Hans Ruiterman of Pukekohe is set to compete in his third ever round of the GTR NZ championship in Manfield this weekend, against more a seasoned selection of top competitors such as Waikato’s Ian Hayr, Auckland’s Shaun Judd and Tauranga based Steven Witschke.
Hans is currently in fifth place on points after two rounds but aims to move further up the leader board at Round 3 and is itching for a podium finish, despite the current season in the series being his first at this avidly competitive level.
Behind the wheel of his self built and engineered Nissian Silvia S14 backed by Motul New Zealand Hans has impressed the field with his notable results so far this season and he’ll be looking to back up his previous high quality results with more this weekend.
“Our plan is to win and it’s as simple as that,” a focussed Ruiterman said.
The GTR NZ championship is home to some of the fastest race cars in New Zealand with no restriction to the type, model or size of the vehicles. This has enabled Ruiterman to campaign the S14; being the only car of its type in the series with great interest from others in the field.
In preparation for this weekend’s racing, Ruiterman has made a number of changes to his Nissan. “We’ve tuned the car again, changed the gearbox ratio’s, fitted Canards at the front of the car for more down force and amended our wheel alignment, all to improve our speed,” Ruiterman explained.
With the weather at Manfield this weekend set to be a mix of fine and wet conditions again, as in the previous visit during Round 1, racing can be made more difficult for both the drivers and crew; something Ruiterman is now well prepared for.
The Nissan Silvia will be competing in three races over two days with points up for grabs for all three races.
The GTR NZ Tier 2 championship is currently led by Ian Hayr who has 648 points, 209 points ahead of Ruiterman who has 439 points and sits in fifth overall.
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