Hampton Downs 12 Hour Endurance 2013

A while back my dad and I went to watch the sunset portion of the 12 hours endurance race held at Hampton Downs. The field was small but the racing still very intense as teams raced into the night. Meeting with some friends in the pits, it was evident that after racing all day they were trashed, walking zombie racers. Their Subaru had been in the pits a few times over the day for repairs to the rear axle, but finished the race. Success.

MAXTON TR3

One of my favourite bikes from the Barry Sheene Trans-Tasman Challenge in October 2012

Some commentary from the festivals website:
“Glen Hindle is bringing his Maxton TR3 350cc to the BSTT in NZ. Glen is the current 350cc Post Classic lap record holder at both Philip Island and Eastern Creek and was Australian 350cc post Classic Champion in 2009. Glen didnt take up road racing till his late 20s and got into ‘historic racing’ in 2004. His late dad Bryan Hindle was an Austraian Yamaha Factory rider and won a number of Australian titles. With team mate Len Atlee he won the first Castrol 6hr in 1970 on a Triumph T120 650cc Bonneville.”

RICK BONE @ HAMPTON FEB13

If you’re into Datsuns and you don’t already follow Rick Bones Datsun 1200, I suggest you do. Having fought hard in SS2000 for years with his incredible 205 flywheel hp A15, he’s swapped to a SR20DET and pursued GTRNZ. After a few rounds, he then got pushed into GT2 when ran times below the minimum allowed time bracket. As you can see in the video above, GT2 is a serious class with Sivias, Skylines, Porsche GT3s, BMW M5, camaros etc.

Unfortunately round 5 at Hampton Downs didn’t end to well for Rick. After reeling in the 3.6 litre Porsche GT3 that was up front, he tapped its ass out of the hairpin which only ended badly. I believe Rick has sorted the damage already which tells good things for round 6 at Manfield.

I’d like to note for those unfamiliar with the series, that the cars passing were from the class above, GT1. Also that Ricks SR20 (running a mere 8psi) is the smallest capacity engine of the field. The largest being a 6.2 litre corvette. Way to go Rick, I can’t wait to see this in the flesh and I hope the rest of the season goes well for you.

NZCMRR TRIUMPH FESTIVAL 2013 #1

Ducati Saxon, Aermacchi, Ducati Monza, Triumph 3TA

TZ350

This weekend, Hampton Downs is the host for the NZCMRR Triumph Festival. I received 24 medium format films in the mail recently so I jumped at the chance to run a few through the Rolleiflex and indulge in the lines of some classic motorcycles. The pit area was humming as it was filled with vans, camper-vans, barbecues, tents and NZs crop of European bikes ready for 3 days of racing. My dad ran rampant with the 7D as I stalked out the local wildlife with my Rollei. We swapped a few times and I shot the above photos, the last being the only Japanese bike present. A TZ350 twin which was for sale and wasn’t raced today. Naturally, I lusted over it for a while and the only thing stopping me from shoe horning it into my garage was the $12k price tag.

I will post a few as I develop and scan the film but for now, some digital will have to do.

NZFMR DENNY HULME 2013 – 1

REPCO BRABHAM BT21A AM226 – 1600cc of 1966 twin cam, cigar chassis joy

We went out to Hampton Downs on Saturday for the first race day of the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing – Celebrating Denny Hulme, one of my favourite events of the year by a long shot! Apart from walking around the pits with an open jaw and drooling on everything, I shot 1100 digital photos, 4 35mm films and one colour 120 film on the Rolleiflex… so I have a bit of content coming up! The event is running again next weekend and I highly recommend going to watch, the thunder of the formula 5000 field on the grid is something everyone must experience.

Highlights of the event include: the Kenny Smith battle in F5000, watching the Lotus Europa ALMOST beat out a big bearly corvette (would have had him sans the straights), the ZACKSPEED MK2 Escort, talking to the old racers who where stoked to see someone shooting on a Rolleiflex, shooting with my 500mm takumar lens after a long hiatus, Bruce Manon’s MK2 RS2000, and oogling all the cool suspension design.

BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL 2012 #3

NORTON + HONDA RS125 @ Hampton Downs for the Barry Sheene Festival in 2012

BSF III

Williamson/Loveridge T110

I never cease to be amazed at the commitment of this team. Williamson arching over the Triumphs engine and Loveridge hanging WAY out on the fastest of corners, incredible. For some film photos I shot of this wicked team, click here and here.

BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL II

I went to the Barry Sheene Trans Tasman Challenge at Hampton Downs a while back and shot some photos of the pretty amazing field that was out there. I was looking back through some of my posts when I remembered I forgot to post some of my favourites! Here are a couple with more to come, man that was an awesome day of racing. Click here for the first post.

NZCMRR CLASSIC TT #2

Beeoneoneoh has been in a lull recently but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. Check out the second posted photo in this series here.
Expect to see more from it in the next week. Check out my photo blog if you’re interested in other things besides cars/bikes and join my facebook group if you want to keep in touch with my photography