Chris Pither, born December 3, 1986 in Palmerston North

Palmerston North

Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...

, is a New Zealand racing driver. Pither started racing in his home country, coming up through the open wheeler ranks first through the evolved Formula Vee

Formula Vee

Formula Vee is a popular open wheel, single seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford or Formula BMW....

 class Formula First, then Formula Ford

Formula Ford

Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....

. After a couple of seasons racing in the one-make HQ Holden series, an impressive top five championship result in the inaugural Toyota Racing Series

Toyota Racing Series

The Toyota Racing Series is New Zealand's premier "open-wheeler" motorsport category. The Series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy...

 lead to a move to Australia and two seasons in the popular V8 Utes

V8 Utes

The V8 Ute Racing Series is an Australian motor racing series for utilities, derived from the Australian Production Car Championship. It was conceived in 2000 by PROCAR chief Ross Palmer and launched March 2001, as V8 Brute Utes, at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide...

 series. 2006 saw Pither join Brad Jones Racing

Brad Jones Racing

Brad Jones Racing is an Australian motor racing team centred around brothers Kim and Brad Jones and is based in Albury, New South Wales. Presently the team compete in the V8 Supercar Series, which they joined in 2000. Recently they have also returned to the Australian Formula Ford Championship...

s second tier Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series backed by his V8 Utes sponsor, Kanga Loaders. A sporadic 2007 campaign, switching teams mid season did not bring positive results but still managed to join tail-marking main-game V8 Supercars outfit Team Kiwi Racing

Team Kiwi Racing

Team Kiwi Racing was a V8 Supercar team that competed in the Australian V8 Supercar series. The team has since returned at much reduced scale, in New Zealand running in domestic one-make series racing...

 for four rounds during the 14 event season. After subbing for regular driver Kayne Scott

Kayne Scott

Kayne Scott started his motorsport career by competing in motocross at the age of 12. Scott is a five time New Zealand Trans-Am champion and won the 2005/06 New Zealand V8s series...

 at the Eastern Creek Raceway

Eastern Creek Raceway

Eastern Creek International Raceway is a motorsports circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek , New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sydney International Dragway. It was built and is owned by the New South Wales Government and is operated by the...

 round, led to a second round at Winton Motor Raceway

Winton Motor Raceway

Winton Motor Raceway is a Motor Racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia.-History:The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958. In 1960 it was decided to build the track at Winton Recreation Reserve and was completed in twelve months...

 although the results were not spectacular. The endurance races were particularly disappointing after an engine failure in practice saw TKR withdraw from the L&H 500

2008 L&H 500

The 2008 L&H 500 was the ninth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of the 12 to 14 September at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria. The L&H 500 saw the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit replace Sandown Raceway as the venue of the annual 500...

. Pither was involved in a major accident during practice for the Supercheap Auto 1000

2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000

The 2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was the twelfth running of the Australian 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997...

. Pither struck the stationary Paul Weel

Paul Weel

Paul Weel born 27 July 1979 in Geelong, Victoria, was an Australian V8 Supercar racing driver. He raced 12 seasons in V8 Supercars with a best finish of 3rd in Adelaide 2003. His best enduro finish was a 5th at the 2002 Queensland 500 and best Bathurst finish was 8th in 1999...

 in a heavy impact at Reid Park corner, causing heavy damage to both cars and hospitalising Weel. The Falcon was repaired to unexpectedly start the race, but was the race's first retirement. Pither has since parted from the team and he took a hiatusWe from racing in 2009.

Career results

Some results sourced from:

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1999/2000	New Zealand Formula First Championship	4th
2001	New Zealand Formula Ford Championship	12th
2003/04	New Zealand Formula Ford Championship	4th
2003	New Zealand HQ Holden Series	1st	Holden Kingswood Holden Kingswood The Holden Kingswood is a full-size car that was manufactured by General Motors-Holden's, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors , from the beginning of the HK series in 1968 through to the conclusion of the WB series in 1984...
2004	New Zealand HQ Holden Series	1st	Holden Kingswood
2004/05	Toyota Racing Series Toyota Racing Series The Toyota Racing Series is New Zealand's premier "open-wheeler" motorsport category. The Series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy...	5th	Tatuus-Toyota
2006	Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series	11th	Ford AU Falcon Ford AU Falcon The Ford AU Falcon and Fairmont are the first of the sixth generation series of the Ford Falcon, a full-size car produced by Ford Australia...	Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing is an Australian motor racing team centred around brothers Kim and Brad Jones and is based in Albury, New South Wales. Presently the team compete in the V8 Supercar Series, which they joined in 2000. Recently they have also returned to the Australian Formula Ford Championship...
2006 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series The 2006 V8 Supercar season was the 8th running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It began on 25 March 2006 in Adelaide and ended on 10 December at Phillip Island after 13 rounds.-Race Calendar:...	V8 Supercar Championship Series V8 Supercar V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...	61st	Holden VZ Commodore	Team Kiwi Racing Team Kiwi Racing Team Kiwi Racing was a V8 Supercar team that competed in the Australian V8 Supercar series. The team has since returned at much reduced scale, in New Zealand running in domestic one-make series racing...
2007	Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series	14th	Holden VZ Commodore Holden VY Commodore	Hobson Motorsport Greg Murphy Racing Greg Murphy Racing Greg Murphy Racing is a V8 Supercar team that is competing in the second-tier Australian V8 Supercar series, the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. The team have also had wild card entries into the V8 Supercar Championship Series endurance races, specifically the Phillip Island 500 and Bathurst 1000, in...
2008	V8 Supercar Championship Series	50th	Ford BF Falcon Ford BF Falcon The Ford BF Falcon was a full-size car that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in Victoria, Australia. The BF Falcon started production in October 2005 and a MkII update was released in October 2006...	Team Kiwi Racing Team Kiwi Racing Team Kiwi Racing was a V8 Supercar team that competed in the Australian V8 Supercar series. The team has since returned at much reduced scale, in New Zealand running in domestic one-make series racing...
2010	NZ V8 Ute Championship Series	1st	Ford Falcon XR8	Chris Pither Racing