The Suzuki Swift Sport Cup was a one-make racing series in New Zealand. The series was made up of Suzuki Swift's sourced through Winger Motor Group in Hamilton, New Zealand. The series was designed to be an inexpensive way for young drivers to get into tin-top racing. Built on the standard production Suzuki Swift Super 1600 with class rules set by MotorSport New Zealand, the cars were race-modified to set specifications to ensure even competition.
Previous championship winners The championship first started in 2007/08, when the championship ran alongside the New Zealand Production Championship. In 2009/10, the series became its on championship running separate races from the Production Championship.
In the series' short history, there had only ever been one two-time winner; Cody McMaster in 2007/08 and 2008/09.
Year Champion Second Third 2007/08 Cody McMaster Brock Barrie Mark Whyte 2008/09 Cody McMaster Will Bamber Ben Dallas 2009/10 Will Bamber Ben Dallas Scott Harrison 2010/11 Dane Fisher AJ Lauder Mike Turley 2011/12 AJ Lauder Chris Cox Mark Gibson 2013 Shaun Lawrence Josh Drysdale Sam Barry
Suzuki Swift Sport Cup graduates Drivers that started on the National Circuit in the Swift Series include: First year Driver Last year Current Class 2008/09 Will Bamber 2009/10 V8SuperTourer Co-Driver 2008/09 Richard Moore 2008/09 V8SuperTourer Driver 2009/10 Scott Harrison 2009/10 V8SuperTourer Co-Driver 2009/10 Sam Robinson 2009/10 South Island Endurance Championship 2009/10 AJ Lauder 2011/12 New Zealand V8s 2010/11 Mark Gibson 2011/12 V8 Challenge Cup 2010/11 Brad Lauder 2011/12 New Zealand V8s 2010/11 Simon Evans 2011/12 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy
V8SuperTourer Support Category In 2013, the championship will move from supporting the New Zealand V8s in the summer, to supporting the V8SuperTourer series in a year-long series. This is to support the development of the young drivers and increase the opportunity for young drivers to reach the top level of motorsport in New Zealand. Drivers who graduate the Swift Cup, can now step into the V8 Challenge Cup to develop their V8 skills before stepping into the V8SuperTourer. Former Swift Cup driver Mark Gibson is currently following this path.
The deal with V8SuperTourer will see the Suzuki's not running on Dunlop tyres for the first time in the series history. They will be changing over to Hankook tyres.
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