Round 2 Pukekohe Old Circuit Sun 4th October 2020

While this is called round 2 it was our first race day of the season. Our first round was due to be raced on Sunday 30th of August but was postponed until Sunday 13th of September due to COVID and then that round ended up being cancelled. The Auckland Car Club had to put in a huge amount of effort to run a meeting under COVID level. With possibly the largest field ever seen at an ACC one day meeting, there were a lot of extra things to be attended to, to ensure sufficient separation for the 187 competitors and the one allowed crew member. Spectators unfortunately had to be turned away, including club member Ross Graham who wanted to come all the way from New Plymouth just to watch.

The weather was great. We were combined with Racing Saloons and a few SS2000 cars for this meeting due to the large number of entries but modest numbers in the various categories.
Fastest was long time member Tony Galbraith in his Charger with a 1:01.722, followed by two new members: Glen Chappel in the 65 Mustang that Duane Ingley used to race with a 1:04.357, then closely followed by Steve Doughty in his 67 Camaro with a 1:04.393 and then came a very pleased Paul Burnet in his 72 Torana with a 1:04.799 (his first time in the 04’s).
The leading Class B cars were Kevin Burke in his Charger then Chris Anderson in the Mustang, followed by another new member Vince Douglas in the ex Cam Crawford XA Falcon Coupe.

Our first race, which was 6 laps rather than the usual 8 due to an SS2000 request was 
completed without incident, with Tony G being the first Muscle Car home followed
by Steve Doughty just edging out Glen Chappel.

Mike Oldham in the ESP Fairmont was the first of the Class B cars home, followed by Vince and then Kevin.

Race two, our first handicap race of the day, was unfortunately interrupted when Greig Running hit the inside wall around turn one, causing the Safety Car to be deployed. The race did finish under racing conditions with the Class B cars of Chris Anderson and Vince Douglas leading the way home, followed a fair way back by Tony G, Steve and Glen.

Our third race, also a handicap, didn’t get underway until after 6pm, however with a few yellow flags and cars withdrawing due to various issues, all nine laps were completed with Tony G leading home the NMC cars followed by Steve, Chris and Glen.
It was a very big and very long day with us leaving the track just as dusk was falling a bit after 7pm.
Hopefully our next round which is at Hampton on Sunday 28th November will be held under level 1 and we can have our prize giving for last season and a few drinks.

Thanks to photographer Geoff Ridder for the photos.