Watch the Race to the Sky action on the big screen

8 April, 2015

There’s nothing worse than being at a hill climb, racetrack, or rally circuit and only being able to take in the action as it soars past your nose. Fortunately, Race to the Sky organizers have taken note — they have arranged a big screen that will show live and replayed in-car footage, interviews with competitors, and much more during this year’s event being held at Cardrona Valley, Central Otago, on April 18–19.

The footage will all be produced by an on-site television production team, who are also making a one-hour television highlights package, which will be screened during TV3’s CRC Motorsport show on May 10.

Some other exciting additions have been added as the event’s event marketing manager, Melanie Kees, explains.

“Make sure you’ve got a good spot in sight of the big screen for Sunday’s top-20 shoot-out — yes, we’ve expanded the traditional top-10 shoot-out to enable the fastest 20 competitors from any class to enjoy a little extra time in the spotlight.

“Spectators can enjoy a range of activities and entertainment in the event village on the plateau. The pit area is open and free to walk around so you can talk with your favourite drivers and check out their awesome cars, bikes, and quads.”

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.