Rodin Sintura : Legend reborn at the World Time Attack Challenge

The Sintura S99 was a grand tourer style race car designed to meet GT1 regulations. Originally funded by motorsport figure Richard Austin (with “Sintura” being an anagram of “R. Austin”), the S99 became infamous for meeting GT1 regulations through creative means, such as fitting the race car with registration plates and road tires.

The car debuted in the 1999 British Championship with drivers Richard Dean and Kurt Luby. The season’s highlight was a win at Silverstone, outperforming factory Listers, McLaren F1 GTRs, and Porsche GT1s. The S99 also competed in the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca, securing seventh place. Despite a promising design, financial constraints and regulatory changes led to the end of the S99’s racing career by 1999.

Enter the Rodin Sintura

The S99’s journey took a turn in 2002 when David Dicker, entrepreneur, and founder of Rodin Cars, discovered it while in the market for an ex-F1. At the time unaware of its vibrant yet brief racing history, David saw the potential and had it shipped to Rodin Cars, his emerging manufacturing facility in New Zealand. Now with the 25th anniversary of the S99 approaching, Rodin Cars saw an opportunity to revive the legendary Sintura and honor its racing legacy.

In less than a year the Sintura has been reworked from the ground up, as a vehicle to showcase the company’s new 4L V10 engine and innovative manufacturing capabilities. With the purchase of the S99 came a spare chassis and bodywork moulds which have been used for the new build, however under the shell the project features all new bespoke components designed and manufactured in-house at Rodin Cars.

“Our only restriction was to maintain the original geometry. The new setup features our 4L V10 engine and bespoke FZED gearbox with paddle shifts, improving the cars drivability compared to the original mechanical sequential gearbox” explains David.

Emma Duncan, Rodin Cars General Manager, highlights the dedicated and challenges overcome by the Rodin team to reach this point.

“We’ve had hurdles – quite a few to be fair! But that’s the nature of motorsport and pushing boundaries. We’re building a car virtually from scratch, with our own engine and bespoke components, so of course, it will have its challenges,” says Duncan.

The Rodin Sintura is a high-performance track car designed for private and exhibition motorsport events. It balances classic aesthetics with modern performance – appealing to vintage motorsport enthusiasts who seek improved driveability delivered through cutting edge technology.

Rodin Cars is a high-tech, high-performance car constructor developing the ultimate track cars for the world’s most serious drivers and racers. The vision was cast in 2006 when David Dicker purchased the 550-hectare Wandle Downs Station in the quiet foothills of Mt Lyford, with an ideal road frontage perfectly suited to building a world-class testing and manufacturing facility.

World Time Attack Challenge 2024: Across the Ditch

Initially unplanned, David Dicker and Rodin Cars decided to enter the Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge 2024, inspired by the team’s enthusiasm for the event and his brother Rod Pobestek’s past success with the RP968 Porsche. The Rodin Sintura meets WTAC’s Pro Class regulations and is eligible for competition.

David acknowledges the challenges in rapidly preparing the car for WTAC but is proud of what his team has produced and looks forward to seeing it compete at the event.

“It’s been a hard push to get the car ready in time, and in all honesty, it’s still in testing mode. It’s likely we’ll have some challenges pop up at WTAC. Our goal is to unveil the reworked Sintura to the world, enjoy the competition, and entertain the crowd. And who knows—potentially we’ll return in 2025 with something faster!” says Dicker.

Configured for WTAC the Sintura features 650HP and 530Nm available from Rodin Cars’ RC-TEN 4-litre naturally aspirated V10 engine. Revving to 10,500rpm, the sound has been described as bone-shattering and ear-splitting. To solidify that the British-born Sintura now calls NZ home, tuning and instrumentation is managed by Kiwi-made Link ECU units.

Modifications have been made to keep the Rodin compliant to WTAC regulations, notably now running 11-inch wheels at all four corners rather than the usual 11/13-inch staggered setup on the upcoming production version. The nimble 900kg beast will be running Yokohama A005 slicks to ensure grip is not left to be desired around the corners of Sydney Motorsport Park.

Taking the wheel at the Work Time Attack Challenge is Josh Buchan, an Australian driver with years of experience with the celebrated event, as well as on the Sydney Motorsport track. Buchan is the 2023 TCR Champion with Hyundai and featured heavily at WTAC 2023 as a commentator and a driver in demonstration runs in the IONIQ 5N. Josh attended his first motorsport event at WTAC 2014, as a volunteer camera runner. He returned in 2017 driving a McLaren 720S in a parade lap. Josh has successfully competed in various open-wheel series as well as racing GT4 with McLaren and now as a preferred test driver for some WTAC teams.

The Rodin FZED will also make an appearance over the race weekend with demonstration sessions, combining with the Sintura to showcase Rodin Cars’ engineering prowess and dedication to pushing automotive performance boundaries. So, what are you doing August 30th and 31st – Join Rodin Cars at the World Time Attack Challenge to witness the remarkable return of the legendary Sintura, support the kiwi spirit of innovation and enjoy the thrill of high octane competition.