NATIONAL EVENTS
Kiwi Mini owners gather for a weekend of fun in Tauranga
At Labour weekend, 25–27 October, Minis from throughout New Zealand converged on Hotel Armitage, Tauranga, for the 25th Mini Nationals, hosted by Tauranga Mini Owners Club, Inc. The car park had a wash bay set up specifically for Minis and plenty of owners took advantage of it to get their cars prepared for the Show and Shine.
Registration and socializing took place at the hotel on Friday night. This was also an opportunity to view Denny Hulme’s 1960 Mini, which was on loan from the Hulme family and on display in the hotel lobby. Minis taking part in Sunday’s Hillclimb were scrutineered at PF Automotive.
On Saturday morning 224 Minis entered into the Show and Shine, a record for the Nationals! The show was held at the
Cliff Road car park, only a block away from the hotel. The 10 classes had attracted all manner of Minis, ranging from the Mk1 Cooper S to daily-drivers, brand-new BMW Minis, and even very rare and special cars. The ever-popular Rocker Cover Racing featured again, providing lots of laughs with plenty of well-decorated rocker covers.
The Navigation Trial was held on Saturday afternoon. The format for this year was different to previous Nationals as it was organized as a ‘scatter run’: participants were given a map of the Tauranga area showing numbered locations and a list of clues. The goal was to obtain as many points as possible within two-and-a-half hours by visiting the various locations. GPS definitely helped!
Locations furthest away gained more points. All afternoon there were Minis heading in every direction, trying to obtain as many points as possible.
On Saturday night, the Mini 60th Birthday
Party was held for the car. It featured a very tricky Mini-knowledge quiz and an amazing Mini-shaped cake.
Sunday morning saw two different events. For the racers there was the aforementioned Hillclimb organized by Motorsport Bay of Plenty. The event wasn’t exclusive to Minis, but 22 Minis took part in classes dependent on their cc rating. A number were purposebuilt race cars. For the ones that didn’t race there was the Funkhana, a light-hearted competition involving a driver- and passengercompleted tasks that required driver skill, teamwork, and definitely a sense of humour! There were four tasks in total, which all looked a lot easier than they were.
On Sunday afternoon, the cars regrouped for a regional tour. As so many cars were taking part, the tour was split into two groups. Its traversed many great Mini roads and some of the landmarks for which the Tauranga area is famous. The day rounded out with a prize-giving dinner, which, as always, was a fun evening.
On Monday and Tuesday, after most participants had left, those remaining got opportunity for a couple of extra ‘stay in the Bay’ runs, taking in more of the region.
The 26th New Zealand Mini Nationals will be hosted by the Canterbury Mini Car Club in Christchurch on 23–26 October 2020.