The V8 SuperTourers and New Zealand V8 Touring Cars will line up side by side this weekend for the first time since '12, in a race that could "foreshadow the merger of both competitions," according to Shaun Eade of STUFF. Dwindling driver numbers have "plagued both racing series over the past year," so having more than 25 cars line up on the starting grid of the United V8 Spectacular at Pukekohe Park Raceway will be a "welcome sign for Kiwi motorsport fans." NZ V8 Touring Cars Dir Ian Booth said the races "will be the first of many where the TLX series and the SuperTourers compete together." Booth: "After this meeting onwards we are merging the groups together. From the 2015-16 season onwards, the SuperTourers and TLX groups will be together and the TLs will be what we will call a development series." While the "exact format of the combined series was not yet known, Booth believed the first race of the 2015/16 competition" would be in November. It is a "positive sign" for NZ Motorsport after the SuperTourers "looked to be in trouble." Rounds five and six of the competition in Timaru and Christchurch were both canceled "due to a lack of competitors." A spokesperson for United V8 Spectacular promoters KDH said it took "six weeks of negotiating" to get both organizations to line up on the starting grid side by side. The spokesperson said, "The parties have joined forces and they are looking forward to the offseason in the winter to work out how they are going to combine in the long term" (STUFF, 4/8).
