RIP Quentin Toebes

We’ve just heard that Wellington-based classic Mini racer, Quentin Toebes, passed away on Thursday, 18th May, at  Waikato Hospital. He was well known as the driver of the ex–Brian Innes 1964 red & black Mini Cooper S.

Quentin had been taking part at the MiniFunday at Taupo on Saturday when he became ill and ended up in Taupo hospital before being airlifted to Waikato Hospital.

Quentin will be missed by the classic racing fraternity.

[Thanks to Kevin Taylor of the Auckand Mini Club – and Greg Wenzlick of BMW NZ for the photo of the ex-Brian Innes Mini, as raced by Quentin]

Stanaway urges youngsters to take the challenge – entries close this week.

Should Kiwi motor racing sensation Richie Stanaway get to test a Formula 1 car later this year, it will be a little over five years since the then Tauranga teenager won the annual motor racing scholarship that began his incredible journey.

Stanaway has just started racing in the new Formula Renault 3.5 series in Europe as a development driver in the Lotus Junior Formula 1 program after two outstanding years racing in Germany where he dominated both the Formula Masters and Formula 3 championships.

But Stanaway’s circuit racing career began back in New Zealand in 2007 when he won the TradeZone/SpeedSport Scholarship as a 15-year-old college student and competed in his first single-seater, a Formula First racing car.

“Without a doubt, the basic skills I acquired when racing a Formula First car laid the foundation of my success to move on to Formula Ford, to race in Australia and now in Europe,” said Stanaway.

Signed with the Gravity Management team, it is highly likely that Stanaway will be given the opportunity to test a Formula 1 car at the end of this year, providing he has a successful season in the Renault 3.5 car.

“Winning the Scholarship was a big step-forward in my career. The guidance and experience Dennis [Martin] and his team were able to pass on was invaluable and I would encourage all young drivers to enter the Scholarship. There is so much to learn by just going through the Scholarship experience, and to win it really is the icing on the cake.”

When the class of the 2012 TradeZone/SpeedSport Scholarship are going through their final evaluation sessions at the Manfeild race circuit near Palmerston North on the weekend of 26-27th May, Stanaway will be on the other side of the world in a lead-up race to the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix.

“It will be an unbelievable experience to be racing on the famous Monaco street circuit, and it’s amazing to think that on the same weekend back home, another group of young drivers will be going through that nerve-racking experience of trying to win the SpeedSport Scholarship, just like I did five years earlier, in the hope it will kick-start their careers,” said Stanaway.

As a youngster, 6, he first raced motocross bikes before moving to speedway cars, a year in karting and then to circuit racing and single-seater cars after winning the TradeZone/SpeedSport Scholarship.

Founded in 1990 as a joint partnership between Sabre Motorsport and SpeedSport magazine, the scholarship program has produced some of New Zealand’s best young racing stars. V8 Supercar driver Shane van Gisbergen, who has just turned 23-years-old, won three years prior to Stanaway, and current New Zealand Grand Prix winner Nick Cassidy won in 2009. Cassidy has also just started racing in a junior Renault series in Europe for the British-based Fortec team.

Entries for this year’s TradeZone/SpeedSport Scholardship close at the end of this week [May 20th] and can be made on-line at speedsportscholarship.co.nz

The winner receives an all expenses paid season racing a Formula First car under the guidance and tuition of Dennis Martin and his Sabre Motorsport team, a personalised race suit, boots and racing gloves from Chicane and a new Arai race helmet from Dold Industries. On top of that, the winner will receive off-track tuition and mentoring.

From the US comes the shock news that motoring legend, Carroll Shelby, has passed away at the age of 89.

A one-time chicken farmer, Shelby first made his name as a race-car driver but became an international motoring celebrity with the introduction of the now legendary Shelby Cobra. And, of course, Shelby was also the man who put the muscle in Ford’s success at Le Mans with the GT40, injected go-faster genes into a whole slew of Mustangs and, of course, put extra venom into Chrysler’s Viper.

Shelby was also one of the world’s longest surviving heart transplant recipents, having received a new heart way back in 1990. Indeed, even at Le Mans in 1959, Shelby was using nitroglycerin pills to counter heart problems – and it would be for these reasons that Shelby retired from racing and turned his hand to car design.

In the ‘60s, the Cobra made Shelby’s name a household word and he would also lend his name to very special variations of the Ford Mustang.

Shelby is survived by his wife, Cleo Shelby, three children – Patrick, Michael and Sharon – his sister, Anne Shelby Ellison, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

1953 FX Holden Ute

Every year the team competition at the NZCC/Ellerslie Intermarque Concours is always hotly contested and any car club can enter two of its finest cars to compete against other clubs or, for those keen enough, there’s provision to enter more than one team at the organising committee’s discretion. For instance, over the last few years the Auckland Mustang Owners’ Club has gone to great lengths by entering two teams — finally winning in 2011, giving the club the right to host the 2012 event.

The 2012 NZCC/Ellerslie Intermarque Concours saw six magnificently presented teams from five car clubs — BMW Car Club of NZ Inc, TR Register NZ Inc, Early Holden Club of Auckland Inc, MG Car Club (Auckland) Inc and two teams from the Auckland Mustang Owners’ Club — enter the competition. The stakes are high: the right to host the following year’s event, the right to have two club members present on the organising committee, and a larger percentage of the gate takings. But this competition is more than that, it’s about club pride, the satisfaction of putting up two cars against the rest is what keeps car clubs presenting teams every year.

With two teams entered again, the Auckland Mustang Owners’ Club was, no doubt, keen for a back-to-back victory, but the Early Holden Club of Auckland put paid to that notion by winning with a total combined score of 945 points out of a possible 1180. Not only did it score the prestigious Teams Trophy, but Mark Grey’s glorious 1953 FX Holden ute was the highest scoring car in the overall team event, with a final total of 499 points out of a possible 590. So, let’s start by taking a close look at Mark’s beautifully restored ute.

FX to FJ Swap Over 

Mark Grey’s Holden ute is what’s known as a ‘swap over’ model from FX to FJ. This basically means that Mark’s FX features the ‘old’ look, with new running gear, inheriting the FJ engine and gearbox which is still firmly nestled between the car’s shock towers today.

However, Mark’s passion for Read full story…

This weekend the UK will start celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and Ferrari will be at the heart of the celebrations at the Windsor Castle with Ferraris from 60 years of the Queen’s reign taking part in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant and the legendary supercar maker organizing for 4th Mounted Carabinieri Regiment to perform their famous ‘Historic Carosello’.

The Carosello is a stunning display of horsemanship during which the 4th Mounted Carabinieri Regiment will perform the intricate yet fluid quadrilles, equestrian rides choreographed to music, to showcase the skill and agility of both horses and riders. The programme culminates in the Regiment’s now-legendary and extremely thrilling final charge.

The Diamond Jubilee Pageant takes place from May 10th to 13th. It is a source of great pride to Ferrari to be making such a significant contribution to the celebration and also that two such internationally renowned representatives of Italian excellence have the opportunity to pay tribute to one of the most important Monarchs of our time.

Ferrari will be represented by Chairman Luca di Montezemolo on the final evening of the event which will be attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

If you’ve got FreeView’s tvCentral channel, you’ll be able to tune into coverage of the Beach Hop this week. The show is called Destination Central and broadcast times are:

Monday                 8.30am, 8.00pm

Tuesday                 11.00am, 10.00pm

Wednesday           8.00am, 5.30pm

Thursday                1.30pm, 10.00pm

Friday                     11.00am, 4.30pm

Saturday                8.00am, 1.30pm, 8.00pm

The show will also be repeated on Wednesday at 9.30pm and Thursday at 8.00am on tvRotorua