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16/10/2011 The 2011 Classic Spring Rally
Trying to cram everything into the 2nd half of winter finally took it’s toll with several cars and/or drivers not being available for our 1st Classic Spring Rally. In days gone t’past we’d have been happy with 6 cars at a club run & on this one we were charging an entry fee! Timing is everything though & with it being in the midst of school holidays & the Rugby World Cup we had to be content with our 1/2 dozen entrants for this new event. However, with 5 Triumphs doing the rally plus Clare McConway’s gleaming white Stag & my steaming red TR7 as official vehicles at least there was no doubt as to which marque was at large on this almost fine Sunday morning.
So, leaving from the Petone foreshore just after 10am we set the cars off on stage 1 around the back hills of Lower Hutt. Stage 2 was from the bottom of Haywards Hill Rd to Plimmerton & stage 3 took us to the Whenua Tapu cemetary along Airlie Rd. From there we took a breather from the tour challenges & convoyed our way up to Battle Hill Reserve on Paekakariki Hill Rd. I do like a convoy. That left 2 stages to go & it was definitely sunnier on this side of the hill. Stage 5 took in all the nautical nomenclatures of Whitby before heading south to Johnsonville. The final stage brought all 6 cars to Makara Beach unscathed with the only mechanical scare being when the accelerator cable on my car disconnected itself from the pedal.
The challenges brought out the different strengths & weaknesses of the entrants with prizes for almost everyone. Starting with the Starter For 10 challenge, 3 sets of 3 questions from the NZ Driver’s License Test the ranking was: 1st= D. Monks - TR7 / I. Hendra - Sprint 3rd= S. Brettell - TR250 / N. Fleming - Vitesse Click here for the test answers. 5th G. Burns - Forester 6th J. Sullivan TR7V8
The Water Challenge Ranking was: 1st I. Hendra 2nd N. Fleming (on adjusted results due to equipment malfunction) 3rd G. Burns 4th= D. Monk / S. Brettell 6th J. Sullivan
The Time Target Challenge: 1st S. Brettell 2nd L. Sullivan 3rd= D. Monks / I. Hendra / N. Fleming 6th G. Burns
The Average Speed Challenge: 1st S. Brettell 2nd N. Fleming 3rd= D. Monks / G. Burns 5th I. Hendra 6th J. Sullivan
Prizes awarded were: Overall Winner: S. Brettell Runner Up: D. Monks Winner Stage 1: S. Brettell Winner Stage 2: S. Brettell Winner Stage 3: J. Sullivan Winner Stage 5: I. Hendra Winner Stage 6: J. Sullivan Most Penalties: J. Sullivan Marshal’s Choice: N. Fleming
A few surprises in the results then which will prompt a review of the scoring system for next year but congratulations to Steve Brettell & co-driver Grant Simpson for some excellent steady as she goes driving. Next year will see some tweaking of the rules & hopefully a bit more competition. Many thanks to the marshals that made it all seem like a fun day out, which it of course was.
11/09/2011 The 2011 Fish’n’Chip Run
This year’s F’n’C Run was a nice long run to the Lake Ferry Hotel in very Southern Wairarapa. It is about 1:40 from the Hayward’s Hill lights if you take the scenic & very quiet Western Lake Road. However, with a photo stop at the summit of the Rimutaka Hill Road & by missing the turn-off to the East west Access Rd it took just over 2 hours. For this event we had 3 WTSCC & 2 TR Reg Triumphs + 2 more TR Reg members having to resort to Japanese stand ins. We were also joined by 3 Fraser 7s who were also in need of a leg stretcher so it was a line of 10 that snaked its way over the Rimutaka goat track & into the Wairarapa region.
The rain threatened but it was mostly all talk so the convertibles made the journey topless even though it was not particularly warm. In fact it was particularly unwarm so I sat in my roofed TR7 & admired the courage of those thick-skinned occupants from afar. The missed turn off was my fault. I chose the route several weeks before but didn’t make time to re-familiarise myself with the map. In my defense though my co-driver was a local ‘rapa girl but apparently I had chosen a road that only a tourist would take so she didn’t know it. It’s a very nice road though.
We got to the Lake Ferry Hotel at 12:30 & found the public bar overrun with leather clad hog riders. The place looked like a tannery. We headed for the dining area & had a slap up lunch in between negotiations for supply & price of spare parts. - Peter Scott
31/08/2011 Movie Night At The Film Archive
On the 5th Wednesday of August the WTSCC hosted a night of videos at the Wellington Film Archive. We picked a bunch of newsreels of the NZ Grand Prix from 1956-61 held at Ardmore followed by a 1969 BBC doco about Bruce McLaren. To add a bit of colour to the black & white video we asked NZ Classic Car columnist Michael Clark to MC the NZGP clips & his knowledge of the era & his talent for public speaking made it a night to remember. For the McLaren film we were doubly blessed when Michael Garlick gave us the latest news on the Bruce McLaren Film Project which he is beavering away on. Pretty interesting stuff. We managed to fill 80 or so of the 120 seats just by word of mouth with many familiar faces from the club & racing scene including Amanda McLaren & partner Steve Donnell. Many thanks to the two Michaels for their time & talent & to the people at the Film Archive who helped put it all together. FYI, the Film Archive library is a free resource & is open to all. Well worth a look one wet afternoon.
17/07/2011 The 2011 Breakfast Run
On a chilly but fairly bright morning a cluster of Triumph enthusiasts met to indulge in our annual Breakfast Run. I’m not a big fan of early starts in the middle of winter so I arrived late at our starting point on Wellington’s Oriental Parade. I was very pleasantly surprised to find another 6 Triumph cars waiting for the show to get on the road. The 4 four cars from the WTSCC (Vitesse, Spitfire, 2500 Estate & TR7V8) had been joined by 3 cars from the TR Register (2 TR2s & a TR250) made up for what must be a record number of our cars. With Mr. Brandon’s Barina tacked on (well, at least it isn’t an Acclaim!) we had ourselves a convoy.
The driver’s briefing was short, “here’s the map, photo opp stops are here, see you at the end & don’t forget to change down for the tunnels” & we headed out for the traditional tour of the south coast roads. Once we arrived back in the city it was a short blast on SH1 to take full advantage of the Terrace Tunnel acoustics before doubling back to cruise through the windy Western Suburb roads. Then we found some windy northern suburb roads & finally back to SH1 at Porirua before car sickness became a problem.
A last photo stop on the coast just north of Pukerua Bay was too much for 1 car as they sped on to the end & the promise of a clean toilet. The rest of us lined up against the edge of the parking bay nervously aware of how close all that salt water was while photographic evidence was taken to prove that Triumphs still survive in Wellington. Finally, 2 hours after we started we ended at Finns of Paekakariki for some good food, hot coffee & a functional heating system.
Thank you to John, Shane & Steve of the TR Register for bring their cars & co-pilots & making the day a far better one. We hope you enjoyed the run & will be joining us again for the next one. It must be the first time I can remember that TR2s outnumbered TR7s.
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