Just A Mix Of Pics - Ray Green Collection

[Milan Fistonic]

Ray...John McK was doing some Bathurst Revival at home today........new seat covers for a HG Monaro GTS 350, same owner since 1973.
In the late 60s , early 70s, He was filling Hot Rod Mag, Auto news with Bathurst Monaro raves under title.-
"Flink thinks that Ford stinks"

Flinko really loves his Holdens so he won't like being reminded about this entry in the 1975 Maramarua Rally.

[John McKechnie]

Milan, a most excellent find.
The Flinkmeister also remembers being in front of the Coppins Firebird for 4 laps in a Handicap race in 1973 with the same Escort 1300.
He went to HD on Saturday and caught up with Jim Richards...they worked together at Jerry Claytons till Jim went to McMillan Ford.
We were going through my old mags finding his windup comments.
He has fond memories of his little Ford, no matter how much he thrashed it it wouldnt die.
Family motto..."Think Fink"
btw...talking about Maramarua Rally, would you have the program of the previous year- 1974 ? I had my Mini Cooper S in it

[Milan Fistonic]

Milan, a most excellent find.
The Flinkmeister also remembers being in front of the Coppins Firebird for 4 laps in a Handicap race in 1973 with the same Escort 1300.
He went to HD on Saturday and caught up with Jim Richards...they worked together at Jerry Claytons till Jim went to McMillan Ford.
We were going through my old mags finding his windup comments.
He has fond memories of his little Ford, no matter how much he thrashed it it wouldnt die.
Family motto..."Think Fink"
btw...talking about Maramarua Rally, would you have the program of the previous year- 1974 ? I had my Mini Cooper S in it

This is the entry list for the 1974 Maramarua Rally. You are there at number 112 and I'm there co-driving for Mike Boyle in the ex-Peter Levet Hillman Imp at 89.

[John McKechnie]

John Hudson #106.,Mark Parson #73, Howard Collier #66, Gary Pedersen #60, Donald Webster #116, Quentin #31, Brian Tasker..........man these are memories of hill climbs, club gymkanas etc
Look at those names, everyone was there that day, and what a wet one...do you remember the big pile up in the mud on the first big right hander?
I was rapt just to finish...and drive home.
Will tell you the story of the bull trying to attack my car at Taupo.
Thanks Milan, heres my smile for the day !!!!!!!!!

[Peter M]

Have come back from the Bathurst Revival weekend at HD. I strongly feel more emphasis could have been put on the Kiwi drivers who have competed there over the years. On the friday and saturday I was at the McLaren heritage, I helped them get nearly 40 Kiwis who have raced there. The 1st Kiwi who was on the podium was Jim Palmer in 1968 driving a Holden Dealer Racing team HK Monaro Jim and his Aussie co driver were 2nd, the 1st year Holden won the race. We all know about Jim Richards and Rod Coppins brilliant race in 1974 getting 3rd. Only once has an all Kiwi driver combination won the race that was in 1999 when Greg Murphy and Steven Richards did it.
The only Kiwi drivers focused was Jim and Steven Richards and Paul Radisich, there was something missing with Greg Murphy not being there on the weekend ( I heard he had had a mountain bike accident recently and is on crutches )
The historic touring cars were enjoyable racing, the Central muscle cars always put on a good show with a
large no on the grid.
I question them being at an Historic meeting,the HMC would be more at home there.
My thoughts to keep these events thriving the promoters should talk to the fans as well as drivers, there appears to be getting fewer people attending every year.
My suggestions for future themes, Ford is a marque that is long overdue,a single drivers from the 60s and 70s concentrating collectively on Kiwi drivers also saloon car drivers of the same era.
also British cars (BMC ,Jaguar Rootes and Triumph)
It was good chatting to Jim Richards and John Bowe.
The meeting had a few dissapointments but I do not regret going to it , am eager to get to Taupo this weekend.

[Kiwiboss]

The only thing I can think of Ray is that with Mr Quinns vast wealth he doesn't care, its like his own "personal event" his "play toy" and if that's the case he would have considered it perfect...............same with his Hampton 101........infact I'm sure there were more spectators at last years 101(or Hampton 500)? it also seems to me he has some influence over Central Muscle as they seem to be his favored and promoted group, it's almost as if this event was for them? that been said I did immensely enjoy there racing. Been a V8 fan those cars sounded awesome at 9-grand coming up the front straight.........

So, maybe he's making money in other arenas we don't understand, he didn't get wealthy by been stupid, their Saturday night legends dinner was $175 per person and was sold out with over 300 attending(so I got told) and easy calculation, but I'm sure the Aussie legends would have come at some cost?

Maybe this is future of how NZ motorsport will be? get rid of the poor people like myself and only deal with the rich? like I said he's not stupid.

Agree Dale. I can't see the point in promoting an event and not really delivering. Add ERC to the above list who were not really overly happy with 2017. Remember we had a full 46 car grid (with 7 reserves!) in 2015.

Having promoted several events over the years, I'd far rather attract plenty of paying drivers and turn a profit without advertising or relying on spectator income, than paying for advertising and not delivering a good event - and running at a loss. Like it or lump it, the days of guaranteed solid paying spectators and huge crowds are way gone for most meetings. Clashing with other summer events is always on the cards (men's tennis final Saturday).

I know the early Festivals lost a lot of money, but I can't see how this one would have made money either.

Neither Hampton Downs nor Taupo offers decent covered spectator facilities with an escape from the sun or the rain, so better to make access cheap and get the money in from the drivers.

It was pretty warm at the weekend and I was more than happy to leave midday having bagged enough photographs to give me plenty to add to my collection.

Had I been running it, I would have had any grid with less than 30 cars on the National track rather than scattered around the extended track, well away from spectators. A promoted meeting has to put spectator considerations high on the list. A non-paying spectator event or club event, drivers always come first as they are paying. Simple enough I would have thought.

The GT meeting back in October was another fizzer with just 11 cars starting on the Sunday for the feature event. Both events have been propped up by the Central Muscle Cars. That is both car premium events failing to deliver and merely shows that the TACCOC and HRC organising teams outperformed the current full time team - and they both understand what makes a good meeting.

Looking forward now to a day out at Leadfoot early February.

[ERC]

To sum up and move on, even with Jim Barclay and his team chasing people from all over the world, dealing with maybe thousands of emails throughout the year, apart from the first (McLaren) meeting, some grids were still too small to be attractive, but at least there were always enough grids to make a viable meeting.

Last year's meeting showed a totally different attitude to competitors that didn't go down well at all and the backlash for 2018 was obvious back then.

TQ made his money by sheer hard work and spotting gaps in the pet food market and it paid off for him. Being a success in any type of business does not automatically mean that success will follow when diversifying.

Tony Roberts and Chris Watson came from different backgrounds from TQ, but have always had a great rapport with the drivers - particularly so in 'our' sector. Both were TACCOC committee members along with the late Geoff Manning and their breakaway to form HRC carried over some similar attitudes towards drivers.

We backed HD from well before day 1 and when we signed up for our apartment, our solicitor asked just one question; "Do you trust these two guys?"

Every regular racer will know that the TACCOC committee developed a lot of expertise from running huge events such as the Wings and Wheels at Whenuapai which attracted a massive field and more to the point, massive crowds. Only the professionally promoted Aussie V8 meetings have got anywhere near those spectator numbers - and all run by what was effectively an amateur team but to a professional standard. Arguably, the wings component probably brought in more spectators that the wheels, but we'll ignore that!

Now we have a world class track and full time professionals but maybe the passion for the actual cars and solid rapport with the weekend drivers is missing - not to mention the spectators? Yes Dale, it is easy to feel that the less well off amateurs are being shoved out but let's not forget that MSNZ have also made it more expensive for the real amateurs, with ever increasing costs. Pukekohe has just jumped on the bandwagon without offering anything more - and in fact, a lot less.

Fingers crossed that someone does a solid debrief and asks relevant questions and that the future is positive. No doubt there hasn't been an announcement regarding 2019 as yet? Or has there? Planning has to start now.

PS: Found this on the internet today:

"It's exceeded my expectations and this weekend has given us confidence to go bigger and better next year," says Quinn. "Bathurst has such a great history and there have been so many New Zealand drivers and cars who've made their mark at Mt Panorama. Then there are countless drivers and cars we can bring over from Australia."

So maybe the track isn't up for sale after all?

Clark Proctor and Bruce Manon, showing a clean pair of heels to the rest of the grid in the scratch races.


Mal Clark's well campaigned (and driven) Targa and track Rover P6.


Adam Jones taking a break from filming the Kenny Smith documentary, enjoying his Mk 1 Escort.


Barry Hare, another regular Targa competitor, in the Rover Vitesse. Not very keen on the matt black look!


Robbie Halliday Junior - Cortina GT

Nigel is 100% correct. Turn 3 was just made for a long lens.

The ERC grids are still both hovering at the viable level, but increasing costs are one of the reasons for competitors not doing all rounds. The problem is that reducing the number of rounds in a season may theoretically also reduce support. Some people do want to race often - and can afford it.

Taupo is always a combined grid (AES plus Arrows) as the track is long enough and with good visibility to see cars approaching from behind, so the speed differential isn't as much of a problem as on a shorter track.

Next batch will "Caffeine and Classics" from Dec 31st.

[ERC]

Fitting the new woodrim wheel to my own car will be the last job. Sunbeam Rapier

[Roger Dowding]

Aha! Thanks for that snippet Roger! Could be interesting to see what happens now.

* See later post #2007

I think I also chatted to Peter M - if he is a McLaren Trust member who was on the Monaco 2012 trip and red hot model collector.

Now that most of HD's basics are in place, it could be a good buy as there is no doubt that TQ had the cash available to finish off a lot of the vision initially laid down by Tony and Chris. We just don't want any potential buyer to ignore who actually supported the complex from several years before the first day of racing.

Ray,yes you did chat with Peter M, he mentioned seeing you and yes a Red Hot model collector , mainly McLarens and NZ cars, as in driven by or made by Kiwi's ..
Cheers
Roger

[ERC]

Help! Car #6 Formula Libre - ARES Sports car 2013. Can anyone please tell me in what country it was manufactured? Google wasn't much use...



...and can someone please confirm this one? In the programme #84 John Pickford Reynard FF. Not the best of photographs unfortunately. Probably Formula Renault and should have been carrying 841...

[ERC]

PRIME TV - Saturday 9:30pm - Father Brown - "The Laws of Motion" - episode filmed at Shelsey Walsh Hillclimb.

[ERC]

What I love about this monthly meet is that there is zero snobbery, unlike the many stories we hear about overseas meets where some jobsworth on the gate denies access to cars he believes don't belong.

[Roger Dowding]

ERC agree ; quote.

" What I love about this monthly meet is that there is zero snobbery, unlike the many stories we hear about overseas meets where some jobsworth on the gate denies access to cars he believes don't belong. "

Have been made to park around the back once, only because they were getting full, so went further round and parked with other MX5's, created our own group !!

[ERC]

You now have to get there early to park in the main area, but fantastic that it overflows every month. Just got a WoF for the Magnette which made a public appearance last year in February, towing the Marcos, but STILL working on the fibreglass bonnet and bootlid...

[khyndart in CA]

So my LHD 1962 Austin Mini Cooper would not be banned from this event ?

Ken H

[John McKechnie]

It would if it got flagged by Customs entering the country with rust issues, undesirable foreign bugs, plant matter or salami

[khyndart in CA]

Then I guess I won't be showing up as I could not pass the salami test !
KH

[John McKechnie]

Half eaten Maccas is OK as there is no known food content..............

[ERC]

Bad enough trying to get an original plywood chassis car into NZ even without woodworm - or salami...

[Andrew Metford]

[QUOTE=Roger Dowding;63351]
Ray just realised you were typing as I was, Understand that HD is For Sale again, as Mr Quinn needs a sum of money for personal reasons./QUOTE]

You sure about that? He's just sold his Darrell Lea business for $200 million, so that should see him right for a while and buy a few more cars.