Bathurst in the Park goes off with a roar!
New Zealand’s
own Bathurst in the Park roared its way to success with V8 fans and
petrol heads making their way to Pukekohe Raceway on Sunday, in support
of the Kids in Cars charity.
From
9:00am until 4:00pm there were varied kinds of racing action, including
muscle cars, race cars and V8 Supercars on offer for hot laps. I was
even lucky enough to sneak a front seat ride in one of the Holden V8
Super Utes, which drifted around corners leaving clouds of smoke in its
wake.
Over
lunch spectators were given a spectacular show with the Hulme CanAm
Supercar taking two lucky punters for the rides of their lives around
the track. This was accompanied by the stunt Utes drifting around each
other, speeding Suzuki swifts and V8 Holden’s competing in speed heats
diving in and out of cones.
One
of the drivers of the Holden’s was ‘Racing’ Ray Williams, a popular
driver with the public as he tended to break the speed limit when
taking them for rides. I kept this in mind when jumping into the front
seat of his power-horse of a car, but was both relieved and nervous
when he showed his 35years of experience and began to take me through
the step by step instructions of controlling the beast, whilst hitting
250kmph!
While
some were experiencing adrenaline pumping rides around the track,
others were entertained by the live feed from the actual Bathurst 1000
in Australia, V8 simulators, food stalls and carnival rides for the
kids. Then there were those that just sat in the sun and enjoyed the
gorgeous weather that the week had been lacking.
It
is also fantastic that all the proceeds raised from this Kids in Cars
event are being donated to the Kidz First Children’s Hospital to help
fund new paediatric equipment.
If
you missed out on this extremely fun-filled day this weekend, don’t
fret! The boys and their toys will be back again on January 16th 2010 to raise more funds for Camp Quality and I will definitely see you there.
By Kelly Bowen.