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Metalman Targa Sprint starts 2015 Targa NZ season with a bang

9 March, 2015

The Metalman Targa NZ Rally Sprint, held at Ardmore Airport on Sunday, March 8, officially kicked off the Targa NZ 2015 calendar. The two short stages (6.7km and 8.33km) wound through closed-off roads of the rural Franklin and South Auckland areas, and with each stage raced three times, the day would net competitors just over 60km of flat-out racing. The one-day event provided a great warm-up to the season, as well as providing potential competitors the chance to get a feel for the Targa experience.

Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn, currently defending Targa New Zealand winners, started with a bang, claiming the overall victory and class (Allcomers 4WD) victory. The duo, racing in a Mitsubishi Evo VIII, took the overall win by 26 seconds over Leigh Hopper and co-driver Simon Fitzpatrick, who also competed in the Allcomers 4WD class, behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX.

It wasn’t plain sailing for Inkster and Winn, though — in two of the stages, the margin was a scant second between them, with Hopper and Fitzpatrick winning the second stage by three seconds.

Placing third overall, and claiming the Modern 2WD class honours, was Clark Proctor (the event sponsor) and co-driver Sue O’Neill. The rapid Metalman Ford Escort Mk I, powered by a turbocharged Nissan V6, made its return, following a crash and gearbox problems encountered in last year’s Targa South Island.

Though unquestionably quick, Proctor and O’Neill didn’t get the win without a fight — in this class, it was Ross Graham and his V8-powered Holden Torana giving them a headache. Graham took class wins in three of the stages, until Proctor’s pace built up, whilst Graham began feeling the heat from the late-model V8 BMW M3s driven by Simon Clark and co-driver Donald Howard, and Aaron Robinson and George Randle. The net result of this effort saw Graham place second in class, and sixth overall.

The always-entertaining Classic 2WD class also held some engaging dogfights between competitors, with Andy Mygind and Anthony Baker setting the pace early on, before being slowed by a misfire, and then fuel-starvation issues — allowing father-and-son team Eddie and Tom Grooten to snatch the class win in their beautiful 1978 Porsche 911.

With a good day’s racing all wrapped up, the Metalman Targa Sprint was a well-enjoyed event, and truly set the tone for the 2015 season. The next event, the three-day Targa Bambina from Auckland to Whitianga, and on to Rotorua, will run between May 16–18, and the annual six-day Targa New Zealand event will run from October 26–31.

2015 Metalman Targa Rally Sprint

Overall

  1. Glenn Inkster/Spencer Winn
  2. Leigh Hopper/Simon Kirkpatrick
  3. Clark Proctor/Sue O’Neill
  4. Nic de Waal/Danny de Waal
  5. Brian Green/Fleur Pedersen
  6. Ross Graham/Carmel Graham
  7. David Rogers/Aiden Kelly
  8. Simon Clark/Donald Howard
  9. Aaron Robinson/ George Randle
  10. Cameron Ross/Matthew Buer

Allcomers 4WD

  1. Glenn Inkster/ Spencer Winn
  2. Leigh Hopper/Simon Kirkpatrick
  3. Nic de Waal/Danny de Waal
  4. Brian Green/Fleur Pedersen
  5. David Rogers/Aiden Kelly
  6. Chris Lane/Karl Celeste
  7. 7. Kevin Williams

Classic 2WD

  1. Eddie Grooten/Tom Grooten
  2. Ken Northin
  3. Patrick O’Donnell
  4. Linden Bawden/Rhys Bawden
  5. Gary Ashton/Chris McMurray

Modern 2WD

  1. Clark Proctor/Sue O’Neill
  2. Ross Graham/Carmel Graham
  3. Simon Clark/Donald Howard
  4. Aaron Robinson/George Randle
  5. Cameron Ross/Matthew Buer

 

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.