Wairarapa grass track racing, 1972

Prompted by Darren Galpin's Latest updates to silhouet.com/motorsport thread : http://forums.autosp...way#post2201879

I located some photo's circa. 1972 of what may be the Wairarapa track. The problem is identifying the photo's on my friends part relied on recollecting an event he took part in 35 years ago.

This meeting was held in a paddock near an egg farm off Willow Park Drive (road off SH2 to Rathkeale College) in the Opaki area just north of Masterton. The event was hosted by the Wairarapa Car Club and was sponsored by Hansells.

Based on my friends memories Andrew Buchanan and another driver #271 were the 'stars' together with a well known Hutt Valley driver (gravel truck operator?) in the Mennen sponsored Escort. Classes included motorbikes, sidecars, saloons, specials and formula fords.

Can anyone help confirm or expand on his information?



1.Andrew Buchanan in ???





2.The unknown 'star'



3.The Mennen sponsored Escort of a well known Hutt Valley driver of the time who competed in rallies and on track - my friend seemed to think his name was Rod?



4.A local special built and raced by a Transport Wairarapa driver.



5.A rather agricultural looking special. Of note is the leading Escort displaying a rather large sticker advertising Wagg & Harcombe, the local GM Vauxhall & Holden dealer!

The Mennen sponsored FVA Escort was driven by Wayne Fuller.

There was a North Island Grasstrack saloon car championship held in the early months of 1972. Rounds were held at Whangarei, New Plymouth, Wairarapa and Rotorua. Not sure if your photos are from that event.

Thanks for that Milan. Wayne Fuller is a local chemist and has been involved with local car club events for many years. From a newspaper report about the 1982 Admiral Hill Climb:

"Less fortunate was Wayne Fuller, who invested a lot of money in a Porsche, only to find himself in a mad spin halfway up the hill. He didn’t touch anything, but when he came back down he drove through the pits and back to town without stopping."

I may not even have the year exactly right...it was partly based on this Holden being around a 1972 model (it being the most late model car in the photos) and the machinery I'm told the Eades brothers had around that time. Spectators were sporting some fairly generous sideburns and flared trousers are in evidence. Tony Eades supplied the photos so this could well be just a local event.

Are you sure all the photos are from the same event?

The first four look as though they could have been taken at a sprint meeting.

As far as I'm aware they are all from the same event. I was told the road pictured is Willow Park Drive which I'm guessing was used as a dummy grid. I hope to get up there sometime this week to have a look and see if the trees, powerlines, etc. are still there and can confirm the location. I have 21 photos altogether to use as a reference. Until then I'm not certain enough to say you're wrong.

Originally posted by mctshirt
As far as I'm aware they are all from the same event. I was told the road pictured is Willow Park Drive which I'm guessing was used as a dummy grid. I hope to get up there sometime this week to have a look and see if the trees, powerlines, etc. are still there and can confirm the location. I have 21 photos altogether to use as a reference. Until then I'm not certain enough to say you're wrong.

Great investigative work Mc Tee Shirt....where are you based?? Tailhappy is in NP and there is a good historic speedway group there who may also know heaps about Wairarapa...I know a fella from NP who had grasstrack Minis....he may also be able to help (must try and get in contact with him again )

Been away for the weekend so have just seen this
The car in the top picture is Steve Locker-Lampson's ASP (Mallock U2) and I have to say the driver looks more like Steve Locker-Lampson than Andrew Buchanan

OK this is starting to get a bit embarrasing...it appears my friends assertations must be taken with a large grain of salt. I talked to him again today and it turns out the Mallock U2 is what he was referring to as a Formula Ford so that eliminates a class from my original post. Please forgive him (and me) for the confusion.

Milan - I would now tend to regard your query regarding there being two different events within the photo's as definitely possible. A visit to Willow Park Drive should confirm this one way or another. The actual grass track racing does look like Opaki to me with Rangitumau and the racecourse stables visible in the background of some photo's. If it's a different event looking at the photo's my first guess would be the 1/4 mile sprints at Francis Line just south of Masterton. The only other regular local sealed sprint is the Admiral hill climb. Both venues I can check out in the near future.

Thanks for putting the record straight David, I must admit I thought Mr Buchanan looked a little less weathered than usual...is this possibly the same Mallock U2 that appeared mid 60s at the Admiral in the hands of R. J. Oakley from Hutt Valley? Unfortunately my friend was adamant Andrew Buchanan was there.

275 GTB-4 - I live in Masterton so Opaki is literally just up the road. I also intend to see if Roger Brader or Kevin George, long time car club members who I have met in the past through friends, can find the time to take a look at the photo's.

What I believe was the first Wairarapa grasstrack meeting was held on James Cowie’s farm at East Taratahi on 28/02/70, with others (venue uncertain) a year later and again on 27/02/72. Clareville racecourse was the venue for the 25/02/73 event and another meeting was held on 06/04/74 (venue unknown).
The funny special with the roof looks like Rex Carkeek’s Citroenette, and I wonder if the rear-engined single-seater is the Kieft owned about that time by Richard Wright (I don't think he was a Transport Wairarapa driver though)

Local sealed venues in the 1971/72 season were the Admiral Road and Kourarau hillclimbs, the Lees Road bent sprint, the Hughes Line quarter-mile sprint and another straight-line sprint, venue unknown
____________

David McKinney (Wairarapa College 1957-61)

I made it out to Willow Park Drive and can confirm I've been misinformed again. After a few fruitless drives up and down the road trying to get the right arrangement of background I headed a little north to the Opaki racecourse where everything fell into place. I believe the paddock to be on Bruce Tockers property next to the racecourse (south) and SH2 overbridge (west)



In this photo I believe the building in the background is the old grandstand.



A couple of photo's from today




I also visited Hughes Line and am 99% sure the top four photo's were taken looking north close to the East Taratahi Rd corner (cars facing Carterton). Thanks for pointing me in the right direction David. I've only attended 1/4 mile sprints on the small road between Norfolk Rd and Waingawa Freezing Works (Francis Line) on the west side of SH2. In recent times the Admiral hill climb is still an annual event, now you remind me the Lees-Pakaraka Rd is still used and was a Targa Rally stage for a couple of years, but only motorbikes do the Kourarau hill climb: http://www.cdd.co.nz/hillclimb.htm