Motorsport Port circuit for classics

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 31

Motorsport Port circuit for classics

John Hawkins

on RACING

On November 13, the normally-tranquil streets of Lyttelton will echo to the sound of highly-tuned engines.

Sunday drivers will make way for classic car racers when the Classic Motor Racing Clubs hold the first 3ZB Lyttelton Waterfront Motoring Classic.

More than 150 classic cars, including famous marques such as Jaguar, Lotus, Alfa Romeo, MG and others, will be represented at the meeting along with classic motorcycles.

An organising committee of the Lyttelton Rotary members, Lyttelton Main School representatives and Classic Motor Racing Club members is working on the meeting, which has become a major exercise in logistics.

According to the committee chairman, Brian Porteous, the meeting’s aims are to promote Lyttelton, provide family entertainment and raise money towards the purchase of a bus for community use. Quite apart from designing the actual course, which takes in most of the business district as well as the waterfront area, the committee had to seek

and gain permission for the use of the roads from locaal authorities. Members had to organise parking and traffic flow plans and ensure adequate safety measures for the thousands of spectators expected to travel to the port to watch the races.

The 24 five-lap races will be run between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on a challenging I.4km circuit. Apart from the racing, a food area will be set up, and a motor show will be held in the school grounds. More than 150 Rotary members will be there to ensure the meeting runs smoothly. Although park-

ing areas will be set aside near the oil installations and at the container wharves, organisers say the most hassle-free way of travelling to the circuit will be via a steam train excursion carrying spectators from the Christchurch Railway Station While the inside of the circuit will be out of bounds to spectators (to alleviate problems with people crossing the track), a number of excellent vantage points will be available.

Spectator protection will be in the form of stout barriers formed from wharf piles. The spectators will be set back further again from these roped-off areas. Although the value of the machinery competing at the meeting will be counted in millions of dollars, the drivers will all be competing for the love of the sport and the chance to drive their cars in unusual circumstances. A member of the organising committee and vice-president of the Classic Motor Racing Club, Dennis Stanton, says that inquiries have been received about the meeting from all over the country, yet not a cent of prize money will be at stake.