Ronan Murphy: Motorsport driver on this weekend's South Island Endurance Series

The South Island Endurance Series is a circuit-based Motor Racing Series that kicks off this weekend, with the first round at Ruapuna Park in Christchurch.  

D'Arcy caught up with Ronan Murphy, a driver who competes in the series to preview the weekends action. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Waldgrave from News Talk SED.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Be sure we're going to be talking shortly to Ronan Murphy.
He's involved in this series. He's running a Lamborghini Oric.
What a car that is as well. Wow, this also
is part of the North Island Endurance Series, if that
makes sense. Both of the series to combine and we
talk about endurance. It's not really endurance and think like

(00:31):
math thirds or twenty four hours. The Long Race is
a three hour race. But it's a sign of it's
a sign of the economy actually looking upward. Surprising because
they're actually out there racing, spending their money. We're joined
by Ronan Murphy now to look her head to it
cod Roan, how are you very well? You'd be a

(00:51):
little ampt the South Island Endurance Series gets under way.
It's over the weekend or Apona. Good times had by all.
You'll be pretty amped to be back in the seat again.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, mate, I can't wait. It's great to be back
back home in the South Island. And yeah, it's looking
like a really really good weekend. I'm actually out here
at the track at the moment and it's a little
bit cold, but the sun start to shine through, so
it's looking like it's going to be going to be
a good one there. And yeah, great to see a big,
big field of cars and lots of teams and people.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Well, let's look at that field because it's expanded somewhat.
The economic conditions means a lot of guys and girls
wouldn't race, but now they're coming back. There's a good
sign for the economy. Mate, look at the race cars.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, yeah, exactly right. It's yeah, one way of knowing
how the national economy is doing. To so many people
turn up at the car racing with their race cars
because it's not obviously not a cheap sport where yeah,
everyone who is doing it very fortunate to be able
to be able to compete and try and put on
a show for everyone. And yeah, hopefully hopefully everyone everyone

(02:00):
has a good weekend and there's not too much carnage.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, none at all. It's not what we watch for, right,
it's just kind of an aside thing. This is an
endurance series, now, could you just explain, because there's been
North Island Endurance, South Island Endurance. It's a combination. At
the end how does this entire series work? How does
it pull itself together?

Speaker 1 (02:17):
On?

Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, so the always we start the year in sort
of the winter months with the North Island Endurance Championship,
so that's three rounds in the North Island. So we
went to Taupo Motorsport Park first and then Hampton Downs
for the second round, and then Hampton Downs again but
in the international circuit layout for the third round, so
technically three different tracks, but two of them at the

(02:41):
same location. And then from there we sort of had
a couple of months break in between, and then now
that the sort of the end of September's rolled around,
we roll into the South Island Endurance Championship for three
rounds at starting here at Eumark Motorsport Park, Royalpoona here
in christ Church, and then we head to tear Atonga
Park down in the Cargo for the second round and

(03:03):
finish it off at Highlands Motorsport Park down in beautiful
Cromwell for the final round. So that makes up the
New Zealand and Durance Championship those six rounds and yeah,
basically whoever's the most consistent and yeah, the most enduring
through those six rounds is the comes out the New
Zealand in Durance Championship. At the end of it.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
You're involved in the three hour version. There's other versions
too over the weekend one hour class and there's a
few fields there. But let's talk about the three hours
that your cam paignting with a couple of other blokes
and you managed to pinch yourself Laborguinea orcan GT three.
What kind of ride is that that you've got made?

Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, it's a bit of a base the Raging Ball,
it's yeah, it's very very cool car, very fortunate in
a great team with the James Marshall Motorsport team and
yet driving driving alongside Hated Knighton and Kane Lawson. So
they are they're two really really really good experienced drivers
and been doing it a long time together and they

(04:04):
brought me in this year to sort of try and
try and increase and increase the temper but improve the
sort of the in part of the race. When being
in a three hour you can run a pro driver
and driver, so so I get in at the end
of the races as the effectively the pro driver to
try and try and boost us sort of towards the
end of the race. So yeah, the car has been

(04:26):
been really really good over the first three rounds. We've
got a bit unlucky with some stuff happening, but now
the boys are driving really really well and we're all
loving it and enjoying it. So that's always the always
the main thing in motorsport and sport altogether. You just
you know, first things first, you got to enjoy it.
So we've been having a great time and hopefully, you know,
this is being our home track and the boys have

(04:46):
done a lot of laps down here and got a
lot of experience, so I think we'll be hopefully in
for a good showing this weekend at Ripona, and then
we'll go to the other tracks after that were they've
got got a lot of experience as well. So no,
really looking forward to the series and hopefully we can
try and bring the mag and turbo car home on
the podium, it.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Would like to think. So so how good is the
competition though? When you look across the field, you're just
rubbing your eyes. I mean there's PUSHA ninety ninety two,
there's Mustang, there's some crazy Gulf GTI out there. What
else have you got? I think there's an R eight
from out of a couple of BMWs too. It's a
right Schmorgan's Board of race Cars, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, there's there's a fair fair kind of pretty sweet
rides out there. There's a lot of a lot of
money up and down the lane. Yeah. No, we've got
there be three three Lambaghini Hurricane Jedy threes this weekend.
Two out of R eight JD threes. Yeah, a bunch
of Porsches Push nine nine, two Jedy threes and nine ones.
There'll be Mark V eight Mustang in the three hours. Well,

(05:46):
so that car is going to be pretty pretty quick,
I'm sure, with a big big V eight under the hood.
So yeah, lots of GT style cars, lots of really
really cool cars that you know, not many people get
to see, and you know they're all European based cars,
so very very cool that we've got them here in
New Zealand. And if anyone's around this week and wants
to come out for a look round at one seven
Hasketts Road out at Rover Punter Raceway here in Christchurch.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
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