Latest news with #Kneale
Otago Daily Times
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
'It's fast, high adrenaline': South Island drifting champ's burning ambition
Drifter Sheldon Kneale at the recent Drift South Pro Series championship. PHOTO: SUPPLIED South Island drifting champion Sheldon Kneale has his sights on national success. The 30-year-old Ashburton driver won the recent Drift South Pro Series championship and is lining up for the New Zealand pro-sport series next year. He has come a long way from when he first started drifting more than 10 years ago. Thrill-seeking Kneale, a keen mountain biker and BMX rider in his youth, attended a drift school run via the Christchurch Car Club in his late teens. He ''loved it'', and likened drift battles, at speeds of up to 170km/h, to the thrill of downhill mountain biking, with the same adrenaline rush. ''You are constantly on the verge of crashing into other people but so in control that you don't crash,'' he said. ''It's fast, high adrenaline. There's heaps I like about it.'' After his first training session he attended every track event he could. There were competitions every three to four weeks, he said. Sheldon Kneale in the winner's circle. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Drivers get points for line, angle and style during drift events. The highest score out of 100 wins. 'It's the fastest growing motorsport in the world,'' he said. Kneale has been with the South Island-based Drift South Pro Series for the past seven seasons. During that time, he has won the championship twice - most recently at Easter and has multiple podium finishes. He said there was plenty of camaraderie in the drifting community, with drivers from all walks of life taking to the motorsport. ''Everyone is in the same mindset … I've got friends who do it as well,'' he said. They remained friends, even in battle. Kneale said he could not do what he did without the support of wife Emily, mother Donna and dad Jason who he described as ''his right-hand man'' at drift competitions. The young drifter, a carpenter by day, works alongside his dad, Jason, in the family business, Southern Traverse Homes. ''We're working together and playing together,'' Kneale said with a grin. He also has the support of many in the building industry who were backing his motorsport ability with sponsorship from Aotea Electrical, Welshy Contracting, Placemakers Ashburton, Roddick Plumbing, Mike Greer Homes Mid and South Canterbury and Johnson's Panel and Paint. Brother-in-law Nathan Lodwidge from Full Spectrum Fabrication was also on his side. He kitted out Kneale's Nissan Silvia S13 for competition, including fitting the roll cage, gearbox, suspension and engine mount. Kneale said he has had two vehicles since taking up the sport: A 180SX Nissan Silvia, which was written off after a collision during an event – which still irked him – and his currrent 1990s Nissan Silvia, which is older than him. He considered his current car better than the first, and used a standard 235mm road radial tyre, not the wider tyre such as a 265mm, as it benefited him long-term for the D1NZ Pro-Sport Series, limited to the narrower tyre. Kneale said every venue had their own track layout but events could include up to 30 laps with solo practice runs, then qualifying ranking battles between two drivers, followed by elimination battles. He could replace anywhere from 14 to 20 tyres per event, at a cost of about $100 each. He said he got a good deal on tyres from Tyre Owl in Christchurch. His favourite track was the A-track version 2, at Ruapuna Motorsport Park, but he was impressed by Highlands MotorSport Park in Cromwell which he recently visited.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Stink not only from tip, say landfill operators
The operators of the Fleetwood landfill site at the centre of thousands of complaints over stinking emissions have said the site played "only a small role" in the overall odour profile of the area. Transwaste announced last week it had commissioned an independent monitoring company to analyse the levels and sources of odours in and around the site. The company said the first results showed that odour levels were low at that time and appeared to originate from a number of sources. But campaigner Dr Barbara Kneale said: "There were no complaints before Transwaste reopened the landfill site. There have been thousands of complaints since – that tells you everything you need to know." Transwaste said results showed that during the week commencing 12 May, a total of 172 odour tests were carried out across key locations in Fleetwood. Out of these, 151 tests showed no detectable landfill-related odour, and only 21 detections were attributed to landfill or mixed sources - the majority of which were recorded in areas of low sensitivity, such as the landfill compound and its immediate surroundings. While 11 detections occurred in high-sensitivity locations - including Springfield Terrace, Cala Gran, Broadwater Entrance, and Browns Lane - the tests showed those events were intermittent, of low intensity, and influenced largely by prevailing wind conditions, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. The landfill operators said the findings supported the view that occasional landfill-related odours were now more localised and limited in impact. But Dr Kneale, a member of campaign group Action Against Jameson Road Landfill, said: "Transwaste are insulting our intelligence. "There is a real difference between the smell of sewage and the chemical, rotting eggs smell of the landfill. "People are having to put up with this vile odour – like someone throwing a huge stinkbomb in your garden – on a regular basis. "And it is affecting people's health and wellbeing. This site just needs to be closed down once and for all." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer. 'Stinky tip still making me very sick', says resident 'Rotten eggs' landfill site meets safety standards Landfill work has not stopped stink, residents say
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Elon Musk muses we're living in a computer simulation: Author
(NewsNation) — Does billionaire tech guru Elon Musk really believe we're living in a computer simulation? He's at least considering the possibility, says the author of a new biography on Musk, the right-hand man of President Trump who increasingly is in the world spotlight. 'I think it started out as a thought experiment and debate,' Dennis Kneale, author of the newly released 'The Leadership Genius of Elon Musk,' told 'NewsNation Prime' on Saturday. Elon Musk's father calls claims Elon made Nazi salute 'rubbish' 'Then he began to believe it more,' Kneale added. 'I think it's kind of being playful, but it also frees him to take huge risks that no other business executive would take. Because he thinks at some point, 'What the heck, this could all be a game, anyway.'' Kneale, former managing editor of Forbes, offered additional insights about Musk, including: Musk's desire to be universally loved, a goal that seems unrealistic given the pushback he's receiving as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency. 'You're guaranteed that half of the audience out there might bitterly resent you and dislike you, and that's happening. But I think he believes he can win them over and show them that he means well,' the author said. Musk's desire to bedevil his enemies. 'Tease your critics and torture your enemies,' Kneale said of Musk's philosophy. 'And man, he's having a ball right now.' Musk's strained relationship with his father, Errol. The two have not met since 2016, Kneale says. 'Their relationship still is not good. I can understand why the father is proud of him now, but I also understand how an absent father, a tough father, sometimes is far more motivating for someone than a father who is there for you all the time.' Elon Musk perched behind Trump's desk in new TIME Magazine cover Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
