Classic race at the cutting edge
Some of the cars may be older but one of the young drivers is doing OK on the world stage.
The MG Classic Race Meeting has attracted a host of New Zealand’s top motor racing drivers to Manfeild over its 30 year history, including rising star Brendon Hartley, who has just made his Formula One debut at the US Grand Prix.
Organiser Ron Robertson says 27-year-old Hartley who grew up in Palmerston North, raced a single seat Formula Atlantic in the Formula Libra class at the event before graduating to the world stage.
‘‘All sorts of people have come and gone through this meeting so you do get a really wide variety of different people who start off in Formula Fords and go overseas.’’
The event, organised by the Wellington branch of the MG Car Club, has been held every year since 1986 and is the longest running classic race meeting in the country.
This year’s meeting which is being run over three days in November will offer races not just for the seriously competitive Formula 5000 group, but also for classic cars, historic single seaters, muscle cars, historic touring cars and New Zealand sports cars.
‘‘There is a huge variety of different styles of car,’’ Robertson says. ‘‘The classic cars are still the bread and butter of the event and they range from cars from the 1960s right through to modern day cars, so there is a place for almost any type of car you can think of to have a play.’’
That includes cars as different in nature as a 2012 Ferrari 458 Challenge and a Mark I Cortina.
The Ferrari, built for the Challenge series in Europe, will run in the all-comers group. If the weather is fine, race goers may be given the chance to bid for a lunch time ride in the prestige vehicle, Robertson says.
The Formula 5000 group return to the meeting this year, with more than a dozen drivers set to compete in the single seat race cars.
‘‘Formula 5000s are always a big crowd pleaser. They make lots and lots of noise. They are very competitive and they are very, very quick cars, with lap times of about 1:05 at Manfeild.’’
The muscle car class will offer plenty of entertainment too, as Camaros, Trans Ams and Mustangs line up on the grid.
‘‘This year we’ve got a 1970 Falcon which has a huge 5.8 litre engine, we’ve got a couple of Boss Mustangs, a couple of Camaros. People just love these things because they are big and loud.’’
Adding to the noise will be a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda which Robertson describes as an ‘‘aircraft carrier on wheels’’. The vehicle takes a fair bit of skill to pilot around the Manfeild circuit, he says.
In the classic races, there will be a diverse line up of vehicles ranging from older cars like a Jowett Javelin and a Humber 80 to relatively modern Japanese cars from the 1970s.
The meeting has also attracted a solid line up of touring cars, Robertson says, many from the South Island, including one from Invercargill. The saloons, which date from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, include Ford Sierra turbos and BMWs, with some of the cars having competed in the Wellington street races of the 1980s and 1990s.
The club hopes to have as many as 200 cars competing at the event, with 20 races expected to be held on the first day and 24 on the final day.
‘‘It’s a huge event. We probably run more races in the weekend than any other event in New Zealand, so it is a big deal for us.’’
The MG Classic will be held at Manfeild on November 10-12. Free public entry to practice sessions on the Friday and $20 for adult entry on the Saturday and Sunday. The Mustang Car Club will offer lunch time rides on the Sunday for a $5 donation. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Cancer Society and the KaraHands Charitable Trust.