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Moore wins on Touring Cars return

3 December, 2015

Auckland driver Richard Moore has starred in his debut of the BNT NZ Touring Cars at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over the weekend of November 28–29, by taking the class one–round win in his Holden Commodore. The class one–round podium rounded out with Simon Evans in second and Jason Bargwanna in third.

Moore notched up a third place in Saturday’s opening encounter, in what was a rain-affected race, as series leader Simon Evans speared off the track finishing well down the order.
Moore had actually won the race before a post-race investigation penalized 11 drivers for weaving across the track after the safety-car lights had gone out following the Evans incident.

A 10-second penalty relegated Moore to third place, with Jason Bargwanna in his Toyota Camry promoted to the race win.

Race conditions for Sunday’s two races saw clear skies and hot conditions greet drivers at the north Waikato circuit, where Evans fought back claiming two wins, and Moore was close behind with two second-place finishes.

Moore who worked twice as hard by also competing in the UDC V8 Ute series, taking the round win there, says the weekend result was the perfect way to get his ‘late’ championship campaign started.

“Unbelievable! I haven’t been in a car like this for 12 months. We won in the ute too, it was the perfect weekend really,” says Moore.

“Big thanks to our sponsor group GVI.kiwi, Mike Pero, and DownForce Advanced Driver Training — without them we wouldn’t have been here this weekend.

“It’s all about building the momentum now, keep the ball rolling. We’ll get some more sponsorship support between now and the next round, and hopefully continue the fight up front when the championship heads to the South Island in the new year.”

Simon Evans still leads the championship on 564 points, with Bargwanna in second on 505, and Tim Edgell in third on 445 points.

Class two was won by Wellington’s Brock Cooley, his first round win of the season. Auckland’s Brad Lathrope took second place ahead of Hamilton’s Simon Fleming who took third. The trio capitalizing on the misfortune of class-two championship leader Kevin Williams, who struck trouble in race two of the weekend with a DNF.

Photo credit: Simon Chapman

Taipan – surpassing interest

“It’s merely a passing interest,” insists Selby — despite owning three variants of the classic VW Beetle, including an unusual VW van that was sold as a body kit for a Subaru. In his defence he points to a 1961 Ford Thunderbird, a car that he converted to right-hand drive. However, on the VW side of the ledger, since he opened Allison Autos in Whanganui 27 years ago, Selby has built 15 VW-powered Formula First cars, followed by a beach buggy, restored a derelict Karmann Ghia, and hot-rodded a common or garden Beetle into something that has to be seen to be believed. As speed is not something generally associated with classic VWs, though, Selby is still waiting for this particular modification to catch on amongst the hot rod faithful.

Travelling companion

It’s easy to see why the Morris Minor Traveller was one of the best-loved variants of the Morris Minor. Introduced in 1953, it was equipped with the same independent torsion bar front suspension, drum brakes, and rack and pinion steering as its saloon sibling but, with their foldable rear seat increasing versatility, many Travellers were used as trade vehicles, says Derek Goddard. Derek and Gail Goddard, the owners of this superbly restored example, have run Morris Minors since before they were married in 1974.
“Our honeymoon vehicle was a blue Morris Minor van — it was a rust bucket,” says Derek.