KEY POINTS:
A man is dead and a well-known race car builder in hospital after a $150,000 sports car hit a power pole on the outskirts of New Plymouth yesterday.
The identity of the dead man has not been released but the car was believed to have been driven by New Plymouth race car builder and speedway driver Murray Gordge who was injured.
He recently imported the high powered C6 Corvette, the Taranaki Daily News reported.
The car smashed into a concrete power pole, flipped and came to rest in the driveway of a house on upper Frankley Rd, Hurworth, 8km south of New Plymouth, about 5.15pm.
The car, still with its dealer plates, hit the power pole with such force it was ripped from the ground and snapped in two.
Power was cut to around 2000 New Plymouth houses after the crash and took two hours to restore.
Sergeant Michael Aro, of New Plymouth police, said the serious crash unit would be at the scene this morning.
Mr Gordge is well known throughout New Zealand for designing and racing modifieds - dirt track vehicles recognisable by their oversized roof-mounted aerofoils.
During his 20 years of driving race cars, Mr Gordge won the modified New Zealand Grand Prix title four times and was a six-time national champion.
- NZPA
