Classic racing enthrals crowd at Teretonga Park

Two days of classic motor racing captivated the large crowd at Teretonga Park in Invercargill this weekend as the Mobil 1 Classic SpeedFest took place at the circuit.

The Archibalds Historic Touring Car Class provided enthralling racing throughout with Scott O’Donnell of Invercargill winning two of the four races in his Ford Mondeo ST while former two-time World Cup Touring Car Champion Paul Radisich took one in his 1994 World Cup winning Mondeo and Nigel Arkell of Waimauku the other when he triumphed in the opening clash in his Honda Accord after Brett Stevens of Motueka ran into problems and retired his Ford Sierra.

The Professionals Real Estate Classic Saloon races were hotly contested with drivers from Dunedin prevailing on each occasion, Steve Ross of Dunedin in the iconic PDL Mustang 1 winning two and Allan Dippie (MGB GT V8) one with Stuart Black winning the final race for the class in his Porsche 944T.

Guy Stewart of Christchurch won the first three Downer Sports & GT races in his Porsche 911 IROC before Debbie Chapman of Christchurch in a Fiat X19 Abarth Replica won the finale after a good battle with husband Dennis in an identical car.

Roy MacDonald of Dunedin won the first two races in the Historic & Classic Pre 78 Class in his Ford Mustang, before category co-ordinator Wayne Perkins of Queenstown won the third in a Vauxhall Viva GT and Leon Hallett of Dunedin the last in his Ford Galaxie.

The Vintage Racing Car Class saw Dunedin driver Paul Coghill make a clean sweep of the weekend with four from four in his Jaguar Special with Eric Swinbourn and Mark Barrett of Christchurch providing him with his stiffest opposition.
Invercargill’s Barry Leitch in a Ralt RT4 and Christchurch driver John Williams in a Crossle FF 2000 shared the spoils across the Southland Tyre Centre Formula Libre races, taking two wins apiece while Aucklander Noel Woodford won three of the four i Hire Invercargill Formula Junior races in his 1961 Gemini Mk3A, his sequence only broken in the final race when he did not start, leaving victory for John Rapley of Otaki in a Brabham BT2.

The Noel McIntyre Drainage Club Saloons were also on the programme alongside the classic vehicles with local driver Liam MacDonald winning all four races despite taking a helicopter flight to Cromwell to race a Sprint Car on Saturday night before returning to the circuit for Sunday’s racing.

The final race meeting of the season at Teretonga Park is Southern Thunder over the weekend of 20/21 March featuring NZ Super Trucks and Mainland Muscle Cars and plenty more.