run the car for them.
2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series
The 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercars season was the eleventh running of the V8 Supercar Development series. It supported the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series, beginning on 11 March at the Clipsal 500 and ending on 5 December at the Sydney 500 after seven rounds....
.
Although the majority of races in the V8 Supercar series are run in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Team Kiwi Racing was the only team to be headquartered in New Zealand. Their offices were in Hamilton
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
while the team itself was based out of a variety of different workshops in Australia. For much of the second half of the teams V8 Supercar career they partly or wholly run by other teams from their workshops in Queensland or Victoria.
The ability of the team to operate became doubtful after bankruptcy proceedings took place against majority owner, David John in New Zealand, Despite this the team attended the 2009 pre-season test at Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located near Ipswich in Queensland, Australia.The circuit plays host to V8 Supercars, the Australian Superbike Championship, Drifting as well as club level racing and ride days....
.. but John's bankruptcy was later annulled in November 2009 and he was reappointed to run the team again.
In 2009, after the second round in Hamilton, New Zealand; the team's license was bought out by the driver, Dean Fiore
Dean Fiore
Dean Fiore Dean Fiore Dean Fiore (born December 1, 1983 in Kalgoorlie Western Australia is an Australian racing driver. Fiore presently races for his own team, Triple F Racing, a satellite operation of Paul Morris Motorsport in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series....
and a new team established named Triple F Racing
Triple F Racing
Triple F Racing is an Australian motor racing team that is competing in the International V8 Supercars Championship. The team is today based on the Gold Coast in Queenland but continues to have strong links with the team's original home in Perth, Western Australia.The team was formed by the West...
ending TKR's involvement in V8 Supercar.
History
Since their conception, TKR used Holden CommodoreHolden Commodore
The Holden Commodore is an automobile manufactured since 1978 by the Holden subsidiary of General Motors in Australia, and, formerly, in New Zealand. In the mid-1970s, Holden established proposals to replace the long-serving Kingswood nameplate with a smaller, Opel-based model...
s as their cars until the end of the 2006 season. TKR are currently a single car team.
TKR only had very limited results with their best result a Pole Position at the 2004 Winton event in very wet conditions. They also had only one podium in the 2005 Shanghai round, claiming 3rd.
During the 2006 Bathurst 1000
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
endurance race at Mount Panorama, driver Paul Radisich
Paul Radisich
Paul Radisich is a New Zealand racing driver of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years - both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New Zealand.-Early years:...
crashed at around 200 km/h head on into a tyre barrier, flipping the car on the roof. The roof had to be cut off to be able to get Radisich out and he was taken to hospital where he was in a serious but stable condition. The car was so badly damaged that it was written off and TKR was unable to race at the Indy 300 round at the Gold Coast
Lexmark Indy 300
The Nikon Indy 300 was an open-wheel motor race event that took place at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in south east Queensland, Australia. Known generically as the Gold Coast Indy 300, Japanese camera giant Nikon was announced as new naming rights sponsor in early August 2008...
. The team leased the chassis that was used by Paul Morris Motorsport earlier in the season as car #39.
Joining Ford
It was announced in August 2006 that Team Kiwi would join Ford to try and boost sales and compete with the popular Holden Commodores. TKR struck a deal with Ford Performance RacingFord Performance Racing
Ford Performance Racing is a British-owned Australian-based motor racing team that contests the Australian International V8 Supercars Championship...
and Prodrive
Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and automotive engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races cars for companies and teams such as Subaru, Aston Martin and Ford...
Australia so that TKR could use Jason Bright's 2006 car and technical data. TKR was grouped with FPR due to their technical partnership, effectively reducing both team available testing days. Radisich was retained as lead driver although missed the season opening Clipsal 500 as his recovery from the Bathurst accident continued. For that round Adam Macrow
Adam Macrow
Adam Macrow is a professional race car driver now living in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Starting in Karts in 1985 winning two National titles and ten Victorian titles...
substituted.
Ford Performance Racing terminated its contract to supply and service the TKR Falcon on 31 May 2007. Paul Radisich said he had terminated his contract with TKR following the team's fallout with Ford Performance Racing (FPR) that ran the car on behalf of TKR. "TKR is in breach of contract and I have therefore terminated my contract with immediate effect."
After missing the Eastern Creek Raceway
Eastern Creek Raceway
Eastern Creek International Raceway is a motorsports circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek , New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sydney International Dragway. It was built and is owned by the New South Wales Government and is operated by the...
, Hidden Valley Raceway
Hidden Valley Raceway
Hidden Valley Raceway is part of the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The race track is used as a round of the V8 Supercar series...
and Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located near Ipswich in Queensland, Australia.The circuit plays host to V8 Supercars, the Australian Superbike Championship, Drifting as well as club level racing and ride days....
rounds, TKR struck a deal with fellow Ford team, Stone Brothers Racing
Stone Brothers Racing
Stone Brothers Racing is an Australian motor racing team competing in the International V8 Supercars Championship, formed in 1998 by experienced New Zealand-born motorsport veterans, Ross Stone and Jim Stone after buying out their partner in their previous racing team...
. New Zealand rookie Shane Van Gisbergen
Shane Van Gisbergen
Shane Van Gisbergen is a racing driver from Auckland, New Zealand. He currently drives for Stone Brothers Racing in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series.-New Zealand racing history:...
was retained to replace Radisich.
In the 2008 season despite announcing experienced Fujitsu series driver Kayne Scott
Kayne Scott
Kayne Scott started his motorsport career by competing in motocross at the age of 12. Scott is a five time New Zealand Trans-Am champion and won the 2005/06 New Zealand V8s series...
, Scott only raced eight rounds and the team had rotated through a number of drivers with Chris Pither
Chris Pither
Chris Pither, born December 3, 1986 in Palmerston North, is a New Zealand racing driver. Pither started racing in his home country, coming up through the open wheeler ranks first through the evolved Formula Vee class Formula First, then Formula Ford...
, Australian Steve Owen, Bahrain domestic series driver Fahad Al Musalam and Daniel Gaunt
Daniel Gaunt
Daniel Gaunt, born 27 February 1985, in Auckland, is a New Zealand racing driver.-Formula Racing:After rising through the ranks of New Zealand Formula Ford, which included a third place finish in the 2002 New Zealand Grand Prix, Gaunt moved to Australia, competing in the Formula 4000 category and...
all racing the car at various points.
Re-joining Holden
With the team unable to find a Ford equipped technical partner for 2009 the team transitioned back to Holden in partnership with Paul Morris Motorsport. Bankruptcy proceedings involving Team Kiwi Racing team principal, David John has left the team in limbo with the teams accountant Mike McDonald running the team and Paul Morris Motorsport running a Holden Commodore on their franchise with former Carrera CupAustralian Carrera Cup Championship
The Australian Carrera Cup Championship is a sports car racing championship open to drivers of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. First held in 2003, it is administered by Porsche Cars Australia and sanctioned by CAMS as an Australian Championship...
racer Dean Fiore
Dean Fiore
Dean Fiore Dean Fiore Dean Fiore (born December 1, 1983 in Kalgoorlie Western Australia is an Australian racing driver. Fiore presently races for his own team, Triple F Racing, a satellite operation of Paul Morris Motorsport in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series....
driving.
Closure
V8 Supercar Australia seized TKR's Racing Entitlement Contract after the Hamilton Round in order that it would be sold or leased.. The contract and licence was eventually sold to the Fiore family and recreated the team to Triple F Racing.Post V8 Supercar
Despite this the Team now races 2 Minis in the New Zealand Mini Championship for up and coming drivers Matt Hamilton and Ryan Bailey and are currently first and second in the championship. Team Kiwi Racing are running Hamilton in the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series
The 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercars season was the eleventh running of the V8 Supercar Development series. It supported the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series, beginning on 11 March at the Clipsal 500 and ending on 5 December at the Sydney 500 after seven rounds....
in Australia. Hamilton will drive a Ford BF Falcon
Ford BF Falcon
The Ford BF Falcon was a full-size car that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in Victoria, Australia. The BF Falcon started production in October 2005 and a MkII update was released in October 2006...
Team Kiwi have contracted MW Motorsport
MW Motorsport
MW Motorsport is a V8 Supercar team that is competing in the second-tier Australian V8 Supercar series, the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series....
to run the car for them.