The ever-growing Christmas at the Downs took place over the weekend, a massive turnout showcasing some magnificent machines of both today and days gone by at Hampton Downs.
Hosted by TACCOC, the event saw the BMW Race Driver Series, Classic Trials, ERC Classic Race Series, Historic Muscle and Saloon Cars and Historic Single Seaters all grace the track.
The weather failed to put any of the drivers off, instead adding to the spectacle on track, drivers pushed to their limits creating some fantastic racing.
There was also some top New Zealand talent strewn throughout the field, including Porsche Carrera Cup race-winner Callum Hedge and GT4 Scandinavia driver Harry McDonald.
Photographer Neville Bailey has shared some of his incredible shots with us, which you can see below.
BMW Race Driver Series
BMW Race Driver Series took to the track for two races, the first an eight-lap sprint followed by a 1-Hour rolling start enduro. Grant Baguley (2000 BMW E46) showed he was the one with pace, claiming outright victory in both events.
Graham Ball (2008 BMW M3) came second in both races whilst Tom Alexander (2001 BMW E46) rounded out the podium in the sprint as David Whitburn (2009 BMW E92 M3) did in the Enduro.
It was a successful event for the ever-growing series, some 31 cars taking part in the shorter race and 32 in the 1-Hour. A range of familiar faces took part in the event, including 2023 TRS scholarship winner Callum Hedge and multiple GT4 Scandinavia podium-sitter Harry McDonald.
Classic Trial
As the name suggests, Classic Trial represents a time trial designed for road going classic cars. Three 12-minute sessions took place during Christmas at the Downs, producing mixed results.
It was Graham Hunter, in a 1989 Suzuki Swift GTi, who took the first run, just .003 of a second between himself and the 1973 Ford Escort RS 2000 driven by Ken Smith.
Smith bounced back in the second to get the better of Hunter by .061 of a second whilst Peter O’Sullivan set a ripping 1min 25.836sec in his 1996 BMW M3 to take the third trial over Smith by nearly 4 seconds.
ERC Classic Race Series
European Racing Classics (ERC) is a series dedicated to “pre-1978 European saloons, sports and GT cars, a few Datsun 240Zs and newer European cars that can race compatibly with the rest of the group.”
In the faster Arrow Wheels class it was Bryce Platt who set the benchmark early in his 1987 Porsche 944, taking a commanding 13.7 second victory over Ray Williams’ 1970 Ford Perana Capri in the opening 8-Lap grid-start race.
It was Ken Williams (1968 Mercedes 280CE) who took the first win in the AES/Trade Zone, coming home an impressive sixth overall.
Shiane Rinkin ran an absolutely mammoth race in her 1999 BMW 320i E46 to take overall honours in the second run, a handicap start seeing an improvement on her 20th-placed finish in the opener to take the flag. Impressively, she runs in the the slower class and held on for victory over a fast-finishing George Adams (1992 TVR Tuscan Challenge) by less than a second. Adams was the first of the Arrow Wheels class.
Race 3 brought about more of the same, a handicap, eight-lapper seeing Ray Williams earn his first victory of the weekend, less than one second the gap to the 1980 Volvo 242 GT driven by Des Redgwell.
John Honore (1965 Ford Cortina Mk1 GT) took honours in the AES/ Trade Zone class, consistent lap times ensuring the faster second-placed Barry Hare (1995 MG F) was unable to catch up and work his way through.
Historic Muscle & Saloon Cars
An 11 car field took part in three 8-Lap races for the Historic Muscle and Saloon class. The first, grid-start race was won by the 1974 Ford Mk1 Escort of Elliott Frame, 18 seconds the gap to Sean McCaughan’s 1971 Ford GT HO Falcon. It was Michael McCaughan (1971 Ford Falcon GT) who held off a charging Frame to win the handicap-starting second whilst Sean McCaughan bounced back from his Race 1 second-place to win the third.
Historic Single Seaters
The beauty of the Historic Single Seaters was on display for three 8-Lap runs at Hampton Downs. An impressive 16 cars attended the meet, split across three classes including Historic Formula Ford, Historic Formula Junior and Historic Sports Racing Cars
Race 1’s Formula Ford-class was won by Mike Davidson (1984 Reynard Formula Ford) over Gerald Duncan (1975 Cheetah 02). That was how things remained in the second and third races also.
Steve Sharp made sure the Formula Ford’s were made to work for their spoils, finishing on the overall podium in all three races, including getting the better of Duncan in Race 2.
The Formula Junior class was also hotly contested and, despite having a smaller engine size to the newer Formula Ford, were in the mix outright, not making it easy for the faster cars.
It was Nigel Russell, in a 1960 FMZ FJ, who took the first race over Peter Benbrook (1959 Gemini Mk2 FJ).
Noel Woodford (1962 Elfin Formula Junior) bounced back from a Race 1 DNF to win the second over Benbrook, who finally got the result he was after in Race 3, beating Nigel Russell (1960 FMZ FJ).
