DORITO RIOT

2019 REUNION

From humble beginnings only a few years ago, the 2019 running of REunion showed that the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park–based event has cemented itself as number one in the rotary world. Smashing all previous attendance numbers with a sold-out 405 rotaries on Saturday, we’re pretty confident that that makes it the biggest rotary-only track event on the planet. With entrant numbers like that, it was reminiscent of what you’d consider the golden era of the rotary scene, but, then again, perhaps we’re still living that era. Each year, the bar has been raised in terms of the quality of vehicles in attendance, and this year marked the debut of plenty of standouts — from the rebuilt ‘Madmax’ 26B Turbo FD to Andrew Dremler’s 522kW 20B RX-3, Michael Barker’s 20B peripheral-port (PP) RX-2, Steve Ellicott’s 808 wagon, and even an S-Cargo with a 12A thrown in just for the event.

The complete polar opposite to last year’s event weatherwise — we’d describe 2018 as nothing more than a drowned rat — 2019 was on point, and that made for a much better vibe all round, something that was not lost on organizer Guy Maxwell: “The vibe was amazing all weekend, especially the respect everyone had for each other, the venue, and our crew. It was near perfect for me. We didn’t have a single crash, and only two oil drops all weekend.” Who says rotaries are unreliable?

So, what is it that makes this event just so damn popular? With three days of heavy track time, cruise sessions, race sessions, drags and burnouts, for most attendees who we talked to, the running theme seemed to be that, at RE, they can actually use their car to its full potential. Most show up with a few sets for the rear, at least 100 litres of juice, and a very heavy right foot. All without any bullsh*t; just rota heads by the hundreds.

With so much to cover and only so many pages to fit it all in, we have decided to keep these words brief so we can cram more photos in of all the action. With the dates booked in already for 11–13 February 2020, the countdown is on for next year, and we’re sure many people are already figuring out how to top the standouts from 2019.

“REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER, IF IT’S YOUR FIRST TIME, OR YOU HIT RE BACK-TO-BACK, THIS EVENT DOES HAVE YOU FEELING LIKE THE PROVERBIAL KID IN A CANDY STORE. RE WAS THE TRENDSETTER AND HAS NOW CEMENTED ITSELF AS THE PINNACLE EVENT FOR ROTARY ENTHUSIASTS” GEOFF MUGGERIDGE, WHAKATANE

“I LOOK FORWARD TO THIS EVENT ALL YEAR, AND IT DELIVERS THE GOODS EVERY TIME. WHAT AN EPIC WEEKEND” ANDREW PULFORD, WELLINGTON

“THIS IS MY FOURTH RE STRAIGHT, BUT THIS YEAR TAKES THE CAKE. I’VE NEVER SEEN SO MANY SICK ’TANGS GOING HARD ON THEIR GEAR, BUT ALL THE NA [NATURALLY ASPIRATED] STRAIGHT PIPES — BRO, NAH I LIKE MY HEARING, AYE” JUSTIN BROWN, AUCKLAND

“REUNION IS AN EVENT IN MY CALENDAR THAT I WILL NEVER MISS. RAIN OR SHINE, IT BRINGS A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF ENTHUSIASTS AND FAMILIES TOGETHER FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE FOR THE LOVE OF THE PULSE. EVERYONE NEEDS TO COME AT LEAST ONCE” SHAUN WILLIAMS, WELLINGTON

ROBBIE LONGLEY IS A MAN WHO’S NOT AFRAID TO BEAT THE SH*T OUT OF HIS 20B PP 808. BUILT BY GREEN BROTHERS RACING, THE 20B PP RUNS EFI HARDWARE THROTTLE BODIES AND IS BACKED BY A TREMEC TKO 600. RECENTLY THE WAGON HAS TAKEN A LIKING TO PUTTING ON A BIG FLAME SHOW MID SKID AND DIDN’T DISAPPOINT THIS TIME AROUND, TAKING OUT THE NA BURNOUTS FOR ITS EFFORTS WHO SAYS STEVE ELLICOTT’S LOROTA 808 IS TOO NICE TO SKID NOW? CERTINALY NOT STEVE, WHO TOOK OUT A TON OF AWARDS INCLUDING BEST BURNOUT

ALTHOUGH NOT QUITE COMPLETED ENOUGH TO BE A RUNNER, WE’RE LOVING THE DIRECTION THAT SEAN FROM KUNE RE HAS TAKEN WITH HIS 626 PROJECT, INCLUDING THE HANDMADE STEEL FLARES. CHECK OUT THE FULL BUILD ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY YES, THAT IS AN S-CARGO AND, YES, IT’S POWERED BY A ROTARY! BUILT AS A BIT OF A JOKE BY EVELEIGH MOTORSPORT AND DIRTY DEED INDUSTRIES, THE NISSAN WAS SAVED FROM A SCRAP PILE AND NOW RUNS A 12A TALLPORT AND SOME CRAZY FABRICATION TO GET IT ALL WORKING

BEST RX-2 WENT TO THE 20B PP SERIES 2 RX-2 SEDAN OF MICHAEL BARKER. ROCKING CUSTOM 18-INCH ROTIFORMS, THIS WAS THE FIRST OUTING FOR THE STUNNING BUILD, AND WE’LL TAKE A CLOSER LOOK ONCE IT’S COMPLETED

ALL HAIL THE KING! JULIAN OGDEN TOOK OUT THE HONOURS THIS YEAR WITH HIS HARD-CHARGING RX-3 COUPE. THE WAY JULIAN IS ABLE TO DRIFT THE COUPE DEFIES ALL WE KNOW ABOUT THE SPORT, AND HE WOULD PROBABLY DO PRETTY WELL IF HE ENTERED D1

TIM JOHNSON’S ‘BADWAG’ IS ONE TOUGH SKID HACK. THE 13B TURBO 323 — WEARING THE CHARRED REMAINS FROM LAST TIME IT HIT THE PAD AND DAMN NEAR MELTED — WAS UP TO ITS OLD TRICKS, PUTTING ON YET ANOTHER FLAME SHOW