LEVIN MOTOR RACING TRIBUTE DAY
The sound of racing engines will be heard across the historic Levin racetrack venue for the first time in decades on Saturday, January 8, 2022. Perhaps not up to the volume of the great days when Levin hosted a round of the fabled Tasman Series through the 1960s, but it will evoke vivid memories of those thrilling annual meetings nevertheless. As part of a Levin Motor Racing Tribute Day, Levin Car Club will stage a Bryan Faloon Memorial motorkhana on part of the old circuit site, inside the still-existing horse racecourse on Mako Mako Road.
January 8 marks 50 years to the day since Levin’s only nationally ranked racing driver, Bryan Faloon, was killed in a collision with Graeme Lawrence during the New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe in 1972. Faloon will be further honoured with a display of photographs and memorabilia at the nearby Horowhenua Vintage Car Club Rooms on Tiro Tiro Road. Included in the collection will be the fully restored Ford Anglia 105E that Faloon raced in Allcomers saloon events during the first three years of his career in the mid-’60s. The Bryan Faloon Memorial Trophy, for many years awarded to the first New Zealand driver home in the annual Manfeild International, has also been recovered for visitors to admire.
A second Levin motor racing identity will also be honoured on the day – Ron Frost. He was the creative force behind Levin racetrack to complement the major temporary circuits at Ardmore and Wigram. Ron was a car dealer in the town, with the agency for Rootes Group models, and also raced Coopers through the 1950s before rising to be the country’s top promoter and administrator. He was primarily responsible for the stellar cast of Grand Prix drivers, including every world champion from 1959 to 1971, being contracted to race in New Zealand every January. A plaque honouring Ron will be unveiled by his widow Suzy and placed in the pavement in front of his old Frost Motors premises on Oxford Street. There will also be a photographic memorial to Ron’s career at the Vintage Car Club Rooms, along with a Cooper 500 of the type in which he challenged the traditional front-engined single-seaters as the rear-mounted engine revolution began to take hold in New Zealand through the 1950s.
The Tribute Day will be open to the public to attend for a small cash entrance fee (midday until 5pm), and the organisers welcome anyone who was associated with the 20-year history of the Levin track to turn up and enjoy an amble along memory lane. Guest speakers will include Graeme Lawrence, Suzy Frost and veteran motorsport scribe Donn Anderson.
The day will be completed with a dinner in the evening, with a limited number of tickets available.