New Zealand 1/32^nd Scale Slotcar Championship 2003 

	The Winners
Keiran Dale	John Hawkins	Barry Toomey
Class 1 - Opens	Class 2 - Group 12/15	Class 3 - International 32
Many thanks to John Hawkins for the following report. (CD of photos has been sent  to Barry, Tony, Gill, Rob)

Practice	Qualifying
Sports Class 3 (Int32)	Sports Class 2 (Group12/15)	Sports Class 1 (Opens)
GTP    Class 3	GP     Class 2	GP      Class 1
Saloon Class3	Saloon Class 2	Saloon Class 1

The Christchurch Slotcar Club finally got the chance to hold the New Zealand Championship at Queens Birthday weekend, the occasion marking the first time that the championship has been run by the present club.  In response to being awarded the championship, the club put in a big effort to improve their clubrooms and track. Visitors who had raced at the track previously were pleasantly surprised at the improvements. The lighting in particular is now a lot better and the clubrooms are certainly a lot warmer and less drafty. The weekend provided unseasonable warm weather and racers were able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine during breaks from the intense programme of competition. A total of 29 competitors, representing the Henderson (Auckland), Palmerston North, Nelson, Christchurch and Pitlane (Dunedin) clubs attended the championships, with the majority (15) competing in the Group 3 (Standard International 32) class, Six in Group 12/15 and eight – the best entry for a long time in the premier Open class. The only disappointment, entry wise, was that there were no representatives from the Wellington club for the first time in many years. The Christchurch Club’s 140ft four lane track is one of the oldest in the country, but club put a lot of effort into re-taping the track and getting the surface as smooth as possible for the national championship. Although even the most biased Christchurch Club member would admit the surface is not perfectly smooth, it should be remembered that drivers in full scale motor racing also have to cope with street tracks that are anything but smooth and cope with varying conditions. An innovation for this meeting was the provision of a video camera to record each race. Disputes over the number of laps completed were few, but these were quickly settled by television “replays’’ of the two and three minute races.   Practice In days past it used to be normal for competitors to turn up on the night before the nationals and do their best to dial in. This time it was different. One Open class competitor from out of town arranged for two day’s testing at the track, while another arrived four days early and competed on the Tuesday club night to gain useful experience. By around 1 p.m. on the Friday leading up to the championship most of the serious racers were at the track and practicing in earnest. So strong was the demand for track time that the organizers had to arrange practice sessions of 10 minutes before cutting the power in time for another four competitors to get on. By around 11 p.m. most had familiarized themselves or re-acquainted themselves with the track. Gill Andrews from Palmerston North looked particularly fast in the Open class, while former Group 15 champion Kieran Dale from Henderson looked to be adapting well to the track with his Open class cars. Qualifying The programme started early on the Saturday with qualifying in the three classes. Each competitor had 1 minute 30 seconds to set their best time, which would determine their place on the ladder for the heats. It was no surprise to find that South Island Champion Barry Toomey was fastest on his home track in Class 3. He set a very quick time in Round 1 (Sports Cars) at 6.54 seconds. Next up was Dunedin’s Steve Wilson, a quick driver and a previous national Class 3 champion on 6.77 and local Adam Brice – last year’s Intermediate Class 3 Champion also on 6.77. Lex Omand (Christchurch) caused something of a surprise by taking fourth at 6.83. But it should be remembered that he also top qualified in Sports in the South Island Champs in Nelson. At the other end of the scale, another of the top locals Steve Welford missed qualifying and had to start at the very bottom of the ladder. Toomey’s job was made a little easier as last year’s national Class 3 champion John Hawkins, yet another Christchurch driver, has moved up to Group 15. It was perhaps not surprising to see him qualifying at the top with his new Paul “Split’’ Heath built AB Slot Sport R132 car at 5.78. Young Lions Ryan Dougherty 6.00 (Dunedin) with a similar car and Phillip Mobberley 6.11 (Henderson) chased hard, while Nick Carston (Nelson) with yet another R132 showed he could not be discounted by also turning a 6.11. The mighty Open class cars were racing at the track for the first time and in the absence of multiple NZ champion Dave Gick the title looked to be up for anyone’s grabs. Each of the eight contenders looked to have a reasonable chance of taking the title. Gill Andrews continued the good form he showed in practice by top qualifying in Open Sports with 5.27 seconds. Amazingly, three drivers were tied on second on 5.40 seconds – Graeme Saxton (Dunedin) Split Heath (Nelson) and Kieran Dale (Henderson). The rules dictated that another run off between these three be held to find the second man to go straight into the final, this was won by Heath with a 5.33.

Class 3 Sports final Some had expected Barry Toomey to have an easy run in the Standard championship, but right away it became apparent that he had some competition in the final. The four races in the final generally followed a similar pattern with Adam Brice rocketing away at the start and building a buffer, only to be thwarted by errors of his own making when Toomey settled in and used all his vast experience to hold the gap. Steve Welford who had worked his way to the final via the ladder system, had done a lot of racing and also looked a strong prospect to take the Sports Car Class final, but in the end it was Toomey who took out the Class 3 Sports final with a total of 89.10 laps, with Brice second on 88.93 and Welford 86.10. Steve Wilson, creditably, was the only driver from outside the host club to make this final, but car problems cost him and he only recorded a 11.31 in one race.
Class 2 Sports/GTP final 18-year-old Phillip Mobberley tried out-psyching John Hawkins in the opening Group 12/15 final. With a car borrowed from Dave Gick, Mobberley stuck with Hawkins as the veteran racer tried to blitz the field. Hawkins did show some concern, but held firm under pressure from the youngster to take the win after four heats with 95.52 laps. Mobberley had some problems in his third race, but was still good enough for second, while Ryan (Justin) Dougherty, one of the new young stars of New Zealand slotcar racing, who excels on any track, suffered a slipping pinion with his R132 and recorded 74.52 laps. Carston also struck gear problems with his R132. As the old adage goes – “to finish first you must first finish.’’
Class 1 Sports/GTP final Everybody was waiting the Open final, where there didn’t appear to be a firm favourite. Kieran Dale who had recently returned from racing in the USA, clinched this class by turning in 26.11 laps in one of his heats, finishing with 103.99 laps in total. Next up was Gill Andrews with 101.82 laps, then a gap back to Split Heath 95.07 and Paul Delautour. Delautour from Palmerston North is a veteran of many seasons racing in New Zealand and showed just what could be done with an older car by keeping a cool and unflustered approach throughout the meeting.
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Round 2 Class 3 GTP and Classes 1 and 2 GPs Having qualified on the Saturday afternoon the Class 3 (Standard) competitors faced the comparatively simple task of fitting a GTP body to their Parma International 32 chassis, while the Class 2 and Class 1 drivers had to re-acquaint themselves with the quite different task of driving 1/32nd scale Grand Prix cars.
Class 3 GTP final After his mammoth effort in coming up from the bottom of the ladder to the final on the Saturday, Steve Welford made sure of his place in the final by qualifying second behind Barry Toomey for the Class 3 GTP final. Toomey top qualified at 6.54, narrowly shading Welford on 6.55. The Christchurch club is recognized as having most of New Zealand’s top Class 3 competitors, as their club night competitions are based around this class. Thus Steve Wilson’s (Dunedin) effort on 6.70 to take third in the qualifyingifying lap by qualifying fourth. Adam Brice shrugged off suggestions of “sand bagging’’ with a 6.99 for fifth as he tried a new controller combination. For the GTP final the same four starters Toomey, Brice, Welford and Wilson, faced the starter as had competed in sports. Once again Brice and Welford threw down a very strong challenge and either two could have taken the final, but the wily Toomey resisted the pressure and won with a total of 88.94 laps. Brice was second again on 88.19 and Welford third on 87.34. Wilson again had some car problems and could not quite challenge the Christchurch trio on a circuit they know intimately. Wilson remains a firm favourite for Class 3 at the South Islands in Dunedin when Toomey will join Hawkins in racing Class 2.
Class 2 GP final John Hawkins and Ryan Dougherty had to race off after both had set equal top qualifying time of 6.61 in Class 2 (Group 12/15) GP qualifying. The result went in Hawkins favour. Phillip Mobberley showed he meant business in the semi and in the first GP final he piled the pressure onto John Hawkins when the latter had an early off. Hawkins regained his composure in the second and marginally pegged back Mobberley’s overall lead. In the third his task was made easier when Mobberley suffered a slipping gear and lost time in the pits. Dougherty took up the chase, and he and Hawkins had a memorable duel in the last race, the older driver finally getting the better of the battle and setting the best Class 2 time of 22.0 laps. After four races Hawkins won with 86.57 laps total, to Dougherty’s 84.47. Another racing veteran Graeme Mitchell from Dunedin drove smoothly to make the most of Mobberley’s problems and took third with 80.14 laps.
Class 1 GP final The shock omission from the GP final was Gill Andrews, who had finished the previous days Sports final in second place and had looked set to pose the biggest challenge to Kieran Dale. During the quarterfinals Andrews had inadvertently picked up his car between the first and second races. This is not permitted by the rules and a committee of club delegates had no choice but to relegate him from the qualifying places. Graeme Saxton (Dunedin) was the top qualifier, with Paul Delautour’s smooth driving paying dividends to earn him second qualifiers spot. In the end, though, Dale on 91.92 laps prevailed and very narrowly headed Saxton 91.78 laps at the finish, while Delautour 88.81 laps just kept Split Heath off the podium – the Nelson driver finishing with 88.13.
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Class 3 Saloon final Having changed wheels and tyres on his International 32 chassis, Toomey was very fast in qualifying for saloons on 6.43 with Brice on 6.55 and Welford 6.66. Once again Lex Omand qualified well on 6.83 but made too many unforced errors in the semis. After all the qualifying was done, Toomey was determined to make no mistake and simply walked away with the saloon final, finishing on 90.73 laps. Brice was once again his nearest challenger on 85.75, while Wilson 83.79 snuck ahead of Welford 83.40 for third.
Class 2 Saloon final With a best lap of 5.84 Hawkins looked a sure bet for the Gp 12/15 final, Dougherty being next up on 6.19. Indeed Hawkins made a rapid start and pulled out a comfortable lead after the first of the four races, but in the second his crown gear stripped early in the race forcing him into the pits for a replacement. With a replacement gear fitted he won the third race, but there was no realistic hope of him winning the saloon class overall. When the replacement gear also stripped in the final race, it was decided that the motor must have moved very slightly and Hawkins retired, having already won the overall Class 2 title. A big battle raged between Mobberley and Dougherty, with Nick Carston finally getting a good run with his R132 also. Mobberley took the saloon win and thus finished second overall. The saloon final was extremely hard fought with Mobberley winning on 90.91 from Dougherty 90.72 and Carston 90.06.
Class 1 Saloon final Andrews looked determined to make amends for his early indiscretion and top qualified in Open Saloons with 5.44, from Dale on 5.55 and James Johnston who was finally getting to grips with the track on 5.71. Kieran Dale, who had already clinched Class 1 overall, looked a little disinterested in the Saloon final and was never a contender for first. Split Heath, Andrews and Johnston all went into the final race with a good chance of winning the section, and at the finish of the great battle it was Heath, who had come to the championship with high hopes of an overall win, who took it out on 93.55 laps, from Johnston 93.39 and Andrews 93.34. Surely the most open and closely contested New Zealand Open Class final for a long time.
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