Bay Park first flung its gates open to the public in late 1967. Designed by local Lin McKenzie, it was a relatively basic design that worked well for the area in which it was situated, producing interesting racing, and full track visibility for the crowd. At just 2.14kms in length, it featured four corners, all of roughly 180 degrees, including a sweeper, hairpin, and two low/medium speed bends. A few months after opening, on December 30, 1967, Bay Park held their first major event, inviting top Australian touring car driver Norm Beechey across to compete against the best local machines in his wicked Chevy Nova. From that first event, the Bay Park promotions group, headed by Peter Hanna, made an effort to have at least one international team at their three major annual events, all held on long weekends or during the holiday season; Labour Weekend, Christmas, and Easter.
Despite being the newest purpose built facility in the country, Bay Park chose to run to their own agenda, and as a result, were largely snubbed by the establishment in New Zealand motorsport. Therefore, when the Tasman Series visited New Zealand each year, bringing with it some of the worlds top teams and drivers, Bay Park was left out in the cold. But Hanna and his team had other ideas. They figured the paying public were just as keen to watch big, noisy, ill-mannered sedan cars as they were to see nimble single seaters, and so focused their energies and budget on getting touring car teams across to their events.
The punt paid off. The Christmas event, with a ready crowd of holiday goers visiting the Mount Maunganui area over the holiday, became their centrepiece. Here they really stumped up, and usually had two or more international sedan teams across to take on the locals. At their 1970 Xmas event, they imported the big block Camaro’s of Terry Allan and Bryan Thomson, along with American Joe Chamberlain in his SCCA A Sedan/Trans-Am Camaro. Added to one of the best local line-ups, the event was so successful they had to shut the gates to the paying public early in the afternoon on race day, as the Bay Park facilities had reached maximum capacity.
The next year, Canadian born Australian based Allan Moffat was brought across with his very fast Kar-Kraft ’69 Mustang, as was Pete Geoghegan in his Mustang, and Brian Foley in his Alfa GTA, also from Australia, along with Ron Grable from the US in a 1969 Firebird. At the 1972 event, UK based Australian Frank Gardner appeared in a Camaro, Allan Moffat was back with his Mustang, and Pete Geoghegan also returned, now with his powerful Super Falcon, along with Joe Chamberlain, back again in another Camaro.
And as the lead-up to the 1973 Xmas event began, to be held on December 30, 1973, so excitement rose as to who had been signed. Obviously, first on their hit-list was Allan Moffat. From his first appearance on New Zealand soil, Moffat wowed the crowds with his forceful driving, and his winning mentality. The New Zealand motoring media didn’t care much for him, as he had no interest in catering to them, and gave them very little of his time. But he brought out the best in the Kiwi drivers, and raised the bar to new levels. Moffat had already won Bathurst three times, 1973 being the most recent, and he also won the 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship. For the Bay Park event, he’d again bring with him his beloved Kar-Kraft 1969 Mustang, with which he’d competed with in the ATCC since 1969. With the Confederation for Australian Motor Sports (CAMS) having drastically modified touring car regulations for the 1973 season, introducing Group C, and ditching Improved Production under which the Mustang had previously competed, Moffat’s Mustang was now forced to race as a Sports Sedan, where, despite being up against some quite radical machinery, was still immensely competitive.
The Bay Park team also signed up the young, up and coming Aussie driver Peter Brock. Brock was signed to the Holden Dealer Team in 1969, and won Bathurst for the first time in 1972. With Sports Sedan racing quickly rising to prominence in Australia during the early 1970s, the Holden Dealer Team built a rough and ready Repco V8 powered Torana, which was as quick as it was ugly. The Torana was nicknamed ‘Beast II’ by the team. Beast I was a similarly radical Rallycross car. Brock competed in selected Sports Sedan races in Beast II, and it was this car he’d race in New Zealand.
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