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What started out from a brief discussion with Chris Wong of the Napier Performance Slot Racing Club at the North Island Champs at the Henderson Club earlier this year that Kieran and I would like to travel down to his new track in Napier to have a play and show some of the local hard bodied racers what our slot cars are like turned into a most relaxing enjoyable full on slot car meeting.

We left Auckland at 5.00am on the Saturday morning in the pouring rain, it was the weekend of the first storm and it rained all weekend,
picking up John Crothers in Taupo we arrived at Chris’s track just before midday, straight into practice with the slot-it cars, Paul and Gill
arrived not long after from Palmerston North, then the Wellington racers, Chris, Allan, Keith and Rhys arrived.

All the visiting racers leaving about midday on the Sunday to travel home in the rain, we arrived back in Auckland about 6.00pm.

First up on the program was the Slot-it 3 Hour Endurance Race, with four teams (see results for team members) of four racing Chris
Wong prepared Slot-it McLaren F1 GTR Le Mans cars, to make it even the four cars stayed in the same lanes and the drivers changed.

Well it was all on with the experienced hard body racer teams of the Hawkes Bay Model Club and the Napier Performance Club up
against the non hard bodied racers from Wellington, Palmerston North and Auckland, as the race progressed the competitive nature
of all the drivers started show as the time ticked by all the teams realised that there was not a great deal difference between them
considering the vast difference in experience between all the drivers.

The Napier Performance racers winning the day from the Pure Wellington team by 13 laps, 57 laps further back was the Open Boys team
then in fourth only 5 laps further back was the Hawkes Bay Model racers.

Then it was the HARD Mans Race with any Hard Bodied slot car, it was run as 4 heats of 2 minutes, Chris Wong bring out his fast well
prepared car and one for Kieran, I was surprised how fast a well tuned car could go, Chris winning the HARD Mans Race with
John Warren 2^nd, Grego 3^rd and Kieran 4^th the first of the non hard bodied racer.

On the Sunday the track was glued up in readiness for the 1/24^th Falcon Flexi LMP Challenge, again this was run as 4 heats of 2
minutes, John Crothers winning from Paul deLatour and Chris Dillon, very close racing with the top four only 3 laps apart.

To finish the weekend of it was all on to set a outright lap record, Gill built up a Open Wing car and set the best time of 2.375 sec
followed by Kieran with his 1/24^th Open Euro Sport on 2.769 sec.

A great weekend had by all, a big thanks to Chris and his family for making us all welcome, we hope it all happens again next year.

Rob and Kieran Dale.