| When the alarm went off at 'stupid' o'clock on the Sunday morning it did
take a little longer than normal to get started, but with a fine day forecast and a cup of
coffee I was soon on my way out to the Awhitu peninsula. As the various regulations and event requirements have changed over time, the set-up for the event is becoming more time-consuming (and expensive), with road signs to be set-up ready for the road closure and documentation sorted to make sure everyone can run in the event. Our good relationship with both the local residents on Kemp Road and the Franklin District Council means we have few problems in getting use of the road for this event so we are fortunate in this regard. Twenty four drivers, of which 14 were club members, turned up in a wide variety of vehicles to take their turn on the awesome road that is the Kemp Road Hillclimb. The normal paperwork and briefing sessions were held and everyone headed off up the road to the start to unload boots of spurious weight (spare wheels, picnic lunches etc). A recce run was provided to all entrants to let people work out their lines and see the dangerous points in the road while the finishing touches were put to the timing gear. Poor Murray Ralls had a gearbox failure returning from the recce with the Toyota box stripping second gear in his Midget (I think the moral of the story is that MG is best here Murray, but hope you get it fixed in time for the Trials…). The first practice run was held, letting the drivers try out their lines and warm up their cars. With the gear up and running the timed runs started. It wasn't difficult to see those that had driven the road before and for this particular event a bit of local knowledge does count as there are some tricky and deceptive corners. Round two was a little more of the same with the drivers able to push a little harder and try to fix the 'mistakes' from the first run. While the weather was still being kind, the road must have dried out a bit as the third runs for most people were decidedly quicker than the previous two, and drivers were working out who their direct competition was, and also how hard to push themselves and their cars in the runs to come. With run four being the last run of the day most drivers gave it their all, most that is, until one lad probably tried a little too hard and end up down a short bank. Thankfully the only damage was probably to some personal pride and the odd bit of fairing. That served as a reminder to the remaining drivers, so final runs were perhaps not as fast as they may have been. Overall, everyone had a great day, with some great times recorded. To see a TC, various MGB's and Midgets, a beautiful XJ6, a quick little A40 and other moderns give it their all. My personal highlight of the day was a certain green Midget revving with gusto on the start while waiting for the green light to go, and upon the release of the clutch shooting off the starting line. Backwards!!! Awesome effort Garry!!! And thanks to Renton Murray for entering (and his rather aggressive starts) as that helped Paul Walbran get serious because he took the took bar off 'Joseph'! Also a great effort to Bryce Gliddon and James Cowie who travelled up from Taupo to attend. No event can be held without the help of volunteers, so thanks to Don Jamieson as scrutineer and the gentlemen who 'volunteered' as marshals (or perhaps were coerced maybe more appropriate). Lastly, many thanks to Mike De Wit for his efforts in treating the timing gear to a bit of a facelift. While the existing gear has served the club well over many years, things have moved on and we are taking an opportunity to modernise it a bit to further prolong its life. This was the first event after the 'Phase One' upgrade and we will be making further adjustments as time allows. Click HERE for the results Darryl Bretherton |