History
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Way back in 1986, Donn White of Tauranga started a series for BMC 4 cylinder cars raced over three or four North Island circuits - Taupo, Manfeild, Pukekohe and the now defunct, Bay Park in Tauranga.

The series gradually gained in popularity, attracting Minis, MG Midgets, MGBs and a Wolseley 1500 - albeit with a larger engine, and had a format of two races per meeting.   Traditionally, the first race was a scratch race - naturally enough, fought out by the faster cars.  the second was a handicap, but regardless of the results, the overall series was normally won by one of the quicker cars.

Around 1994, TACCOC had a series for Classic British Sports & GTs, with fairly low key rules and a bonus point system which was biased towards old, wire wheeled, woodfen framed, British Racing Green, non trailered cars with less than oil tight engines and not running on Japanese tyres or spark plugs...  The series ran for a couple of years but was then dropped when there was a change of club policy.

At the end of the 1995/96 season, the BMC series was left without a convenor and what was left was a divided group of drivers split into two camps.  I was asked to take over the series by derek Prior, a former MGCC (Auckland)  President, as we had worked well together running sprints and hillclimbs in the past.

So, in 1996, the series restarted.

A NEW BEGINNING

A quick investigation showed that the series was less than viable with the number of drivers left, so a quick decision was made to move into a new era.  The first move was to expand the catchment to British Leyland cars, which let in Triumphs.  At the same time, the 4 cylinder rule was scrapped which then let in Jaguars, Austin Healeys, Standards, Rovers  etc.

The series ran like this for a year, and I was more than a bit frustrated that my own British GT car had no series in which it could run.  The idea of the fastest car always winning in a classic event for a mixed bag of cars, didn't seem consistent with Classic racing philosphy.  Well, not mine anyway...   The format was changed to two handicap races, with the idea that any car could stand a chance of winning.

With the permission of Chris Watson, the leading light behind the TACCOC series was happy for us to absorb the other British Sports and GT cars, so for the 1996/7 season, Marcos, Morgan, Lotus, TVR, Reliant etc, were added to the list of potential runners - and i had somewhere to race.

Series rules were drawn up in detail with considerable communication with the governing body - Motorsport New Zealand (or MANZ as it was back then).

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Contact details:  series@tops.co.nz   

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