Swichtec Annual Ruapuna Track Day

19 July 1998

I heard it so many times during the week preceding the 19th of July... "Tempting fate, aren’t ya?"...

It is true that for some months I had been haunted by recurring nightmares of multiple grey 323s viciously ramming my defenceless MR2, snarling "you can run, but you can’t hide!!", then spewing boiled brake fluid all over my pristine burgundy paintwork before speeding off to Europe whilst laughing amongst themselves (several painstaking sessions with my psychiatrist had failed to extract any meaning from this bizarre dream). I’d wake up then, sitting bolt upright in a cold sweat and then sprint out to the garage to make sure my baby was ok and it was all just a dream. But extensive therapy and a month of solitude in the Amazon rainforest had put all that behind me and I was now ready to return to the race track. Besides, I don’t believe in fate, at least that’s what I kept telling myself...

Once each winter electronics guru and motor racing fanatic Dennis Chapman offers his employees at Swichtec Power Systems in Christchurch the rare opportunity to have a ride around Ruapuna raceway in an assortment of exotic supercars and race cars, and to try their hand at chucking their own car around the track. This year I was fortunate enough to be allowed to invite along a few local MR2 Club members, and for some of them it was to be their first time on a race track. The club was to be represented by a total of seven cars, five of which were to be driven on the track - resident Swichtec members Kirk Brocas, Ben Jones and myself, driving Mk2s GT and NA, and Mk1 SC respectively were joined by Danny Blair and Jason Murdoch who made the trip from Dunedin in their Mk1 SCs to take part in the event, while Nick Parker (Mk1 SC) and Deb and Rex Webb, driving RDDWRF, their Mk1 NA, came along to watch and catch a few rides in some of the megabuck machinery on display.

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The rather impressive BMW 318i Super Touring race car.

Sunday dawned fine and mild - an unprecedented occurrence for a Swichtec track day, the weather for which is traditionally as miserable as a V8 trying to pull 7500 rpm. The owners of the four Mk1s I had invited must have been pretty excited about it all, because they were all waiting for me when I arrived at the designated meeting place (my flat), on time, after I had been out to pick up my essential Kiwi Big Breakfast from McDonald’s, which is rumoured to contain some salubrious chemicals which are good for your concentration, not to mention remarkable hangover alleviating properties. After a quick stop to pump up the tyres to a tooth filling-dislodging 40psi we headed for the track, the line of 5 Mk1s turning quite a few heads along the way which I led somewhat erratically, making a wrong turn - the McDonald’s obviously hadn’t kicked in yet. Upon arriving at Ruapuna I had a cautious look around at the other cars which had turned up - no 323s. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Dennis’s collection of drool-inducing machines includes two Ferraris - a 348 and a Testarossa, a BMW 318i Super Tourer race car, a pair of Fiat X1-9 Arbarth replica race cars, an M-spec 540i Beemer and his latest toy - a $200,000 reproduction of a 1960s Ferrari 206 Dino race car (a 600kg, 230bhp slingshot). Other cars present that were offering rides included two more Ferraris - a 308GTB and a very sexy yellow 246 Dino, a Sierra Cosworth race car and a Porsche 911 Turbo.

The first thing to do after having your car scrutineered is to hitch a lift around the track in one of the cars offering rides - this gives neophyte Villeneuves the opportunity to get an idea about all the best lines, braking and accelerating points around the circuit. Punters can choose which cars they want to ride in (but be prepared to queue for up to an hour for the BMW and the 206), don their helmet and jump in the passenger seat for one helluva ride. The cars are driven like they were built to be driven - hard! Den and his mates are expert pedallers, and really know how to extract the most from these fantastic machines. The BMW 318 in particular is capable of levels of grip which seem to defy the laws of physics - most people getting out of the car after a ride have glazed-over eyes and an ear-to-ear grin, which can only be removed with the aid of prolonged hypnotherapy or a ride in an Austin Allegro. The stratospheric power of the Testarossa is something that has to be experienced to be appreciated, while the extreme smoothness, effortless torque and soul-stirring exhaust note of the 348 provides one of life’s memorable moments. But the best ride of the day had to be in the 206. Just getting into the tiny Ferrari is a mission in itself - the car sits so low you can file your fingernails on the tarmac by hanging your arm over the side and it feels staggeringly fast - it must be the biggest adrenaline rush short of a plane crash.

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Members cars from left to right: Danny, Mike, Deb & Rex and Jason.

At the driver’s briefing the rules for the event were spelled out in no uncertain terms; the cars were to be allowed out onto the track at safe intervals, and any form of racing or over-aggressive driving would not be tolerated. Road cars would be allowed to circulate 3 or 4 times before being flagged back into the pits - this is for good reason - standard brakes and road tyres can’t usually cope with much punishment without being allowed to cool off a bit! Even Dennis’s Ferraris, with all their high performance hardware, have brakes which are heavily modified from standard so they can cope with the rigours of sustained abuse.

There was a total of around 15 road cars which were to be driven on the track, of which no more than six were allowed out of the pits at any one time, in addition to the cars giving rides. Most of the road cars in attendance were performance oriented machines, including cars such as a V-TEC Civic, SS Commodore, RS Legacy, Porsche 928 S4 and a 350ci V8 Mk1 Escort - now that’s a real car....

Ruapuna is a fairly long and challenging course of about 3.2km, consisting of corners of varying angle, radius and camber, a couple of short straights and one longer straight, on which my car reaches about 175km/h, the BMW 207km/h (according to the readout from it’s on-board computer). It is a very safe track, quite smooth and wide and with plenty of run-off on all but two corners and as such is the perfect place to exploit the capabilities of a fun mid-engined sports car. While the Beemer laps in mid 1min 30s, anything around 2 minutes flat is pretty respectable for a road car.

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Got a spare $200,000? If so, then you can have one of these replica 1960s Ferrari Dino 206 race cars!

My first excursion onto the track was a bit frustrating as I got held up by the 928, which was obviously being driven very cautiously indeed. It wasn’t until much later in the afternoon when I had my second and final drive of the day that I was able to get a clear run and put in some decent lap times. Meanwhile Rex and Deb had been for rides in several different race cars and also the Ferrari Testarossa, which they proclaimed to be the most "boring" car at the track!!! It wasn’t that it was actually boring, Deb later explained - far from it, just that it was very smooth, comfortable and quiet compared to the raucous, raw and violent BMW and Fiat race cars. (Perhaps "least thrilling" would have been a more appropriate description!). Jason and Danny were hardly ever to be seen out of their cars, and Jason’s presence was emphatically announced every time he roared down the front straight, his custom twin exhaust producing a fantastic sounding bark which was nearly as loud as some of the race cars!!

The supercharged MR2s did their owners proud, achieving better lap times than all of the other road cars (prancing horse cars excepted, of course) and not too far shy of some of the race cars! The best the V8 Escort driver could manage was a tail-wagging 2:03... but who cares about handling when you’ve got a stack through the bonnet and metallic crimson paintwork with matching diff right??? The owner of said Ford drove off rather sheepishly after having a big lose right in front of the BMW race car, which was forced to take evasive action. The guy would have been sent packing if he hadn’t left of his own accord, dragging his knuckles behind him. The only other road car which really looked fast was the V-TEC Civic - it’s best time was a respectable 1:58, which matched Danny’s best recorded time. Jason managed a 1:55, and he would have gone even faster if he’d had some better tyres and his intercooler sprayer hadn’t run out of water. I obviously don’t have to tell anyone reading this that the ‘2 is two of the best handling cars around and it goes without saying that they are probably more fun to drive on the track than almost any other road car - purple diff or not.

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Fiat Abarth race car after an "off" - wwooppss!

Unfortunately as I had been drafted to help with managing the queues and strapping people into the cars (all of Dennis’ cars have 5-point harnesses), I wasn’t left with much opportunity to record lap times, hence the incomplete list below.

My personal highlight, apart from achieving my personal best lap time of 1:54, had to be dragging off a body-kitted and big-wheeled late-model Falcon XR8 down the front straight, to the delight and surprise of other MR2 owners watching from behind the pit wall. An entertaining moment was also had watching Jason give the Sierra Cosworth race car a run for it’s money down the same stretch - it took the entire length of the main straight for the Ford to just nudge past him before the corner! Footage from Jason’s in-car video camera revealed another somewhat hair-raising moment which involved his car spectacularly spinning around and leaving the track backwards; Jason insists he was just parking up so he could get a good picture of the Ferrari going past... we suspect he has secret aspirations of becoming a Hollywood stunt driver.

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Members cars from left to right: Ben, Danny, Deb & Rex, Mike, Jason and Nick

Most importantly, everyone managed to drive away at the end of the day in cars which were the same shape as they had been in the morning. Now I know the nightmares are gone forever.

All round an excellent day was had by all, and despite what happened to me in March of this year, I can definitely recommend taking your own car out on the race track at a non-competitive event - its a great way to learn about it’s handling and braking characteristics and to enjoy it’s full potential without fear of a rogue power pole or tree jumping out in front of you!

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The first two cars are owned by Dennis Chapman, and have in the past been seen competing in the NZ Targa.

P.S. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Ade and Steve for their generosity and advice in getting my car back in one piece and to the others who have offered their assistance during what has been a frustrating ordeal for me. It’s much appreciated.

Mike Wallace