Race to the Sky has a new king

28 April, 2015

After taking an in-depth look at the Possum Bourne Motorsport–built Subaru WRC car, we knew the team, and driver Alister McRae, had a good shot at winning the resurrected Repco Race to the Sky hill-climb event in Cardrona Valley. Boasting over 850hp, the Subaru was a real monster, which it had to be with the likes of Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima returning to claim the throne with his purpose-built Super 86, as well as super-quad racer Ian Ffitch said to rustle some feathers.

However, there could only be one winner and Alister McRae was on fire all weekend, until Sunday morning when the worst happened during a practice run. Alistair pushed hard during the morning session, until there was a mechanical failure. It was irreparable at this stage in the weekend and the spare motor had to be installed before the final run — fine of course, but it makes 150hp less than the first engine. With less power than the initial motor, the team weren’t as confident, but after Alister’s final run of 8:17:06 was enough to secure the win, he was crowned the new king of the mountain.

Australian Brett Hayward was consistent throughout the weekend in his self-built supercharged Suzuki-powered open wheeler.

His consistency was enough to see him place second overall during the final run (left on the podium).

Kiwi Ian Ffitch, from Amberly, also suffered an engine failure on Sunday morning, but his efficient team had the quad back up and running in no time. Ian placed third overall and took home the Repco Race to the Sky Fastest Kiwi trophy.

Unfortunately for Monster, he suffered a very serious aero failure, which had him veer off the road along one of the highest-speed sections of the climb. Monster was looking quick throughout the event and it’s a real shame that he didn’t get the chance to contest the final. Monster was very disappointed in the outcome, but will be back to contest the popular event the next chance that he gets.

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.

Race to the Sky has a new king

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