Steve Ross is tired of playing bridesmaid in the F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series and would like to be the one with all the glory come the end of this year's six-round series.
After finishing second overall the past two seasons, he has made a strong start, leading the list of seasoned single-seater racers going into the third meeting, at Hampton Downs, this weekend.
"We are trying our best," Ross said of his driving efforts and those of the Christchurch-based Motorsport Solutions team, which is running his 1973 McRae GM1.
A new engine was installed this week to hopefully slim down the 640kg racer, and pump up its horsepower. Dunedin-based Ross said the top cars were weighing in at about 600kg and punching out around 600hp.
"We'd like to find that. You always think you will get more out of something else," he said.
While the classic, stock-block V8-powered wings-and-slicks F5000s were like Formula One cars in their day, there is nothing dated about the level of driver competition.
Twenty-seven drivers will line up on the grid this weekend and as many as 30 at the second festival meeting the weekend after. The line-up includes Canadian driver Jay Esterer who won the 2011 Lady Wigram Trophy race in Christchurch and lies fifth in the series.
The McRae GM1 Esterer started this season with was one of three cars badly damaged in a start-line crash at the second round at Manfield in November.
Like arch rival and defending series champion Auckland evergreen racer Ken Smith, whose Lola T332 was part of the carnage, the Canadian has had to change cars for the remainder of the rounds.
This weekend will see American driver Eric Haga (Lola T190) make his debut in the series.
