After a lean year in 2012, New Zealand professional racing car driver Brendon Hartley is starting to carve out a name for himself in sports car racing.

The company that tied itself to "football, meat pies and kangaroos" is facing the real prospect of eventual extinction as its American owners do the maths on the Australian car industry.

The New Zealand Transport Agency plans to phase in a 12-month warrant of fitness from October, nine months earlier than originally planned.