Anglo Engineering is proud to be this year’s main sponsor for the New Zealand TQ Midget Championship, set to take place on February 14 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Waikaraka Park, Onehunga. TQ, short for “three quarter midget,” is dirt-track racing between small-but-mighty open-wheel cars. This year’s championship promises to deliver pulse-pounding action on the track over nine fast-paced heats, featuring some of the best drivers News Zealand has to offer. As the main sponsor of the event and a sponsor of one of the sport’s up-and-coming stars, Anglo Engineering is proud to power such a thrilling championship event. For Anglo’s general manager, John Forrest, speedway is in his blood.
“I’ve been involved with motor racing for most of my life,” he says. “My dad was a speedway competitor, and then I started doing speedway as a side car passenger around 1980.” After taking a hiatus to focus on his family (“Somebody told me racing was dangerous,” he laughs), John rejoined the circuit racing world, first as a mechanic, and then as a driver. He now owns OK Cup, a racing series for “normal production” cars, as well as racing in his own two-car team of Mazda MX5s. (John will take to the track himself in one of his MX5s on February 15 in the OK Cup series at Hampton Downs.) He also sponsors a handful of rising stars, like ministock racers Alexis and Freya Bolland, and 17-year-old midget driver James Macdonald.
“Throughout the world, motorsport relies on sponsorship or financial backing,” John says. “I’ve always been of the opinion that there are very good drivers out there who just do not have the financing to back themselves, and those people get lost in the system and can’t progress. James was 13 when I met him – I noticed he was very good, and I wanted to give him the opportunity. I’ve sponsored him all the way through his career in speedway up until last year, when we put him into a TQ. He won Rookie of the Year last year and a few other titles.”
As sponsorships go, the pairing of Anglo Engineering and speedway is a perfect fit. Anglo is a 63-year-old specialist component manufacturer that offers start-to-finish service and expertise, from world-class design to engineering, manufacturing, and assembly services. Operating out of their location on Rosebank Road, the team of 48 works on projects across a variety of industries, including construction, automotive, electrical, and government contracts. The business supports community initiatives that reflect its values of quality, service, and integrity, and it applies those same values to sponsoring speedway racers.
“A lot of people think that sponsorship is just giving money,” John says, “and it can be about giving a cash injection into the team. But for us, it’s about support that is going to last beyond the spending part of it.” For driver James Macdonald, that meant enclosing a car trailer for him to transport his vehicle more securely and comfortably, as well as building and installing specialty panels on his vehicle at half price, saving the young driver thousands. “We do things that actually help out. And we give them a little bit of cash as well.”
Hands-on involvement in the business – with a side of mentoring – is also part of the sponsorship deal for a driver like James. “Part of his deal was that he had to put in a couple of days work in the company so that he got to know what we do,” says John. James was given the opportunity to work in the welding bay, in the design office, and, most importantly, with the engineer doing the design package for his custom vehicle panels. “He got to see the panels being drawn up and help with that, and then he got to see it go out onto the laser and be cut and folded, ready to go to powder coat.”
This involvement isn’t purely for James’s benefit, although it clearly would be both memorable and educational. “He got to know what the team here is like,” John explains, “so when he wins races and stands up on the podium, he can tell people what we what we do from an educated point of view.”
John says that sponsorship, if done right, is a way for businesses to give back to the community – and get your name out there. “Companies need to look at what they can give back to the more junior people and help them become your salespeople, if you like,” he says. “For every person that you sponsor, you should be getting something back; you never know who they’re going to talk to or what leads it’s going to bring in. It’s a genuine case of the more you help people, the more they help you.”
The Anglo Engineering NZ TQ Midget Championship will be held on February 14 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Onehunga (rescheduled from its original January dates due to weather). For more information, visit aklspeedway.nz. To find out more about Anglo Engineering, visit anglo.co.nz.