A broken suspension arm on a V8 VK Holden Commodore broke the heart of a Dunedin driver.
Endurance racer Alyssa Clapperton (17) said she and her dad, Ian Clapperton (48), finished 19th out of the 37 cars racing in the 2013 Asko Endurance Series at the Highlands Motorsport Park, near Cromwell, on Saturday.
''It was a very exciting race, with good stops and quick driver changes.''
The finish qualified the Clappertons for the Highlands 101 event on Sunday to race 101 laps against the fastest cars at the event, including sophisticated Australian series GTs.
''It was very cool but we only lasted an hour and 40 minutes and our car failed and we had to call it a day.''
The car's rear suspension arm broke while her father was racing the Commodore, she said.
The car failure was ''heartbreaking'' but she had enjoyed every minute of the racing.
''It was absolutely amazing against the Aussie GT cars and being part of the whole atmosphere of the event.''
Life was a little slower yesterday as Alyssa studied for an NCEA English exam today. But speed was never far from her mind, with plans to make the Holden Commodore ''faster and more reliable'' for future racing, she said.
