NATIONAL EVENTS

By Steve Ritchie

The first of the two annual Thoroughbred and Classic Cars (TACCOC) races were held at Pukekohe Park on Sunday, 1 November. The card for this event included the Historic Formula Ford and Formula Junior, Classic Trials, Historic Muscle Cars and Saloon Cars (HMC/HSC), and European Race Classics (ERC). The weather was a little overcast but thankfully the rain held off.

The day started with practice and qualifying before racing got under way at 10.25am with the Historic Formula Ford and Sports Cars.

In the first race, Phil Foulkes, who was racing a ’78 Trident Palliser and starting on pole, had a clear run through the eight laps. He reached the chequered flag two seconds ahead of Peter Boel. He had to fight for the win in the second race though, with Gavin Aleksich trading places with him throughout the race. In the final race, Foulkes had to settle for second place, with Aleksich getting home first in his ’86 Mondiale M86S.

The ERC cars were once again made up of the faster cars sponsored by Arrow Wheels, and a slower group, which is sponsored by Auto Electrical Spares (AES). The first race was combined for both groups, which made for a grid of 25 cars of all sorts. For the record Tony Houston and the ‘modern’ ’97 Porsche Boxster won the show from Bryce Platt and Tony Vujnovich. Craig Howser in the mighty little 2.3-litre Escort won the first race for the Arrow Wheels cars, but only by a hair from Barry Hare — 0.008 seconds to be exact. Unfortunately, in the second race he wasn’t able to stay up front and gradually dropped down the order, while Bryce Platt in the ’87 Porsche 944 started in seventh place and worked his way through to win the race. Handicap racing always makes the last part of the race exciting to watch, especially when the officials get the handicap timing spot on. In the AES group Paul Chisholm came out the victor of the first race having started third, while the second race saw John Honore start in first and stay there throughout.

Historic Formula Junior racing was once the stepping stone to Formula 1. As such it’s revered around the world. Many of the group have taken their cars back around the globe, whether for demonstration runs at places such as Goodwood, or to compete in international historic racing events. The fastest car on the day at the TACCOC was Tony Olissoff’s Brabham BT21, winning two out of the three races without being challenged. The third race was not so easy. He had a poor first lap which put him down in seventh place,

before he worked his way back up to finish in second.

Classic Trials was held over three 15-minute sessions throughout the day and, as always, featured a good assortment of cars. Trials are a great way to get your car onto the track without the pressure of a racing environment. This was round two of the championship and trials race director Peter O’sullivan won the round in his MX-5.

One of the stand-out cars from the weekend was Craig Hyland’s ’74 Monaro, which was entered into the HMC/HSC. This TACCOC event was just the second time he has raced the car with a 447kw 350-cubic-inch Chev motor since it had been built. Hyland did extremely well to bank a winning place in the first race. The other two winners were Scott Sampson in a Ford Capri three-litre V6, and Dale Mathers in the ’69 Ford Mustang Boss 302. As always, racing was close among this group of cars, which are all built to period spec.

took in some of the most picturesque scenery and beautiful roads that Golden Bay has to offer. The return leg back to Nelson afforded me the chance to helm the deep-blue 124 CC Coupé owned by Nigel Oliver.

As for the show-and-shine awards, the Best 124 AC gong went to Rolleston’s Ken Parlane. Peter Bruce from Auckland took home the award for Best 124 BC. Nigel Oliver from Christchurch was awarded Best 124 CC, and the Best Spider award went to Neil Smith from Taupo. Other awards included Best Under the Bonnet, awarded to Nelson’s Gary Chapple, and Most Unique went to the rally special of Campbell Robertson.

However, it was Peter Bruce from Auckland’s car, a stunning yellow

124 BC that many will have spotted in a recent ASB Bank TV ad, which carted off the Best in Show accolade.

The next Fiat 124 Anniversario Riunione will take place in

New Plymouth in 2022.