Labour Weekend and Bay Park

[Michael Clark]

I'm not the only TRSer who has fond memories of Bay Park at Labour weekend. Some of my fond memories actually took place at the race track...

I'm thinking 40 years ago this weekend - Jim McKeown/Porsche 911...

[Grant Sprague]

Michael has any one got a program of the first weekend [of racing] at bay park , I heard a wee story about a few south islanders the entered ... & ventured.... I was always going to ask if any one had the history of this ........lots of us had so much fun there plus with Pete in his closing years & bay park ...Grant

[Rod Grimwood]

Michael has any one got a program of the first weekend [of racing] at bay park , I heard a wee story about a few south islanders the entered ... & ventured.... I was always going to ask if any one had the history of this ........lots of us had so much fun there plus with Pete in his closing years & bay park ...Grant

So right about labour weekend at BP. It was usually the first round of the season for most class's and would be good to have some history from this week end shared. remember one important thing being after Saturday practice gathering around with Jim Short to listen to the horse race (Cox Plate) from Aussie, and then why he was not on pole, both a gamble. They were great weekends, sometimes with a big marquee in the middle for all the boys to stay in fully set up with bbq and bar. Arrive Friday, set up and do quick couple laps, then sort out marquee (sort chilly bins etc). Saturday practice, Sunday races and then gathering at marquee and off home Monday. Great weekends.
As the song goes 'those were the days my friend'

[Oldfart]

I am very surprised that any of you guys can remember what happened at Labour Weekend. From what I saw you looked at most of it through a brown coloured bit of glass, at least towards the end of the day!

[Steve Holmes]

Just for you Michael. From the Allan Cameron Collection.

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[John McKechnie]

Michael has any one got a program of the first weekend [of racing] at bay park , I heard a wee story about a few south islanders the entered ... & ventured.... I was always going to ask if any one had the history of this ........lots of us had so much fun there plus with Pete in his closing years & bay park ...Grant

Grant- I have the Motorman mag covering that meeting. , no program though. Russ may have one.
Can give you names and cars if you want.

[Grant Sprague]

Cool John ......... I re call the words .. of a Red Jag towing a trailer with a
red bread Van Anglia on it ... both cars were raced. the Jag in a production race .... must do more research ... was apparently a very good weekend........ I think this was the opening of Bay Park Thanks mate ........ Grant

[Michael Clark]

Was I right with 1973 Steve? Either 72 or 73 there was Mal Ramsey with the 5AD City State Kingswood. I think I'd go for that in 72 and the McKeown 911 in 73 - somewhere I'll have some programmes.

Frank Gardner's Corvair and Ron Harrop's EH were the featured visitor's 'saloons' at Labour weekend 76 - that I know for certain...

[John McKechnie]

Grant-
Motorman January 1968-
Bay Park opening Dec 3 1967 was intended to be a rerun of the cancelled Nov 18 meeting .No mention at all over visitors from the south.
No production race, no mention of red bread van Anglia or Jag.
Murray Lucas had a fuel injected Anglia. Jim Richards 1300 Anglia.
Maybe a later meeting Grant?
Wait-
In Pit Chatter-
Competitors had come from many parts of the country-Jim Kennedy came all the way from Greymouth.

[Grant Sprague]

John you might be correct [well you are according to that] must have been the open first year ........ I did go to Puke opener about 10 yrs old [mk3] & manfeild about 72 when they raced pacers etc about 18 ys old Ernie made a couple comments to pop me in to a pacer ... after the GTX series .. but didn't happen ended up ticking up XU1 & did super cars ......... all fun......... & ...................................I got those years wrong by two lol was the other way around ..... Thanks guys

[Jeff]

Hi guys , I have some silent 16mm film ( roughly transferred to dvd at the moment ) of Baypark on Labour weekend 1976.
My dad was a keen cameraman and we used to set our transit van up on the back straight and stand on the reinforced roof dad had made. Brilliant views !.
The film includes footage of Steve Emson in the lovely black Eastern Tools car and the lovely Frist orange juice Mk1 Escort ( was that Allan Woolf ? ) and the visiting cars were Frank Gardner in the Corvair and Ron Harrop in the EH Holden sports sedan.
Jack Nazer was in Miss Victorious and Red Dawson and Art McKee in Monza's.
Bill Leckie was in the Sleepyhead Capri.
Although it's fairly rough and un-edited footage I will have the film professionally transferred soon and anyone wanting a copy ( sorry it's silent film ) is more than welcome.
Great memories indeed and regards to all

[Grant Sprague]

Thanks Jeff, Im sure you might be able to get that on this site not 100% sure , Steve E I think would like to see his old car in action , he can be contacted here also, not that the car gave him a lot of joy as he mentioned .
Bay Park had a special calling as a teen , loved the place on odd visit from the cold south at about that time .....thanks grant

[Rod Grimwood]

Jeff, Brian Blackberry is the Frist man

[Murray Maunder]

Hi guys , I have some silent 16mm film ( roughly transferred to dvd at the moment ) of Baypark on Labour weekend 1976.
My dad was a keen cameraman and we used to set our transit van up on the back straight and stand on the reinforced roof dad had made. Brilliant views !.
The film includes footage of Steve Emson in the lovely black Eastern Tools car and the lovely Frist orange juice Mk1 Escort ( was that Allan Woolf ? ) and the visiting cars were Frank Gardner in the Corvair and Ron Harrop in the EH Holden sports sedan.
Jack Nazer was in Miss Victorious and Red Dawson and Art McKee in Monza's.
Bill Leckie was in the Sleepyhead Capri.
Although it's fairly rough and un-edited footage I will have the film professionally transferred soon and anyone wanting a copy ( sorry it's silent film ) is more than welcome.
Great memories indeed and regards to all

Gee Jeff that sounds great, keep us posted.

[Jeff]

Many thanks Rod ! Lovely looking little car

[Jizim]

I just loved the 12/15 years of competing on Bay Park. Every Labour weekend then every New Years and then every Queens birthday. Met life long friends.....met some lovely ladies whom used to volunteer their services to make sandwiches etc.....Lean't that a "home built" car with a warrant of fitness and rego could take on the best Euro racing Porsche thingie and win.....Miss this track so much...it represented "holiday time" to me....Some of the best damn times of my entire life giving or taking a few gems along the way in my never ending Adventure. I have video footage of a lot of SSA races along with every programme I was ever entered in........still in as new condition. This may be my last entry on this site this year so here's to a Merry and Safe Christmas to all you Roaring Seasoners. Come say hi in 2014 at a Safety Car near you. Kindest personal regards, Tony Rutherford.

[Jeff]

Enjoy this short , bad quality silent film of Bay Park - Labour weekend '76


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbNlB3S7aQY

[seaqnmac27]

Wow what wonderful footage, shame it does not have sound. I stand to be corrected but 3 TRS members in the footage? Bob Homewood in the Corolla briefly, Steve Emson in the Datsun and George Sheweiry briefly in his GTHO in the 0-6000 in race 2. Apart from the generally known cars, the red white and blue Escort Lance Newton, the red Mazda RX3 is Ron Kendall and the slowing Capri just after the start of race 1 of the big bangers was Brett Bullivant losing the first of 2 gearboxes.

[stirlingmac]

This footage is absolute gold....thanks so much for uploading it...

[Spgeti]

I just loved the pit action in particular the Coppertone Alfa....thanks for uploading it.

[Grant Ellwood]

Wow what wonderful footage, shame it does not have sound. I stand to be corrected but 3 TRS members in the footage? Bob Homewood in the Corolla briefly, Steve Emson in the Datsun and George Sheweiry briefly in his GTHO in the 0-6000 in race 2. Apart from the generally known cars, the red white and blue Escort Lance Newton, the red Mazda RX3 is Ron Kendall and the slowing Capri just after the start of race 1 of the big bangers was Brett Bullivant losing the first of 2 gearboxes.

The Lance Newton Escort - think that car had a turbocharged Holden 6, is it (and Lance) still around?

[John McKechnie]

The yellow HB Viva- is that the one that the Adrian Dobbe still runs now?

[seaqnmac27]

Yes, that is Warwick Gray with the 3.3L Holden engined Viva, the same that is in the Newton Escort.

[Steve Holmes]

Enjoy this short , bad quality silent film of Bay Park - Labour weekend '76


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbNlB3S7aQY

Wow, I am floored! This is amazing Jeff, thanks so much for taking the time to upload it and post it here. It never ceases to amaze me the gems that keep coming out of the woodwork.

[spinner32]

Does anyone know how to contact Adrian Dobbe? My mate and I are soon going to restore the ex Findlay/ Hasard/ Grindley et al RX3 coupe. The RX3 must have been looked after by Warwick Grey (it has his business name on the front guards) and we need a set of RX3 flares. The Viva seems to run such flares, and I was wondering if Adrian had the moulds. Thanks. Pete

[John McKechnie]

Hi Pete- will pm the address

[seaqnmac27]

At 2.39 there is also Warren Steels Datsun engined Imp.

[Steve Emson]

Excellent!
Must be a 0-4200cc race the ETC B110 coupe is in. I am not sure why I would have run it in that race.
Great period film, good times and a fun time of my life. I never minded Baypark as a circuit, however it wasn't my favorite. I don't think it was a drivers track, but more a horsepower one. It was always like a holiday being there however, sand, beaches, surf and more sand everywhere. I wonder how many engine rebuilds were required from poor or inefficient air cleaners, (Or none at all).

What do you think?:D

[seaqnmac27]

Steve the report gives you 2 3rds in the 0-4200 heats and 2 1st in the 0-1300 class, it also suggests you were experience severe handling issues due to some of the lines and angles you were taking.

[Steve Emson]

Steve the report gives you 2 3rds in the 0-4200 heats and 2 1st in the 0-1300 class, it also suggests you were experience severe handling issues due to some of the lines and angles you were taking.

Severe Handling issues, was just me. We never changed the car once we got it honking, however it would always oversteer if you got on the throttle during cornering. I liked a nervous car. They seem to be quick if you don't mind putting in the wheel work. If you had been sitting next to me in that car you would see that there was a lot going on. We were putting on second hand formula pacific tyres also, which possibly did not help.

[Allan]

Did I see cigarette advertising in that wonderful clip? How can this be? It (the images of cigarette brands) must be removed at once.
I often wonder where sports like motor racing would be now if cigarette advertising was still allowed. I am sure that the "smokefree" thing did not pay out anywhere near what the tobacco companies did. And yet booze can be advertised until you are too drunk to notice.

[Grant Sprague]

I Dont think Bay Park will ever leave our minds til the day we leave lol, even now we [my family] straddle around the back way of bay park to a beautiful beach call Omanu , actually 3 times in the last 5 weeks...... The back straight would be a stones throw away hypothetically,......... Steve E yep the sand was a biggy I was so aware of good air cleaners , some choose not to , could never work that out ??. Also Taupo when running down there I noticed some competitors had no air cleaners . pumice is the death sand down there...often they [we] might go into the sand trap and get a engine full of sand , & manfield a guts full of water , I wud say why not air cleaners after building such a beautiful engine ........Off the track a bit ..

[Jeff]

Found this photo recently - I think it's Bay Park in '76
Who had the AMCO mini 7 ?

23464

[Jeff]

Old startline pic of Bay Park

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[GD66]

Good stuff ! Check the CROWD !!

[seaqnmac27]

Found this photo recently - I think it's Bay Park in '76
Who had the AMCO mini 7 ?

23464

Jeff, its probably not THE Amco Mini, rather the Mini 7 series was sponsored by Amco.

Actually having a look at the MotorAction covering Labour Weekend Bay Park 76, I will suggest it may be Cheryl Parnell in one of the Unipart Minis.

[seaqnmac27]

or maybe not

[Les Laidlaw]

At 2.39 there is also Warren Steels Datsun engined Imp.

That was the first race meeting I went to, I remember Warren building the imp, probably what got me interested in motorsport.
Years later I ended up with that imp shell and was in the process of rebuilding it and putting a rotary in the back...... never finished it as I packed up and moved to Oz

[Jeff]

Do you know what happened to the Imp after you moved Les ?
That would be an interesting find
That was the first race meeting I went to, I remember Warren building the imp, probably what got me interested in motorsport.
Years later I ended up with that imp shell and was in the process of rebuilding it and putting a rotary in the back...... never finished it as I packed up and moved to Oz