LG Nova Race Report : Teretonga Park, 22 March 2009

Once again, we were thrilled at the chance to drive the 500hp Pre-65 class 1963 Chevy Nova SS in its second-ever outing in eight years – building on the experience gained in Christchurch two weeks prior.  A big thank you to LG, Delo and Mag & Turbo Warehouse for making it all possible!

The LG Nova was a major talking point throughout the weekend given how long it has been ‘hiding’, with lots of people telling me it was good to see me ‘pedalling’ something different from the Falcon and Mini I have raced at Teretonga so far this year.  This was my third race meeting at Teretonga in as many months, so it was great to get more ‘up close and personal’ with race fans given the more informal nature of this race meeting.

Gareth Hall who owns the car, and the Christchurch crew had been busy with the “wish list” left after the last outing at Ruapuna, and a number of improvements had been made to the LG Nova over the last in the two weeks. A big thanks must go to Gareth, Pete, John, Dean and Rod.

QUALIFYING – 1^st

Sunday morning dawned cold but clear, perfect for good lap times, and after 4 laps I thought that was as good as it would go and parked up (no hi-tech radio communications here!) When the times came out we were pleased to be on pole alongside local expert Wayne “Tuff” Tuffley in his Mustang Notchback who is the current lap record holder.

RACE 1 (6 laps) – 1^st

After a great start we were able to narrowly hold off Wayne over all six laps for the win! However there was something amiss in the rear of the car causing it to veer erratically under braking… she’s a handful anyway so this just added to the challenge!  All in all a very exciting race to be part of.

RACE 2 (6 laps) – 2^nd

Race two sees the top 50% finishing order from race one being reversed, so we started mid-pack.  We roared off the line only to find a Cortina doing its best to push one of the other Mustangs off the track, making the gap I was heading through rapidly disappear!  So we squeezed through with a tap in the rear quarter panel to resume battle with the other V8s. After a good battle we were pipped by the finest of margins (.004 of a second) by “Tuff” and in the process he reset his lap record, thanking me for pushing him so hard.

RACE 3 (full reverse grid) – 4th

A full reverse grid with time delay start saw us starting at the back with “Tuff”. We once again battled throughout and managed to pick off all the cars except for a couple of “runners” who had magically found some pace for the handicap race ….. the poor Anglia driver who was sandwiched by 900 horsepower of angry Mustang and Nova over the finish line may still be recovering!