Built by Wizards - Raced by madmen is what we have coined to describe sports sedan racing in Australia, these cars are works of art, engineering magic and sheer terror. 600 plus HP, V8 engines sitting next to a driver, protected by thin aluminium, massive carbon wings desperately trying to keep these machines on the track...built in sheds and race factories, built by passionate back yard mechanics and engineering genius's, from 15 grand to over a quarter of a million. No other class has such freedoms, such diversity.



Ran Maclurkin is entering this, with excitement, fear, trepidation and sheer determination, brought up on racing, this Melbourne artist has racing in his veins. After a near fatal motorcycle accident in 2011, breaking his back and neck. After 2 years of recovery watch as he attempts to understand what is envolved to race these cars, to build them. Through his experiences we will take you into the sports sedan class. Not only will we put cameras in his car, but also cars through the field. We will visit guys working on the dirt in the backyard all the way to professional race teams, all striving to win, to develop, to go faster.

Over 6 rounds the 2014 series will be fought out concluding at the Phillip Island 50k plate, that past series champion Dean Camm has been trying to win for the past 15 years.



Built by wizards - Raced by Madmen will be a doco/ series. With regular episodes posted on Vimeo and youtube. Updates on our blog and fb page and at the end of it all, once the dust has settles we will release a dvd and downloadable doco covering the entire year....


A link to the Vimeo channel....
https://vimeo.com/channels/builtbywizards

I was brought up on car racing, its my earliest memory. Thats me at Winton Raceway at 8 months old.

At 7 years old i was taken around Baskerville Raceway in Tasmainia in my old mans 302 V8 powered TVR, it blew my mind. My childhood was all racing, i simply had not idea, that everyones dads didnt race.....

My life has taken me many different directions, some amazing, some terrible. But as i clock over into that next era of life..turning 41 i am entering back into the lifestyle that shaped me as a person, motor racing.

And ive chosen the most explosive, expressive and fastest category. Sports Sedans.


The wild, winged Sports Sedans are Motor racing's most modified machines. Under broad rules the category promotes freedom of expression as a legitimate means to an end - and that end is on track performance, lot's of it. At some tracks the Sports Sedan lap record is 2 seconds lower than the V8 Supercar lap record. A full field of National Championship Sports Sedans is indeed an exciting spectacle from the very moment they arrive on the track. The flared fenders, huge wheels and tyres, low front spoilers and large rear wings make these cars stand out as exciting purpose built racing sedans. Presently the leading cars boast around 650 horsepower, over 500 ft pounds of torque and weigh in at around 1000 - 1100 kilograms.
So what car will Ran be tackling this crazy class in.....a 180sx....yes...i know.....but keep in mind this car on the track will owe less than 20 grand, considerably less than the top running cars, and Ran believes this car is great to get started in, and has a great deal of development scope. They have great weight distribution, and a plentiful supply of after market parts. So handling will be Rans first priority, and finishing races. The plan is to run the SR20det for 2014, and re evaluate at years end, whether to LS1 V8, or maybe even Rb25. With a full Rocket Bunny kit, GT wing, Carbon diffusers all round she will look the goods.....even if further down the field...haha

The funds will be used to buy gopro cameras, storage disks, hard drives, mounts, and help cover travel expenses and alike. To shoot it and edit, we are using our own equipment, we may upgrade if required as our imac is getting a little long in the tooth...but rest assured if we raise the coin, we are doing this.... If the macpro pledge is taken that will allow us to edit and update on the road also. We just want to expose you to this loud insane sport and class. We are setting goal low as we want to do this, but obviously the more we can raise the better we can do...

Risks...well Ran is going to race in a class that goes as quickly as a V8 supercar.....so thats always a risk..... besides working hard, as we do anyway, we see no other risks. Time management obviously will be an issue with racing and filming, but thats where Corey comes in, and we have a few other friends with camera experience that are going to help out also.