Blayney-based Pit Stop Autos, lead by owner, manager and mechanic Stephen Lynch will be heading to New Zealand for the four races in the International Sprint Car Races at the end of this month.
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Racing in Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Palmerston North on North Island, Lynch and driver Troy Little will be racing on some of the best tracks in the world.
He and driver Troy Little were invited from 500 Australian competitors across the country, and are one of two teams flying our flag across the ditch.
Lynch was chuffed at the chance to head overseas and race.
“They ship the car over, all the spares, pay airfares and accommodation and guarantee a set amount of money but we get a retainer and we come back and they send it all back,” he said.
However, the foreign courses may prove a challenge for the duo, with a stark difference from Australia’s curved corners.
“The tracks are very flat, only very small and very tight,” Lynch said.
“It changes everything, change how we set up, gears and ratios, getting it set up before you go is a challenge. You can look at a photo [to prepare] but that doesn’t tell you anything.”
They’ll be lining up against teams with far more resources than the pair of them, too, with the two American teams in particular coming from a far different landscape with far more money than Australia.
“I’m a mechanic and Troy’s a truck driver, we’ve got a few little sponsors but we’re up against teams with half a million dollar budget,” he said.
“It was good for us to get recognised as good enough to go do that [despite that].”
However, he’s determined to make waves across the Tasman.
“We’ll go there with a good mindset, we’re not going there to be fools, we’re going there to give a good hard shot at it, you don’t want to go there and be introduced as the Australians and do nothing.”
“It’s in my family, my brother and father were racing and even my grandfather used to race.”
Racing kicks off on November 30 in Auckland.