North Island Endurance Series entry list expands to almost 60 cars

Next weekend’s opening round of the Golden Homes North Island Endurance Series is set to feature almost 60 entries across its one-hour and three-hour races.

A provisional entry list for the event has been released, featuring 33 cars in the one-hour event and 20 cars in the three-hour event — seven more entries in the former and six more entries in the latter compared to initial reports from late last month. VelocityNews understands that there’s a handful of other potential entries to come.

Among the lead new entries in the three-hour is the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup shared between John Penny and Connal Dempsey, and the Aston Martin GT4 of Stephen Harrison and Greg Brink. BNT V8s stalwart Lance Hughes has also shifted from a one-hour campaign to run in the three-hour, with former title winner and recently crowned Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy champ Simon Evans his co-driver.

Shane Helms has also confirmed a new co-driver for his Audi TT VLN, in the form of two-time D1NZ champion Cole Armstrong.

“Shane [Helms] just hit me up and asked if I’d be keen to do a bit of circuit racing and drive an enduro,” said Armstrong, speaking to VelocityNews earlier today. “The drifting season’s finished, and I’ve quite enjoyed doing a bit of track driving. It’s something so different.”

Among the other three-hour news is the release of fresh warpaint on the Racer Products Hyundai i30 N TCR shared between Gene Rollinson and Craig Innes.

The i30 has traded its factory-inspired baby blue livery for a sinister black livery featuring various brands supplied by the firm; including Bell Helmets, OMP, and Brembo. 

The Racer Products entry is one of two TCR cars known to be entered for the series, with Lochlainn Fitzgerald-Symes running a Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR in the event’s one-hour race.

Elsewhere in the one-hour field, Matt Whittaker lines up as a new lead contender for overall victory in his 991-generation Porsche 911 Cup car. At the other end of the scale is Dean Perkins — the popular ENZED Central Muscle Cars driver entering his Ford Falcon XD.

Nick Ross will also be making his return to the track, driving his TLX-based BNT V8s Nissan Altima.

North Island Endurance Series provisional entry list — one hour

No. 14 Shaun Varney — BMW E46 318 V8
No. 5 Geoff Short — Porsche 997 Gen 2
No. 7 Nick Ross — Nissan Altima TLX
No. 8 Tim Edgell — Holden Commodore VE V8ST
No. TBA Allan Sargeant — Seat Leon Supercopa
No. 10 Matt Whittaker — Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
No. 16 Peter Begovich — Holden VY Commodoref
No. 17 Callum Hedge — Porsche 991 Gen1
No. 19 John Midgley — Ford Falcon FG V8ST
No. 23 Greg Kroef — Ford Falcon BF V8 Ute
No. 23 Sam Fillmore — Porsche 991 Gen 2
No. 26 Lochlainn Fitzgerald-Symes — Honda Civic FK2 TCR
No. 42 Steff Chambers — Porsche 996
No. 54 Darryl Clarke — Ford Falcon BF TL
No. 61 Charles Rollo — Toyota Levin AE86
No. 62 Brendan Sole — Chevrolet Corvette C5
No. 71 Andy Duffin — Mazda RX7
No. 75 Andrew Erith — Mazda RX-7
No. 78 Andrew Nugent — BMW M3
No. 81 Struan Robertson — Porsche 997 Gen 1
No. 88 Wade Stevenson — Subaru Legacy
No. 88 Matt Gibson — Howe GT Ford Mustang
No. 89 Jono Lester — Ford Mustang Transam
No. 89 Sean Kirkpatrick — Porsche 997 911 Cup
No. 90 Paul Kelly — Porsche 997 Gen 2
No. 98 Dean Perkins — Ford Falcon XD
No. 99 Peter Beguley — BMW M3 E92 V8
No. 99 Brett Rudd — Holden Commodore VE Ute
No. 123 Paul Verryt — Holden Commodore VE TLX
No.132 Deon Cooper/Rick Cooper — Ssangyong Actyon Super Ute
No. 142 Graeme Fraser — BMW M3 E36
No. 302 Barry Kirk Burnnand — Ford Mustang
No. 777 Bob Sievwright — BMW M3 E46
No. TBA Kris Bostick — Porsche 991 Gen 1

North Island Endurance Series provisional entry list — three hour

No. 1 Glenn Smith/John de Veth — McLaren 650 S GT3
No. 5 Gene Rollinson/Craig Innes — Hyundai i30N TCR
No. 7 Wayne Leech/Paul Burborough — BMW 235i Cup
No. 10 Andrew Fawcett/Sam Fillmore — Audi R8 LMS GT3
No. 17 David Dovey/Todd Murphy — Hyundai i45 V8ST
No. 20 Tony Head/Seton Head — Toyota Altezza
No. 20 Trevor Strong/Craig Suthridge — Honda Civic Type R
No. 23 Alex Riberas/Darren Kelly — Aston Martin AMR GT3
No. 24 Rob Williams/Phil Blythe —Porsche 997 Gen 2
No. 44 Todd Bawden/Flynn Osbourne — BMW 235i Cup
No. 46 Robert Drum/Jeff Drum — Subaru BRZ
No. 51 Conal Dempsey/John Penny — Porsche 911 991
No. 77 Shane Helms/Cole Armstrong — Audi TT VLN
No. 78 Shane Holland/Thomas Sutton — Mazda RX-7
No. 80 Matt Dovey/Jono Lester — Audi A5 GT V8
No. 84 Lance Hughes/Simon Evans — Holden Commodore VE TLX
No. 88 Marty McCullough/Matt McCullough — Honda Integra
No. 111 Stephen Harrison/Greg Brink — Aston Martin Vantage GT4
No. 151 Rick Cooper/Deon Cooper — Ford Mustang GT4
No. 445 Bernard Verryt/Steve Taylor — Ford Mustang
No. 635 Glen Chappell/TBA — BMW 150D E87