Apparently, this track was in the running to host the first British GP but lost out to Silverstone.
Apparently, this track was in the running to host the first British GP but lost out to Silverstone.
Last edited by ERC; 01-21-2014 at 03:38 AM.
My first race meeting was the 1954 NZGP at Ardmore which I attended with my parents. I was 6 years old. All I can remember of that day is the shriek of the V16 BRM. Still have the programme - somewhere safe but I can't actually remember where!! No doubt it and several more from later GP's will turn up eventually.
Mount Maunganui street race. Was that summer of '63? If so I was 6. Sadly my only memory of the day is of a big green Zephy Mk111 - no chocolate fish for guessing who was driving that one - but it made me a fan of racing Fords for life. From there to Puke and a few years gathering up empty beer bottles at the end of the meet for Dad to cash in at the ABC next Monday for my pocket money
First race meeting was the 1990 NZ Grand Prix at Pukekohe, NZR bus to Auck then Puke outskirts, then a Police car to the circuit.
Pitched my tent in the infield pits underneath a tree, woke up the next morning surrounded by Mini's!
Got a ride home (and dinner!) on the Sunday night by Johnsy.
Remember seeing the Petch and Bagnall Sierras there, Denny having a chat to Radisich about tinted helmet visors, ans Jove Machelo was one of Graeme Lawrences drivers that year.
And Kenny won the Grand Prix...
It was either the '62 or '63 NZIGP at Puke (the year they had the works 250/4 Honda doing demo laps around the circuit) - turned me on to both car racing and multi-cylinder motorbikes. It might have been 1963.
I had a cousin who was an engine driver - he knew I liked trains, so, after a day spent in the cabs of various engines around the Auckland region, the next day, we went to the GP - it may have also have been by train - they used to run trains to the GP in those days. Got my license the week after I turned 15 (and got to drive a Lotus Elan a month after that), and didn't miss a meeting at Puke for 5 yrs! - an understanding father who was quite happy for me to take the family car and commute from Albany to Puke, with another mate who was also into car racing!
My first race meeting that I remember was the 1976 NZGP meet. I had not long turned 3. I have seen the pictures taken, but I only remember vaguely the images of colour. I remember specifically 3 events, first Sir Len Southwood driving the Indianapolis Stutz, he did laps with several notables, notably then Prime Minister Muldoon. Second, having my photo taken with my sister next to Miss Victorious. But most vivid in my memeory, not for its performance, but, as a 3 year old, because of the colours was Pat Crea's Cortina.
Wills 6 hour 1965. Mk 2 Jags to the fore. I would have been 7.
Things really hotted up with my first GP - January 1967. I've never fully recovered...
Going surfing at aged 16 early Dec 1969 at Port Waikato, and we stopped at Puke race track, top of the hill side of the road where you could see the whole track.
Try doing that now.
Never heard a V8 or seen a race car till then..
Heard the big bangers with open exhausts ,,,I was sold
First car I saw the Team Cambridge Monaro ., which I now own.-then Camaro, Mustang, Mustang ,Escort..
Life changing experience and never went surfing again.
Talk about buying the first car that I saw, glad it wasnt a Formula V...........
Last edited by John McKechnie; 01-21-2014 at 10:09 PM.
My first race meeting was the 1955 NZIGP where Prince Bira won the race in the Maserati 250F. We used to go up by bus from Hamilton and always viewed for College corner (first corner after the start) It was a great viewing site and we had plenty to see. Unfortunately I never had a camera then so no photos to look back at.
For all info on early motorsport try this website - it is a mine of information that I am always referring to
http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/nzmr.html
Cheers Mike
Well; I am so much younger than you guys, I remember seeing stuff in colour, not Black & White!!
Motorsport in general was Cemetery Circuit Wanganui (without the H back then) about 1970....and cars was Manfield about 1973or 4 and the F5000's of Lawerence and a Tasmanian dude racing side by side lap after lap. Super exciting as they were passing each other as they went into Dunlop
Renwick Road Races 1961,just joined the RNZAF as a boy entrant at Woodbourne,was a hot day and still remember the hot tar smell,bits of hay bales floating around,loose gravel spitting off the race car tyres and the sounds of course.....i was hooked forever after that .We lived in Auckland then and I used to plea with my father to go to Ardmore but he would not go because of all the traffic !!!
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.
Last edited by rf84; 01-21-2014 at 09:26 PM.
Don't despair! If you still have those photos they would be considered very arty! May well actually look good from a different aspect??Originally Posted by rf84
I love this! rf84, you had me in tears of laughter!
We travelled to the Gamston meeting (pic below) and I remember the journey so well. Dad drove this, the company vehicle (we didn't own a car), and I sat in the back with two others, on those old folding wooden chairs.
Looking at the state of the van in the pic, it is no wonder that an MoT/Wof was introduced. The pic was taken outside the Mundella Works - the then HQ of the Tempest photography empire. Most schoolkids in the UK in the 50's would probably have had a Tempest school pic.
This was my only race meeting until Mallory Park in 1956 as apart from Silverstone, there weren't too many race tracks within travelling distance, especially if you had to rely on public transport.
Last edited by ERC; 01-21-2014 at 10:21 PM.
Teretonga International, ~ 59/60?, I remember it was the short track minus elbow, with my uncle who had a 56 Bel Air Chev. One thing that really stood out was the 2-1/2 hours to get from car park by the hairpin out onto the bridge at the end of the day- about 1 mile. That was with 2 lanes of traffic virtually all the way to Invercargill, not good if you lived out Teretonga way and wanted to get home! Never seen crowds like that since, perhaps Motorsport needs to go back to haybales, open face helmets, tee-shirts & dog collars for safety equipment, seriously...no.. but it has gone overkill with one size fits all.
dog collars for safety equipment
Who is supposed the wear the dog collar then Jack ?
Still think that safety belts are more safer than a dog collar, or did you have them in the black Imp?
My Monaro had a sign on it *Beware Dog*, should that be enough for some cars then?
Last edited by John McKechnie; 01-21-2014 at 10:31 PM.
Dog Collars John, the leather strap variety, early alternative to the 'hood' pins that seem to fail, even last weekend. ' Must ' be FIA legal as Bruce McLarens Ford GT used several to hold the rear clip in place at Le Mans.
Seat belts, jury is out on them, been in 4 rollovers myself, two without belts which would have been ugly if the belt was worn & the two with belts, one which wouldnt have hurt at 10mph in a blizzard, the other, I dont know. Some of the crap I get asked to fix should have had a sign * I am a dog, drive me & I might bite!*.
In spite of the photo I did have belts on in the Imp, without them I might have been tempted to bail out when the brake pedal hit the floor about 200 meters before ' that ' pic.
I can't remember when exactly, but Jim Richards was running the big Sports Sedan XB(?) Falcon at Pukekohe.
I still have one of the post cards he was handing out on the day somewhere...
B&H at Pukekohe in 1972 - loved the Fiat 125Ts. Then practice day for the 1973 GP - can only remember the F5000s at the new chicane. Then a visit to Wigram for the 1974 GP.
Your post #15 above Jac Mac reminds me of Teretonga 1976. I was mechanicking for Bryan Blackberry on the "Frist" Escort. The plod squad were tiring of drunkards at the event and warned everyone that they intended searching every vehicle entering the circuit for alcohol. They were true to their word to the extent that traffic was banked up from the circuit all the way back to Invercargill. Many fans never got to the motor racing that day. We were assured by the local Watties rep in Invercargill that we would get ample drink ("Frist was a division of the Watties group). At the conclusion of the racing we were told to go to the back of their delivery truck. There was a solid wall of soft drink cartons except for one small gap. A head appeared and we were helped inside. Once inside the entire area was empty except for a small area up front behind the cab. Behind another wall of soft drink cartons there was a cleverly hidden 'bar'. Afraid that the authorities might get suspicious with all the guests coming and going to the circuit's toilets they even concealed a camp toilet!
Last edited by rf84; 01-22-2014 at 03:24 AM.
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