READERS’ WRITES
On the wind-down lap of the last race of the day for Classic Saloons over 2501cc, flag marshals left their safety posts to applaud the pair as they cruised past. Brendan had tried everything he could in a really close-fought race, waiting for Stewart to make a mistake.
“That was a pretty good one, wasn’t it?” Brendan says.
Brendan bought Big Red in late 2006, and it was some time before he could get it accepted for CMC. “I raced in the classic series in the South Island for the first two years while I was trying to get accepted into Central Muscle Cars. The car was technically illegal with its aluminium 540ci [8849cc] big block, but the club decided to accept it under their grandfather clause,” Brendan explains.
Brendan remembers the second trip to Australia for its aftermath as much as the racing: “I will never forget the time all 24 cars arrived back from Bathurst into the Port of Tauranga, and everyone was on alert for when the cars were ready to unload and pick up. I’d flown into Auckland and driven down the day before we were scheduled to unload.”
On their arrival, they were told there was a big hold-up, and everybody was told not to go to the port, as customs and the paperwork were nowhere near ready.
Already in Tauranga, Brendan and a friend had nothing to do but wait. Then the port authorities got hold of CMC officials and said that their staff would unload the cars and drive them into the MAF inspection building to be checked and cleaned if necessary, which put the cat among the pigeons.
As most owners were hours away, the organizing committee put in an SOS call to Brendan, asking if he could go to the port and oversee the unloading.
“We arrived just before the wharfies were about to start up and shift out the first race car. Thank God we intervened. Race engines need special care on start-up, and they can be damaged very easily,” he says.
One disaster avoided, but as they pushed the first car onto the hoist, the MAF inspector arrived. He wasn’t in a great mood.
Brendan recalls, “When I realized he was trying to find any little bit of dirt on the underneath of the cars, which would earn MAF a $250 cleaning fee, I intervened. He let me get a vacuum cleaner, and I started ‘luxing’ under and inside the cars. I’m sure the dirt inside the cars was probably already New Zealand dirt.”
After pushing and cleaning 24 cars, they were worn out, but he celebrated the fact no cars had needed a MAF cleaning.
“The worst was Paul Clarke’s Mustang that had half of Conrod Straight’s grass under the car due to a blown radiator hose and Paul being courteous, not leaking fluid on the track. I can’t imagine the damage that could have been done if we weren’t there, but all in all it went smoothly,” Brendan says.