June

Rally season is in full swing as we notch closer to July. The rockstar world of NZRC saw competing teams migrate south to Invercargill for the Southern Lights Rally. Pack in your winter woollies’, she’s a bit cold.

Club member Ben Hunt put in another stella effort in his striking Skoda to take out 2nd overall, a mere 3 mins off Hayden Paddon’s rally efforts. The events are big, the competition is fierce, and the roads are world famous in New Zealand.

Clubsport events kept up in all their glory. The Northern Rally Sprint Series tracking ahead and netting in a fantastic competitor list for Jacks Ridge, after losing the TVCC round with organizers unfortunately not able to secure a road closure. The North Island Rally Series is also adamant that clubmans and national level rallies will indeed be a solid part of what the 24′ calendar will offer.

The recent Rodney Atchinson Memorial Bentsprint was run on the Awhitu Peninsula and despite the Awhitu winds of Antarctic nature, the event was one to remember. Stumpy Holmes had us in stitches describing his spin down by Hamilton’s corner, comms and control had the coziest setting in the old Awhitu hall in front of roaring fire, Rodney was there, in ashes, hooning around his local roads, and the spectators, wow, we couldn’t be prouder!

The committee has been deliberating and more events they shall bring. Grassroots to those a little larger in nature. We’ve started to roll out some cool events, we need the following, so I look forward to seeing you at one of the next events lined up soon.

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Motorkhana, A&M Showgrounds

Sunday 14th July

Motorkhana will be in paddock situated on the corner of Birch Road and Youngs Grove

Entry via Gate 11.

Entries will be accepted on the day of the event, up till 10.30am.

Entry price is $30

Go to the homepage of our website to see event regulations

We look forward to seeing you there!

May had been a busy month for a few of us. Firstly, SACC’s Jack’s Ridge Rally Sprint, where a number of PCC members either competed or helped out to make the day run smoothly. Thanks to all those who turned up to help, and well done to all our Clubbies for their efforts!

May 24-25 saw Nikki Sim and I head to the Motorsport NZ Conference and AGM over Friday and Saturday- then fly back of Saturday night to be at the Rodney Atchinson Memorial Kemp Rd Bentsprint

A highlight of the MSNZ Conference was the opportunity to connect with other Clubs, hear the issues concerning both MSNZ and Clubs, and ways to overcome them. Clubs are looking to work smarter, and hopefully work together more, as we are all struggle for volunteers to run our events- work smarter not harder!

 As with all these kinds of events, there was plenty of time to do that connection and have good conversations with other Clubs, swapping ideas and ways to make things work- now to turn those words into action! Watch this space…..

What a fantastic event we had at Rodney’s event! We had a small field- but as they say- quality not quantity. What a great range of cars that certainly didn’t disappoint the spectators. Great to see the Stratos of Craig and Suzie on the road, along with the always hard to beat Hyabusa Starlet of Kevin Sanderson, with son Paul having a good drive as well. One highlight was watching Deane Young’s Drift Car in action- something a bit different- certainly fitted with the Conference’s push for inclusiveness.

As someone said it is the best attendance to participant ratio seen! What a turnout for the event. We certainly didn’t struggle for volunteers for the day, even though it was not that pleasant out on the road. Those in Control had the best spot- with the fire going.

The drivers were incredibly generous, giving some of those present the opportunity to go for a ride, including Rodney’s daughter- big grins everywhere

Congratulations to all those who competed- especially to Kevin Sanderson taking out the Overall place – being the first recipient of the Rodney Atchinson Trophy. Very fitting winner. And how good was it to see Rodneys VW, van and motorbikes on display outside the Awhitu Hall

We now turn our attention to our next big events- including Speed Weekend in November and a potential Rally in March.

Many hands make light work- we would really appreciate people putting their hands up to help with organising and running events- we have plenty of roles up for grabs- from Motorkhanas to our rally events- the list will be coming out soon- so see how you can help make our events successes. Presently it is the PCC Committee doing the bulk of the work- we risk burnout and loss of people if they are expected to do it all, so please help!!

Annual Memberships, 2024 AGM & 2024-25 Club Points

With our club year coming to a close, don’t forget to renew those memberships to make sure you’re ready to race whenever an event pops up. Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 4^th September so please mark this in your diaries/phones/calendars and come along to support the club and the hard-working committee.

Membership renewal can also be done on the night.

As part of the current club direction, we are reviving the club points system after a number of quiet seasons. The aim of this is to get some internal competition back up and running with a number of historic trophies available to be presented to the category winners at the 2025 AGM.

All of our PCC run events will count towards the overall club champion so don’t be shy to get out there and start accumulating points! See below for our current 2024-25 calendar with a few more events in the wind that might be added along the way.

With winter closing in and the race cars staying wrapped up in the shed a little more than we’d like, we’re opening up the paddock gate at the Pukekohe A&P Showgrounds on Sunday 14^th July to have some fun and break those winter blues.

All welcome and this is the perfect opportunity to introduce new friends and family to the sport. Road tyres only. No gravel or mud & snow tyres please.

$30 entry per driver on the day.

2024-25 Motorkhana Series

Following on from the July event, we’re bringing back the annual Pukekohe Car Club motorkhana series with at least 3 (and possibly up to 5) events across the competition year to crown our annual club motorkhana champion.

The first round in August will also be held at the A&P showgrounds top paddock so anyone returning after the stand alone event in July will likely have a little bit of home-turf advantage.

2024-25 Hill Climb Series

For club members looking for the next challenge, we are hoping to run a minimum of 4 hill-climbs over the 2024-25 season. The intention is to run 2 tarmac and 2 gravel events with our annual Speed Weekend at Port Waikato & Limestone Downs on 23/24 November kicking us off in both categories.

The return of Kemp Rd in May this year was a really enjoyable event with lots of familiar faces turning out in honour of Rodney Atchinson as well as great support from the local community. We’re currently aiming for another May date in 2025.

We are also planning for a return to the always-popular Murray Rd to round out the series so keep an eye out for further details on all of these events.

2025 Pukekohe Car Club Rally

After a number of years running the popular Bothwell Loop rallysprint each March, we’re looking to step it up a gear and run a full rally in the Glen Murray / Naike region on Saturday 8^th March. This is proposed to be run as round 1 of the 2025 North Island Rally Series and is partially driven by the desire from a number of upper North Island NZRC competitors to have a decent shakedown prior to the long trip to Dunedin for the first round the national championship.

What does this mean for our round of the Northern Region Rallysprint Series?

We will still hold a round of the series but this will be later in the year than our traditional date and we’re also considering a range of alternative venues for a bit of variety and to give the Bothwell Loop residents a break and thank them for hosting us for 6 or 7 years in row.

Fiona Gower

Meeting held: Tuesday, 18th June

Items of discussions included;

Financial Report

Events planning, persons delegated to set events, many events planned

Rally NZ & MSNZ AGM, really good couple of days, suggested we run Gold Star Hillclimb, focus and promotion of Volunteer Week

General Business, the array of things that fall into this category that are discussed

MotorSport NZ Digest

A recap of all things topical in the MotorSport NZ world.

Firstly, welcome to the motorsport team Deb Day! Serving on the MotorSport NZ board for 8 years, she was elected the 10th president of the sporting body at the recent 77th AGM, taking over from Wayne Christie.

MotorSport NZ is a not-for-profit sports organization appointed by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) as the sole authority to regulate motorsport in New Zealand.

Day’s initial term as president will last three years and her immediate priority is increasing participation.

“Like every sport, it’s expensive to a be a part of, and in our sport there’s a bit more investment involved,” Day says.  

“The more that we can talk about careers in motorsport, or participating in motorsport, the list of ways to be involved is huge. If we can start to tap into that and get some career plans going with kids in high school and university, then we can set the feet in the right direction for the sport in the future.”

We wish Deb all the very best as she settles into the new role.

It can seem overwhelming at the beginning of the journey competing in motorsport, and trying to understand the sport.

MotorSport NZ continues to ‘break down’ all the key areas to get you started as a competitor.

All members of Pukekohe Car Club are happy to take any person under a wing to show you what you need to know.

Shadow and be part of a pit crew at a rally, speak to members at rallysprint level and be a codriver and start leaning pace notes. One of the most entertaining options – attend a club motorkhana/coned course with your road car, meet the team and fire any questions our way.

GET STARTED: COMPETE

Click above to follow the steps to get race ready.

GET STARTED: VOLUNTEER

Click above to follow the steps to get volunteer ready.

PCC Club member Nikki Sim is part of the MotorSport NZ Volunteer Commission and is happy to aid people willing to volunteer in the sport.

GET STARTED : VIDEO TUTORIALS

Click above to access any of the interactive ‘how to’ videos.

Elton Goonan has resigned as MotorSport New Zealand’s Chief Executive Officer effective 27 June 2024.

“After discussions with the Board over the past few weeks, I have decided to step down from the role and to take some time to reset and focus on my family,” says Goonan.

“It has been a privilege to work with the dedicated team at MotorSport New Zealand and our incredible volunteers across the country through the challenges of recent years. Together, we continue to see a wide array of motorsport events run most weekends of the year, from grassroots to internationally-accredited rally and race events.

“I’m sure the organization and the sport will continue to thrive and grow, and I look forward to supporting the sport in the future.”

Elton has been our hard working CEO contributing heavily to the sport. Often seen at clubsport events, it was always great seeing Elton in person and testament to his dedication in the role.

The resignation has come as a bit of a shock, however we thank Elton for his time at MSNZ and wish him the very best.

Rally in the South

After a 20-year absence, this Southern Rally has come back with force. Known then as the Southland Rally, now named Southern Lights Rally, this event delivered to the competitors and crowds who got to embrace some of the most famous rally gravel stages.

Not for the faint hearted, Pebbly hills Forest night stage looked intense, check out the in-car footage from one of the competitors.