Throwback Thursday: Skope Classic 2016

22 December, 2016

 

A large crowd in excess of 10,000 was entertained by some great motor racing at the Skope Classic over Waitangi weekend, 2016, with 35 races across a wide range of single-seater and saloon-car races at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna.

The featured class for the event was the Archibalds Historic Touring cars, with overseas drivers Jim Richards (BMW 635 CSi), Tony Longhurst (BMW E36 Supertourer), and Gianfranco Brancatelli (BMW M3) proving drawcards, along with the superb presentation and selection of touring-car memorabilia from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

Dominating the on-track performances, Stephen Grellet (BMW M3) from Dunedin took three wins, including the prized Sir Robertson Stewart Grand Prix trophy race, then sat out the final race, which featured an entertaining duel between the eventual winner, Brett Stephens of Motueka, in the turbo Sierra Cosworth; Jim Richards; Andy Greenslade, driving the famous Peanut Slab Sierra Cosworth; and the stunning Zakspeed Escort of Christchurch’s Gary Wilkinson.

They preceded some mighty fine touring-car machinery, which included both of the E36 Supertourers made famous in the hands of Paul Morris and Tony Longhurst that, according to the commentators, ‘bought the biffo back into the bingle’. Roger Townshend’s Cologne Capri drew looks of envy and admiration on and off the track among a line-up of BMW M3s to kill for, NZ Touring Car Coronas, a Nissan Sentra, an Alfa Romeo 155, and some superb replicas.

The original Walkinshaw Jaguar and Richards/Brock GTR will be unlikely to ever see the light of day on a New Zealand track, and, despite many long workshop nights, a despondent Angus Fogg failed to enjoy track time in the Prince/Hourigan XJS. The newly acquired Mark Petch 242T Volvo struggled with turbo issues over the weekend, but its presence was appreciated, particularly by an animated Robbie Francevic, while Aussie rally and race ace Colin Bond was a guest at the event and shared his memories and thoughts on a long and distinguished motor racing career at the drivers’ dinner.

There was motor sport entertainment to be had across all classes, from historic single-seaters and vintage racing machines to grids chock full of an amazing array of saloon and sports cars, but, when the V8s fired up, there was no time for comfort stops or hotdogs. The ageless Kenny Smith continued his dominance of the big wings and slicks Formula 5000 races with three wins from three, which included some of the best racing seen from these crowd-pleasing early ’70s single-seater race cars. In a photo finish, Smith, driving his Lola, just pipped a much younger and improving Alan Dunkley and fellow Aucklander Brett Willis on the line on Saturday … and crowd pleasing they were, indeed.

For sheer track presence, 30 V8 Australian and American muscle cars racing under the Paul Kelly Mainland banner provided a sight and sound spectacle of all that is good about circuit racing. The art of man-handling these heavy powerful beasts and keeping them within the white lines of racing is always challenging, to say the least.

The fast and furious action kept the crowd on its feet, especially in their final handicap race, with Chris Henderson’s V8 Corolla taking the chequered flag from Konrad Scott of Geraldine (Chevrolet Corvette) and Christchurch’s Graeme Allan in the beautiful yellow Chevrolet Camaro. There were stars to admire throughout the grid and guest appearances from one or two Central Muscle Cars simply added to this splendid occasion.

This article originally appeared in the April 2016 issue of New Zealand Classic Car (Issue No. 304). Grab a print or digital copy of the mag now!


Grand Routier — in the french tradition

Sitting in Paddy and Patsy Williams’ Dunedin garage is a stunning example of one of these rare French grand routier sedans. It is a 1949 four-door Lago-Record Factory Berline sedan, to give its full name. Daughter Cath let us know how proud she was of her dad, who had been tinkering away in his garage on this car for so many years.
Without exaggeration, it has been a mammoth task. I first saw this Talbot-Lago in mid 2019. The long-nosed, sweeping, curved four-door saloon, clothed in its misty green metallic paint, was quite breathtaking. There’s more than a little English influence in it, too, harking back to company owner Tony Lago’s involvement in the Clement-Talbot-Darracq era. The long front wings and bonnet, usually multi-louvred, highlighted with artful touches of chrome bling, are typical of the era, but these were indeed luxury length. Interiors provided leather-clad, armchair-style seating and ample legroom, with touches of wood and surprising details such as dainty childproof interior locks — a far cry from today’s lozenge boxes.
Paddy, a retired civil and structural engineer, knows his way around a lathe. He has a well-equipped garage-workshop to assist in any machining tasks along with his other passion for restoring classic motorcycles.

The Great River Road

A few years ago my family, knowing my fondness for driving, gave me the book Unforgettable Road Trips: Thirty-Six Drives of a Lifetime by Martin Derrick. Most of the road trips listed take less than a day in places like Scotland, Monaco, and Australia, plus one in New Zealand. Most of these places were too far to go just for a short drive but four of them would take several days. My interest was piqued, and those four drives were added to the bucket list. To date, I have done three of them: ‘Route 66’ (USA 21 days), ‘State Highway 6’ (NZ 10 days) and ‘The Great River Road’ (USA 22 days). You can drive all of them in less time, but you could also fly over them. We wanted a decent immersion in their charms.
The great river referred to is the Mississippi. While the name conjures the deep south, the river actually starts at the bottom of the great lakes, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico about 3800km later. The great road is more of a concept than a specific strip of tarmac, as you can drive down either side of the river on various routes. Regardless of which side you drive, time should be kept aside for detours to places such as Nashville, which is famous for something or other.