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HQ HOLDEN CHAMPIONS TO TEAM UP FOR B6HR
Two HQ Holden champions more used to racing side by side and bumping fenders, have decided to put all that behind them and team up together to chase honours in the inaugural Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour at Mount Panorama over Easter, at the 2016 Bathurst Motor Festival.Bathurst’s 34 year old Brett McFarland, the 2003 and ’04 NSW HQ champion, and the 2010 champion Peter Green Junior from Mount Annan in Sydney’s west, are clearly two of the hardest chargers to come though the HQ ranks and should be a formidable combination in the Easter event.The pair will drive a very well performed Subaru WRX Impreza, McFarland purchased specifically for the upcoming Hi-Tec Oils sponsored production touring car event at Bathurst.Both drivers have previous Bathurst experience, with McFarland having competed in HQ Holden support races at the 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour, and then he went in and finished the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour race in a an EF Ford Falcon Future Tourer with Amin Chada and Andrew Gillespie, while Green has raced on the iconic mountain circuit in HQ races on six occasions.The car will be in the B1 class for High Performance (Forced Induction), and it should be prepared faultlessly like every other car that has had the McFarland touch given to it from the families Alpha Street workshop.McFarland started what was a most successful career in karts 1993 as a 13 year old, when he won the country classic series (a Western NSW series) two years running, and finished second in a Premier State Cup Series.He finished fifth in the 1997 Australian titles and won the Tri-Star Series (a series between Dubbo, Grenfell and Orange clubs) two years running and also claimed a second place in the NSW State Titles.There was a big change of direction in his career in 1999 when he gave karts away and went rallying in a Mazda RX2, before making the switch to circuit racing in 2001 in the HQ Holdens.That bought him his two titles before taking a 6 year sabbatical from motorsport in 2007. A highly competitive person McFarland turned his attention to competing in triathlons and mountain bike racing, of which a highlight was finishing third in a 24hr mountain bike race as part of a team of four.The lure of the race track came to him again in 2013 when he joined the NSW Excel (Hyundai) Series, and duly won that series in 2015.”Took the opportunity to race the 6 hour as I’ve always wanted to run my own team, so the chance to do that at Bathurst was too good to pass up Hoping for a top 3 in class and a top 10 outright, but we’ll still be learning the car as it will only be our 2nd race in it,” McFarland said.”So looking forward to driving with Pete (Green). Have known and raced against him since the early HQ days, I know he can be fast and will look after the car Have kept the crew local with all the pit crew coming from Bathurst or orange with Junior being the only out off Towner in the team.The name Green has been synonymous with HQ racing since 2004, with Greens father Peter Green senior a driver along with Peter junior and his brothers Troy and Clinton, while Green seniors business Don Green Engineering has sponsored the entire family as well as the championship, and will be supporting the 6 hour entry.”Racing anything at Bathurst on this iconic race track is exciting , but being an enduro, well that’ll make it even better.For the 37 year old Green, who in 2014 finished runner up in the NSW Pulsar Championship after missing the opening round, he’s excited to be racing with McFarland, instead of against him.”I raced against Brett ten years ago, and it’ll be a pleasure to drive with him. The car was built for endurance racing, so I think we should go ok,” Green said. “With Brett and I having similar driving styles it should make us very consistent, so hopefully that will put us up front in class and give us the best possible outright position.The lead up to the race by the McFarland team shows just how serious they are of taking the 6 hours of Bathurst. Both drivers did extensive laps in the WRX on January 29/30, then last weekend it was extensively dyno-tuned.This weekend will be invaluable for the entire team as they compete in the Wakefield 300 at Wakefield Park in the WRX, and as this race requires driver changes and fuel stops it will be a dress rehearsal for the Bathurst race with the entire team involved.(Team Media Release)