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Big rigs and V8s ready to rumble

26 November, 2014

The BNT NZ SuperTourers are set to hit the Fuchs 500 event at Pukekohe Park Raceway this weekend, over November 28–30. Their brute V8 power will be complemented by the 1200hp, five-tonne monsters making up the New Zealand SuperTruck Championship. It has been 10 years since the SuperTrucks last raced at Pukekohe and at least 11 of the leviathans are expected to make an appearance, along with a raft of former champions including Ron Salter, Andrew Porter, and Calven Bonney.

The excitement is also at a peak in the SuperTourers series, with Richard Moore and his co-driver, full-time V8 Supercar driver Tim Slade, just trailing in points behind V8 Supercar wizard Shane Van Gisbergen and Simon Evans.

Moore is part of the M3 team along with Greg Murphy and Paul Manuell and he says he has learnt a lot from them — he feels that he has what it takes to race with the big boys.

“We’re pretty confident now that we’re a leading force and we really want to take it to that leading car of Simon and Shane.”

With the levels of competition ramping up in the SuperTourers, don’t go thinking that the SuperTrucks have just been shoehorned in — the Pukekohe event will be round one of a five-round championship for the trucks and is rejuvenation for the series. The 1200hp trucks hit their 160kph top speed halfway down the back straight, and the new back section of the track presents new passing opportunities. “These things are bloody exciting to watch, if you haven’t seen them before, you need to get along,” says Clevedon racer Troy Wheeler.

The BNT NZ SuperTourers and NZ SuperTrucks will also be joined by the UDC NZ V8 Utes, NZV8 Touring Cars, Toyota Finance 86 Series, Honda Cup, and the SsangYong Actyon Racing Series. For tickets, go to nzsupertourers.co.nz.

Grand Routier — in the french tradition

10 July, 2025

Sitting in Paddy and Patsy Williams’ Dunedin garage is a stunning example of one of these rare French grand routier sedans. It is a 1949 four-door Lago-Record Factory Berline sedan, to give its full name. Daughter Cath let us know how proud she was of her dad, who had been tinkering away in his garage on this car for so many years.
Without exaggeration, it has been a mammoth task. I first saw this Talbot-Lago in mid 2019. The long-nosed, sweeping, curved four-door saloon, clothed in its misty green metallic paint, was quite breathtaking. There’s more than a little English influence in it, too, harking back to company owner Tony Lago’s involvement in the Clement-Talbot-Darracq era. The long front wings and bonnet, usually multi-louvred, highlighted with artful touches of chrome bling, are typical of the era, but these were indeed luxury length. Interiors provided leather-clad, armchair-style seating and ample legroom, with touches of wood and surprising details such as dainty childproof interior locks — a far cry from today’s lozenge boxes.
Paddy, a retired civil and structural engineer, knows his way around a lathe. He has a well-equipped garage-workshop to assist in any machining tasks along with his other passion for restoring classic motorcycles.

The Great River Road

4 July, 2025

A few years ago my family, knowing my fondness for driving, gave me the book Unforgettable Road Trips: Thirty-Six Drives of a Lifetime by Martin Derrick. Most of the road trips listed take less than a day in places like Scotland, Monaco, and Australia, plus one in New Zealand. Most of these places were too far to go just for a short drive but four of them would take several days. My interest was piqued, and those four drives were added to the bucket list. To date, I have done three of them: ‘Route 66’ (USA 21 days), ‘State Highway 6’ (NZ 10 days) and ‘The Great River Road’ (USA 22 days). You can drive all of them in less time, but you could also fly over them. We wanted a decent immersion in their charms.
The great river referred to is the Mississippi. While the name conjures the deep south, the river actually starts at the bottom of the great lakes, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico about 3800km later. The great road is more of a concept than a specific strip of tarmac, as you can drive down either side of the river on various routes. Regardless of which side you drive, time should be kept aside for detours to places such as Nashville, which is famous for something or other.