Heather’s motorsport career spans many years and a variety of race cars from Formula Vee, Sports & GT cars, Formula Ford, Formula Atlantic (Pacific), 2.0 litre and V8 Touring Cars and American Transam cars.
Various levels of success have been achieved against competitive opposition and in most instances, against teams with substantially higher budgets and superior machinery. Heather competed in Formula Vee, Formula Ford & Sports Cars before graduating to the premier Formula Pacific (Atlantic) class in 1985. She proved to be a consistent & competitive driver in her older model cars regularly attracting high profile media exposure by way of results and self generated promotions.
Numerous class wins & podium places followed during her years competing in the Peter Jackson International Motor Racing Series in New Zealand with the highlight being a credible 6th place in a Ralt RT4/86 in the 1992 New Zealand Grand Prix.
In April 1989 Heather claimed the UIM Women’s Unlimited Hydroplane World Water Speed record earning the title as the World’s fastest woman on water.
In March 1990, Gina Campbell (England) successfully challenged the record with a speed of 234kph (146mph).
Heather was only weeks away from her new challenge at Lake Ruataniwha and on May 26 1990 she smashed Campbell’s record, raising it by nearly 40kph, to set another UIM Unlimited Hydroplane Woman’s World Water Speed Record of 271kph (169mph). Her record now stands in perpetuity as the UIM no longer recognises separate female records.
With sponsorship from the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer General Motors, under their product brand AC Delco, Heather received dedicated National television coverage via documentaries and news items, plus extensive radio and media exposure.
An invitation was accepted to drive for one of Australia’s top privateer Group A Touring Car teams, Car Trek Racing, in the 1990 Australian Endurance Championship. Driving a Holden Commodore VL Walkinshaw the team ran as high as 6th place at the Sandown 500 before engine problems saw them drop back to 10th. They achieved a credible 26th place in the gruelling Bathurst 1000 despite the car suffering extensive damage in a practice crash due to mechanical failure & persistent electrical problems during the race.
The same year Heather was awarded the New Zealand Commemoration Medal for her outstanding motorsport achievements and services to sport, on and off the circuits.
The 1991 New Years Honours list again saw Heather being recognised as a leading female role model in her competitive exploits in the male dominated world of motorsports. She was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire Medal (M.B.E.) for services to sport by the New Zealand Governer General, Dame Kath Tizard, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen.
A troubled season in Formula Pacific in 1992 saw Heather suffer continual mechanical failures with her leased Ford BDA engine. She eventually gave up on trying to hire better equipment and reverted back to her own old engine for the final event of the season – the New Zealand Grand Prix. Following an all night rebuild by Jamie Aislabie and Ian Spurle to make the engine as competitive as possible, Heather made the most of the new found reliability and went on to claim 6th place in the Grand Prix, her best race result in her now outdated Ralt RT4/86.
A break was taken from active competition to further her business career returning to the circuits in 1994 to compete in the newly established Peugeot Touring Car Series. After achieving regular podium finishes throughout the ten race series Heather was employed by Peugeot Concessionaires New Zealand (Peugeot importers) to head up their factory supported driving team for the following two years.
Through Peugeot Concessionaires New Zealand, Heather drove a Peugeot 306 XRdt to break the New Zealand outright diesel land speed record. This project, managed by motorsport promoter Brian Lawrence, culminated in securing both the flying mile (118.894mph) and flying kilometre (191.448kph) records in very adverse weather conditions. She also claimed a new flying mile sprint record (116.354mph) for the Peugeot 106 Club Sport on the same day.
An invitation to drive for one of New Zealand’s top Sports & GT teams, Lighting Direct Racing, saw Heather partner with multiple New Zealand Champion Owen Evans to compete for the prestigious Dan Peoples Memorial Trophy in the team’s lead car, a 1993 Porsche RSR. They took pole position & traded fastest lap’s on their way to the race win.
The same year Heather was invited to contest the 1995 Nurburgring 24 hour driving an Opel Astra Group N touring car. The team qualified 3rd in class against factory backed teams and raced as high as 47th out of 156, leading their class, before gearbox problems caused a lengthy pit stop. Their final placing was 10th in class and 67th overall.
The following season an invitation was received from the American based team of Bruce Jenner Racing for Heather to drive the team’s Rocketsports Chevrolet Camaro Transam for the final two rounds of the New Zealand Transam Championship. Their regular driver, American Chris Kneifel, had to return to the USA early and could only compete in 3 of the 5 rounds. Despite having never driven a Transam car and with minimal time to acclimatise herself, her debut exceeded everyone’s expectations netting a 4th, 5th and 4 x 6th placings from 6 races.
In July 1996 Heather returned to Europe to compete with Schirra Motoring in a 24hr Super Touring Car Challenge at Spa Franchorchamps in Belgium. Engine problems halted progress early in the race whilst placed 3rd in class.
Heather headed up the Peugeot Concessionaires driving team to challenge the New Zealand 12, 18 & 24hr diesel endurance records in a factory prepared Peugeot 306 XRdt at Manfeild Autocourse. The attempt was successful in establishing 3 New Zealand Diesel Endurance records and also exceeded the Outright National Endurance records at the same time thus being rewarded with a total of 6 National endurance records.
The 1999 / 2000 season saw Heather again step into the Bruce Jenner Racing Camaro for the final two rounds of the New Zealand Transam Championship. Heather impressed with excellent qualifying and race results claiming an 8th, 6th and 2 x 4th’s in 4 starts in a season which proved to be one the most competitive in the history of the class.
In 2000/01 Heather campaigned a Porsche 911 3.8 RSR in the New Zealand Super GT Championship achieving regular pole positions and podium finishes before she was hit by a lapped car causing significant damage and early finish to the season.
A move to Australia in 2001 curtailed Heather’s New Zealand racing activities, however she continued to pursue her driver coaching and training programs.
In February 2003 Heather and Martin Short, boss of the top British GT team Rollcentre Racing were in discussion to team up for the Bathurst 24 Hour race scheduled in November. Short had finished 3rd in the 2002 event and was keen to get Heather on board for the 2003 assault. Only weeks after that initial discussion Heather was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer and given a less than 25% chance of survival. Surgery followed with extensive chemotherapy & radiotherapy sessions over the next 6 months but despite the debilitating side effects Heather persevered with special diet’s & gruelliing training schedules in preparation for the daunting 24 hour event. In September, just days after her final radiotherapy treatment, Heather flew to England to test the V8 engined Mosler and stunned the team with her performance at Donnington Park.
Her tortuous training schedule whilst still recuperating from her illness saw Heathers tenacity at its best and come race weekend in November, Heather acquitted herself well and was actually given more driving duties than first planned due to her competitive pace. At the finish, the Rollcentre Racing Mosler placed 5th outright & 4th in class.
This was by far Heather’s toughest ever challenge but she showed her determination to succeed and earned yet another accolade with the highest ever placed finish for a woman at an International event at the world-renowned Bathurst circuit.
Heather again returned to compete at Bathurst in 2009 to lead an all girl team in the Bathurst 12 hour endurance event. Driving in a normally aspirated Subaru Impreza in the ‘micro hatch’ class for renowned Sydney based team, Jim Hunter Racing, the girls were told to ‘race it hard & bring it home’. They exceeded expectations netting a 2nd in class & 27th outright in a field of 47 cars.
Heather has worked in a variety of driver education, advanced driving and dedicated race schools throughout her career as well as providing driving and technical assistance to other teams. She has undertaken various public speaking engagements from Marque car clubs to Charity Dinners and Corporate events. She also regularly participates in charity ‘Drive a Dream’ and ‘Fast lap’ events whilst maintaining a very active involvement in both the competition and administrative levels of the sport.
Heather Spurle 