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These 3 cortinas were in the car display near the pits
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Hi Nigel, Some fantastic shots there. We had some great races there and a great selection of cars. Any more still to come !!
Cheers
Some of mine are 1985... these were great meetings.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...cevicVolvo.jpg
This one's 1985 - who could forget the excitement of the Swedish Taxi in the hands of Michelle Delcourt?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Nissan5002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ssan500852.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...obil500861.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...overNiss85.jpg
Neat photos guys. I always liked that Jim Keogh 635. Was a nice looking car with the maroon and gold colours. I think that was an ex-JPS car from earlier in the '85 season.
The Sierra XR4Ti was an exciting car that never really lived up to the hype downunder. It was built and raced by Andy Rouse in the '85 BTCC, and actually won the BTCC in '85, despite having to miss the first race due to it not having been homologated. It was both quick and reliable in the BTCC, but neither in NZ. It took pole at the '86 Wellington Street Race, but was outpaced by Francevic in the Volvo and Brock in the Commodore, before it broke. Neville Crichton raced an XR4Ti in the early rounds of the '87 ATCC. was this the same car? Where is it now?
How about a video of the 1986 ETCC race at Donington showing many of the same cars
http://www.megavideo.com/?d=T7BZZIDI
note you will have to click the RED play button and then the GREEN play button
(I have all the rest of that season on video as well... Spa, BRNO, etc... sorry about the quality, bit pixellated but thats all I had at the time. Since then Ive got the actual VHS tape and could redo them better sometime.
Neat video Brett. 1986 was really the last great year of Group A. The manufacturer involvement was widespread, and there were teams from Rover, Ford, BMW, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes Benz, and Holden, and most of the cars were fairly evenly matched. But 1987 saw Ford step things up with the new Sierra Cosworth, then the RS500, and although the Eggenberger team were really the only ones to get both speed and reliability out of those cars in 87, by 1988 if you didn't have an RS500, you didn't have a shot at winning.
Nigel, do you have any photos of Commodore 15 (black) from Nissan Mobil Puke
Sorry Rod but I can't find one. I was shooting film then and had to make a couple of films last the whole day!!
That gold AC&B Commodore of Ray Smith and Denny Hulme was sold to Graeme Crosby in early 1986, and Croz raced it with some success in the '86 ATCC, finishing 7th in the championship. He picked up Bob Jane T-Mart sponsorship and the car was painted bright orange. It was found and restored some years ago and the owner chose the Croz guise over the AC&B guise, despite the former World Champion link which goes to show the popularity of the colourful Crosby in Aus.
I spoke to Croz a few months ago at his book launch about the Bob Jane sponsorship and was surprised to learn the package didn't include any money, only free tyres. Croz was happy with the arrangement though, but said he had to throw in the towel in early 1987, as it was just too expensive to compete.
Just loved doing the Nissan Moble races at Wellington and Puke. Brian Friend shared the driving with me in # 44 Corolla which was changed to te Pinepac Mustang a few years later. Was the start of many many long distant enduros for me....love and still do. Interesting little snippet here is Arman Aharn in one of the Chocolate Slab Rovers wanted me to "shunt" him back to the pits in Wellington. Ha I told him it would be great exposure for my sponsors but he would have been excluded for getting outside assistance. First met the Late and Great Tom Wilkinshaw and what a Jack the Lad he was....had a lot of good laughs with him. His co driver Win Percy was so helpful with tips for our Toyota as he has previously raced one......great pix. Kind Regards, Tony Rutherford.
there is a shot of the rear of a commodore ,with "IL CASINO" on the guard. This car has me a little stumped, any ideas as to who it is?
My first thoughts were the ex bowkett car but im not sure?
I always enjoy your stories Tony! You've certainly enjoyed a lot of racing over the years. When you say you and Brian Friend raced the #44 Corolla which changed to the Pinepac Mustang, did you and Brian race the second Pinepac Mustang at Wellington? Would this have been one of the two 1987 races?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jizim
Huh, yeah that one has me stumped too! My first thought would that it be John Billington. Billington is from Wellington, as is Il Casino. But it wouldn't be the Bowkett car as that was also competing in the Wellington and Puke races those same two weekends, still in Sleepyhead colours. But Billington did buy the Bowket Commodore later that year, so maybe this was an earlier Commodore he raced?Quote:
Originally Posted by rogered
I have some from Puke that may be of interest that appear to be the same year.
http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/q...nMilliganb.jpg
http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/q...weRichards.jpg
http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/q...ustang32sm.jpg
http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/q...ustang33-1.jpg
Who it is I don't know, but it would appear to an earlier '308' VK Commodore without the bootlid spoiler as opposed to the later '304' VK's otherwise pictured. Also noted the lack of roll cage support struts visible through rear door windows, perhaps an older 'NZ Touring Car' having a run in Group A?Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Looking again its on centrelock BBS wheels so unless its an Australian car it can only be Billington in the ex bowket car
However i dont recall it in that livery.
As bigbanger said, its an earlier '85 Commodore with no rear spoiler. The Bowkett car was in the same race at Wellington and Puke with its '86 upgrades. You can just make out the white Commodore about 2/3rds down the field at the first corner traffic jam here, next to the Alfa that nearly stalls. The centre lock BBS wheels were common on the '85 Group A Commodores also. Bowkett is in the same race and hits the bridge on lap one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA6VqI1-MVg
the missing cage bars are hard to understand, i agree HmmmmQuote:
Originally Posted by bigbanger
Tony, those are great photos!Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyG
In the video above, just after the 10 minute mark the car appears. Looks like the number on the door is #25 or #26. There are some race results somewhere on the www for this race, I'll try and find them and see who is racing this car.
The wheel is fairly blurry, you might be correct about them being centrelocks, I'm unsure myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by rogered
I suspect the rollcage supports are there, but perhaps following the internal rear roof line then down to the rear parcel shelf.
Often used to be done on more production type cars with rear seats still fitted, in order to avoid putting holes through the upholstery.
These are great photos Tony. Looks like they're from the January 1987 Puke races following the Wellington street race. I'm trying to figure out that Sierra XR4i. Is that the Eggenberger car Neville Crichton raced briefly in the early rounds of the '87 Australian Touring Car Championship? 1987 was the first year of the Sierra Cosworth (and RS500), so that car was super-ceded pretty much on its Australasian debut.
I wonder what happened to all the early Nissan Skylines that were built. As well as the two Peter Jackson works cars, there was the Baigent/Bowkett car above, and Kieran Wills had one built as well.
Tony Boyden from Dannevirke owns an old Trevor McLean Group A Commodore. I wonder if this is the same car as in the last post.
Hi Steve. To the best of my knowledge and memory, yes it was the car that Neville Crichton drove over here early on. I had a VHS tape here somewhere before I moved house recently with the early rounds on. I will see if I can find it.
I will see what I can find out this weekend at Lakeside as there are apparently 2 R31 Skylines entered in the Combined GpA/GpC events as well as 2 R32s. One of the R32s is Godzilla that was declared the winner of the rain effected Bathurst race, the other has red listed as its colour as well but I suspect it is the GIO car. The R31s are Furys car in the early Red/White/Blue and the other unknown as it is not in the list I have so far.
I will ask if they know what happened to the others as Baigent/Bowkett had 1 each racing over here as well as the Keiran Wills car at a couple of events.
Glenn Seton is driving one of the Pinepac Mustangs too so that will be good to see.
Thanks Tony. I'm not too knowledgable on the Skylines, but I think the cars pictured above are pre-R31 (R30?). These are the turbo 4 cylinder models that raced in 1986 and '87. Then in '88 the turbo 6 R31 arrived. As a race car, these were fantastic just for the noise they made, a real high pitched shreak, as opposed to the dull flat sound of the earlier 4 cylinder versions. There are a couple of R31s that have been racing with historic Group A for some years, and they sound just as good as I remember.
Re the Commodore, that is causing confussion, the Pope boy's had a white Commodore back then, may be them.
Rod, I just went and looked up the results based on the footage above. Car 26, the white Commodore was the Castle/Billington car. Here is a photo of it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8021817...7606882601980/