Top cars, top event: 4 and Rotary
The organiser of the annual 4 and Rotary South Island champs has praised the calibre of South Island cars at the threeday event in Timaru.
‘‘It was good to see people out and about, the quality of the cars were amazing because people had that one extra year because of Covid-19 to make them of a really high standard,’’ organiser Azhar Bhamji said.
‘‘It really shows you the calibre of South Island cars.’’
Out of the numerous awards given out on Saturday night, Bhamji said it was good to see two feature cars win awards.
A Mazda RX2 from Nelson won multiple awards including the best Mazda, best paint, best interior and best overall RX.
Another highlight, Bhamji said, was Timaru-based Rapid Performance’s Nissan R34 GTR winning best Nissan and best R34.
Bhamji said a highlight event was the eight drifters giving people a good show on Saturday at the Southern Trust Events Centre.
Another crowd of several thousand people descended on Timaru’s Levels Raceway yesterday for a range of events, lablled the ‘‘ultimate track day’’.
The three-day championships, which started with a rotary and pre-2000’s events on Friday was followed by a show and shine on Saturday at the Southern Trust Events Centre and a Saturday night cruise.
Bhamji said 250-280 racers were registered for yesterday’s event.
‘‘The family cruise seems to be a big hit.’’
Drifting, roll racing, burnouts and a track day were other major parts of yesterday’s event and Bhamji said the idea for the track day was to get people off the streets to come and race in a safe environment.
‘‘The Saturday night cruise went really well. The police gave us good feedback and said there was no trouble. ‘‘All in all it’s been a good event...’’ Bhamji said the two-hour-long Saturday night cruise started at Caroline Bay and headed towards Pleasant Point and other areas before coming back into Timaru.
‘‘There were around 1500 cars in the cruise. It was well received with the communities as well.
‘‘It was nice to see families sitting outside to see the cruise.’’
Bhamji thanked local community, police, Venture Timaru, sponsors and partners for the support they have received over the weekend.
He added that more than $2500 had been raised for the mental health charity I Am Hope.
‘‘It’s a charity we are close to, and we understand mental health most of our audience and participants are young, so it’s nice to have an organisation concentrate on them.’’
Policewere approached for comment.