The first race meeting I attended was....

[rf84]

Exactly the same as Michael Clark! Went to the Wills 3 Hour and 6 Hour in 1965. I was 15 years old and travelled from Hastings to Puke in an old Commer "mini van" with about 10 other members of our slot car club. My parents were very dubious about letting a 15 year old go away to Auckland for a weekend with a bunch of speed freaks they did not know. Don't know if they were more scared of me getting "lead astray" by the company or the bright lights of the "Big City"!
First GP was also same as Michael-'67 GP at Puke. Went with my elder brother who lived in Auckland. My most enduring memories?
The hordes of over heated cars littering the Southern Motorway. Car cooling systems were not what they are today and the traffic was bumper-to-bumper most of the way (about 2 and a half hours from the city to Puke). Over heated cars were parked on the edges of the motorway, on the median strips and (occasionally) on the motorway itself.
The potato salad my sister-in-law included with our packed lunch. For a lad from the provinces this stuff was very radical after the usual fare of lettuce and Marmite sandwiches and a taste (excuse the pun) of the gastronomic delights of the great metropolis.
Sneaking into the pits without paying. For my brother (who was employed in the security industry) this involved an hour or more of studying the possibilities and sussing out the 'weak' spots. Once in we were able to rub shoulders with all the famous drivers and get close enough to the cars to touch them. Thought we were in heaven.
F---ing up photos of the Lycoming Special. I was obsessed with that car. Even had Lycoming decals on my school bag. When I saw it in the flesh I was so excited I used up a whole roll of film on it. Decided that was not enough so took another lot. Only trouble was in my excitement I had put the exposed film back in the camera so when they were developed a week later I had 16 pictures of the Lycoming on 8 photos. Think I cried in the chemist shop.