18th April 2003

Saturday 19th  We pulled up to the track and there were 10 other Limited Saloons 85p ,15h ,56m ,21m ,9b ,39b ,28w ,18b ,72w ,17w and myself. We were out in the first race of the night and I drew grid 1 and outside me on 2 was 56m and I knew that I had to beat him to the 1st turn which I did. The track was pretty good for us and I went on to win.     

Race 2   Started on grid 6 beside me on grid 4 was 21m Steve Williams, up front was 18b,  9b, 15h by this time the track had some big holes through all the turns. At the start I got the jump on 21, then I did an inside pass on 15h through turn 1 then an outside pass on 9b on the exit of turn 2  and up ahead was 18b John Browne. I followed the 18b car for a couple of laps and exiting turn 4 I gave the 18 car a nudge, not enough to put him off his driving line (I might add at this stage of the race the pot holes were getting bigger) I chased John down the start finish line then through turns 1&2  at the back straight coming into turn 3 I did an outside pass on 18 and through my car sideways in front of him so I could miss the big pot hole on the exit of turn 4. John drove into the side of my car then at that stage he went infield with a flat rear tyre, and I went on to win race 2. 

BUT the drama didn't stop there? As I got out of my car the referee (who happens to be 18b John Brownes father inlaw) came over to my car and asked me to bring my log book and meet him in the Stewards office which I did.  As I closed the door he said to me (and I Quote) "You have put me in a real predicament here" (unquote). He then went on to say that because I took the driving line of the 18b car on my pass coming into turn 3, that I was going to EXCLUDED from that race. I couldn't believe what I just heard, i've been racing 29 years, I have done the same passing manoeuvre on many occasions, and a lot of other saloon drivers do exactly the same passing manoeuvres and don't get pinged for it. When I left the room I was fuming mad Ok if they were going to do something about it Relegate me a place or two but not get excluded, maybe its time the SNZ officials had a good look at Family ties through the classes and that official shouldn't have any bearing decisions made on that particular class . OK enough said about race 2. 

Race 3 and this time on was off the back on grid 11. Up ahead there were a lot of good drivers I started picking them off one by one, I was following the 56m car of Stacey McGovern through turns 1&2 and I was having difficulty trying to hold the car in a straight line but after a few laps I did the big outside pass on 56 coming off turn 2 and rode up the wall but managed to pass ok which put me up to 6th place where I finished. So the first night was drama for me as points were concerned because my EXCLUSION lost me 11 points and that was the race (for obvious reasons) I had to drop.