Impressive line-up of F5000s at New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing

12 January, 2015

We’ve been looking forward to it for ages, and now it’s just around the corner. The highly anticipated New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing (NZFMR) is being held over the weekends of January 16–18 and January 23–25 at Hampton Downs.

Our excitement is in response to the amazing features that the festival is to play host to in its celebration of renowned Kiwi racer Howden Ganley. These features include Formula One cars, Formula 5000 racers. More than six Formula One cars will be in attendance, but it is the F5000s that are the main talking point. With over 50 confirmed, the NZFMR will host the world’s first Formula 5000 World Series, the winner of which will be crowned after the final race on the festival’s second weekend.

Other features we don’t want to miss include Can-Am cars, the ex-Denny Hulme 1973 McLaren M23, a show and shine, 12 race classes with over 350 racers, eight Australian Trans Am racers competing with the Historic Muscle Cars, parade laps of significant cars, and (weather permitting) a Spitfire and RNZAF display. 

Lunch with … Rodger Anderson

At first, I wondered if I’d driven up the wrong driveway. The car in the garage was an early Mustang resplendent in royal blue with two broad gold stripes, which was not what I was expecting. I knew that Rodger Anderson, who made his name in Minis and a BMW 2002, was a Porsche man these days — the other end of the spectrum from American muscle. I had no idea of his affection for Detroit iron. It didn’t take long to discover just how passionate this former Saloon Car Champion is about cars, as long as they’re interesting.

Back from the brink – 1968 MGB GT

Auckland classic car enthusiast Kerry Bowman soon realised he had a massive job on his hands in restoring his classic 1968 MGB GT. When Kerry and his MGB first appeared in New Zealand Classic Car in March 2021, in “Behind The Garage Door”, the stripped-out shell had revealed some nasty surprises. Once the true extent of the hidden damage was discovered, the work would normally have been handed over to a professional fabricator. However, with the assistance of experts such as MG specialist restorer, Paul Walbran, Kerry has completed an impressive restoration and saved this car from the scrapheap.