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NZ Utes: Beirne Manfeild Park preview

BURNERS KEENLY ANTICIPATE RETURN TO MANFEILD

Christchurch father and son, Graham 'Snr Burner' Beirne and Simon 'Jnr Burner' Beirne will be in the thick of the action at Round 5 of the ENZED V8 Ute Challenge at Manfeild Park in Feilding this weekend.

The class is a support event for one of the major motor races on the New Zealand calendar - the New Zealand Grand Prix - and consequently a huge crowd is expected at the circuit over the weekend. The V8 Ute Series has not visited Manfeild since late in 2008 but the Burners have fashioned a successful record at the demanding 3.03 kilometre circuit. In fact the pair shared the front row of the grid after qualifying on their last visit and stood on the podium together after the opening race.

Simon is in particularly good form as the series arrives in the Manawatu. To date he has taken his Team McDonald's Falcon to two race wins, been on the podium at every round and is currently second in the championship points.

Simon did very little racing last season but he has returned to the series this summer with a vengeance, showing undiminished speed mixed with impressive consistency. Two of the young guns of New Zealand motor racing, Chris Pither and Caine Lobb, run in the category and Simon has been extremely competitive against them.

After a great showing at the previous round at Timaru last month Simon was already looking forward to this round. "We both like Manfeild," he said. "Fingers crossed we can both have a good run there."

While Simon has had a season to remember his father 'Snr Burner' has had what he describes as "the season from hell." After a great season last summer which ended with a championship podium Graham has been plagued with problems this year and has had few opportunities to show his pace. After tackling Timaru in a borrowed ute after his own was damaged at Teretonga he should have his regular John Jones Steel Falcon at his disposal again this weekend. He too has always gone well at Manfeild and he would no doubt welcome a troublefree weekend this time out.

Testing takes place on Friday afternoon followed by qualifying late on Saturday morning. The first race over 8 laps is timed to start at 4.00pm that afternoon. On Sunday another 8 lap race is scheduled for 11.40am before the final contest over 12 laps at 1.10pm.

In addition to the support of major partners McDonald's and John Jones Steel in conjunction with Simon Beirne Limited, "Integrity in Vehicle Brokering," the team also has support from Bruce Raxworthy Panel & Paint, Chevron Quality Cars - Driving Excellence, Business IT Software Management Systems, Mag & Turbo Warehouse, NZVD Transport, Lets Get Graphic, DJ Hewitt Builders Ltd and Vehicle Safety Systems {VSS} And Compliance.

-source: beirne/beer

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