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Taupo Thunder Drags canceled

17 December, 2014

We’ve just been informed that the entire 2014–’15 race season planned for Taupo Thunder Dragway has been canceled. Promoter Ken Galvin stated in his release that only 11 racers had pre-entered for the events that were set to take place on December 28, 2014 and January 3, 2015, which makes running them not financially feasible. Added to this were date clashes with the nostalgia event planned for Masterton Motorplex on the same date in January — taking this into account it was easy to understand the decision. Ken states that he feels that the date clash would be detrimental to the sport, which has added to him pulling the plug.

The cancellation of these summer events has given room to promote the track for the following season, in which Ken plans to run a televised winter drag racing programme covering America vs New Zealand, Summer Nationals, Drag Fest, and a Vintage Drag Meet — yes, that’s four events over seven days, all on TV if all things run to plan.

There will still be some great drag racing action over the summer season, including the nostalgia meet at Masterton Motorplex on January 3, and the Nitro Shootout at Meremere on January 10 — we’ve just got a reason to look forward to winter now.

Super affordable supercar

9 April, 2026

The owner of this 1978 GTV, Stephen Perry, with only a skerrick of wishful thinking, says through half-closed eyes, “It is not dissimilar to the Maserati Khamsin”.
The nose is particularly trim and elegant from all angles, featuring cut-outs for the headlights echoing Alfa’s own exotic Montreal. The body is unfussy, lean with lots of glass, and the roofline shows a faint family resemblance — although on a much more angular car — to the curved waistline of the earlier 105s. The slightly hunched rear means there’s much more space in the rear seats than in the cramped rear of 105s — very much a 2+2 — and a generous boot. These more severe lines are not quite as endearing as the 105’s but they are still classy and clearly European.