ACTION PACKED SKOPE 2024
Skope 2024 marked 33 years of support for the first round of the southern classic racing series at the newly named Euromarque Motorsport Park, Ruapuna, in Christchurch. All four seasons greeted some 250 competitors on Saturday and thankfully it was a lot drier on Sunday.
Skope was the final race for the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup revival series before the big cars headed across the ditch to Phillip Island. Dunedin’s Steve Ross won at Taupo but mechanical gremlins saw him sidelined on Sunday. It was Blenheim’s Michael Hey who accumulated enough points to be presented by Amanda Mclaren with the Bert Hawthorne trophy.
Harold Heasley Saloons provided some great races, Marvin Turton having a great result on Sunday with his chopped Mini followed home by Grant Richardson in his Ford Escort and a quick Luke Richardson in an MGB GT. This race saw four DNFS, Piers Mingham and Wayne Perkins were battling hard when a slight misjudgement put the pair into the gravel. Despite organisers fears of entry numbers being down, 28 cars arrived at the park for this meeting.
Mainland Muscle Cars add to any spectacle and a pleased Sandra Eden in her Holden Torana received the Sir Robertson Stewart trophy for win in the last race of the day. Murray Maxwell Vintage cars had their last race postponed on Saturday with the bonus of three races on Sunday in better weather. Drivers of the older VCC cars with more open cockpits welcomed the postponement after their soaking on Saturday. Ron Silvester is a name synonymous with some great early days of Canterbury motor racing. A really mixed field of saloons, this one, from ’38 Chevrolets to ’80 BMWS and Porsches. Despite the weather the crowds came out and this Skope meeting was one of the best.
Look for a full roundup of the Southern Classic series in July/august issue of New Zealand Classic Car.