Racing in the Alfa Romeo Trofeo Series

Trofeo tales

Trofeo Series at the HRC Icebreaker
Pukekohe 15 & 16 September 2007

Spring brings with it many good things. For the committed Alfisti, the best of those good things is of course the start of the motor racing season.

The new season always brings with it new cars, new competitors, and of course all the various modifications and developments carried out over the off-season.

Some interesting new cars have entered the series for 2007/8. PETER DOMMETT arrived with his gorgeous red Group N factory 156. LEON HENRY, new to the series, has entered a 155 2.5 V6 in the GTA class, and JOHN NUTTHALL, also a new face in the series has entered his 1968 GTV in the Veloce class.

Amongst the established competitors, RON DIJKMANS orange Sud had been re-fitted with a 16 valve engine. SIMON MILLS had gone up from the "semi-modified" Trofeo class to the Veloce class, his silver Sud now carrying Ron Dijkmans former engine. The additional horsepower meant that both were going very much more quickly than the previous season.

WILLY OXLEY arrived with a very newly prepared engine, and looking confident for the season. JOHN RHODES arrived with his newly panelbeaten and re-painted car looking very smart indeed.

The "Icebreaker" meeting is often cold and wet. It was a revelation on Saturday morning to arrive to a circuit with blue skies and sunshine.

Practice for the Trofeo series cars went smoothly enough. A number of other cars had joined up with other race fields (Arrow wheels, Leisuretime, etc) to provide some additional track time.

Tony Olissoff went out in his Alfasud to practice with another field, and came back with a spanner sticking out of his windscreen!! He had been following a Jaguar on the back straight, at over 160kmh when the spanner flew up from the Jag, smashing the plastic cover over the bonnet vent, and impaling itself into the windscreen. (see photo !!)
Tony was not injured, but was distinctly unimpressed !

Following a visit to the scrutineers, the hole was taped over and Ollie was able to run in the next race. To his credit the Jag owner did come by the Alf pit area and was seen trying to make things right with Ollie.

BRENT GLADDING in his white 16V 33 and BRENT STRATTON in his red 16v 33 were matching practice times within a fraction of a second and look like being a well matched and competitive "double act" for the season. (Brent to the power of two ?)

The first grid race was held in near perfect weather, and all the starters had a great run. JIM NEWSHAM had gear selection problems, so unfortunately couldn't start. Jim, being the good keen man that he is, took the car home and sorted the problem out overnight, and was back for the second day of the meeting. JOHN NUTTHALL and LEON HENRY, both competing for the first time in the series, had good steady first races, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

There were some good contests throughout the field. JOHN RHODES and I had a great first race, clocking identical lap times to the 1/100th of a second, and were 0.22 sec apart at the end. MAX VAN MAANEN and TINA GLENNIE resumed their battle of last year, this round going in Max's favor.

The Sunday was a complete contrast to the beautiful weather on the Saturday. Misty rain was the order of the day. We all put our best wet weather tyres on (if any !) and went out for the race in very wet conditions. The start was more interesting than usual, with some cars getting away well, and one or two just sitting wheel spinning while others ducked and dived around them.

With mist and spray everywhere, the field dashed into Castrol corner (The entry onto the back straight) WILLY OXLEY's car, ever the trend-setter, decided that a spin was in order, and gave Willy a rotation. Several other cars emulated the feat during the race, some more than once !! It seems that wet weather and big horsepower are not the happiest combination.

Two drivers, who will remain nameless were "potted" for start line "creeping" in this race by the vigilant start line marshals, and received time penalties in the race.

Peter Dommett's lovely 156 Group N suffered a cambelt/timing problem in this race, and came into the pits with a curious knocking noise coming from the engine. Here's hopng that the cure is an inexpensive one.

The handicap race, the Trofeo Series' last for the weekend, was won by BRENT STRATTON in his Veloce class 16v 33, from WILLY OXLEY and RON DIJKMANS. It was nice to see the handicapping allowing a slightly slower car to get to the front.

Alfa drivers, doing a bit of "moonlighting" in other series also had a great time. CHRIS BROWNE, MAX VAN MAANEN and BRENT GLADDING running their 33s in the AES (Auckland Engineering Supplies) races, formerly the Leisuretime series. Brent just missing out winning one of their races by 0.25 second ! Brent's driving has developed well, and his car going similarly . A great effort.

BILL RITCHIE, who was also Clerk of the Course for the meeting, had kindly arranged for the Alfa Club tent to be erected in the pits, and it was soon joined by the Trofeo Series' own tent, providing shelter from both the sunshine and the rain. The tents are a great social venue during a meeting, and a nice spot for lunch if the weather isn't the best.

An invitation had been extended to other club members to drop in at the meeting, and a number did. RICHARD PLUMPTON, northern club representative came on Saturday, repairs to his car not quite completed from the shunt at the end of last season. MARK RANTIN's black Sud was also away, being tended to by the panel shop.

There is a bit of a wait until our next event, Taupo on 2nd and 3rd December. This is due to the October TACCOC meeting in Taupo being cancelled for this year by TACCOC due to organizational problems. There is also difficulty of running fair series races in the large mixed grids at the MG (Whittakers) meeting in November, although a number of cars will no doubt make their way there.

The December meeting at Taupo, hosted by the Historic Racing and Sports Car Club is for many, the favorite of the year, and is always well attended and thoroughly enjoyed. It is always run in a relaxed manner, and provides plenty of racing action.

Any club members interested in having a look at the action will be most welcome. Please feel free to drop by the pits and have a chat !

Full results and lap times for all competitors can be found on the Historic Racing Club website at www.grandprix.org.nz, under "results". Class points for the Trofeo Series will be posted on the Trofeo series website at www.trofeo.org.nz.

David Frith


Peter Dommett's gorgeous Group N 156 factory car.	Brent Gladding and Max van Maanen in hot pursuit of Chris Browne in the AES series race.

John Nutthall's new acquisition. Lovely looking car, John had an excellent drive in his first meeting at Pukekohe.	Lost and found ? 6 inch crescent spanner, lost from a Jag on the back straight. Found by Ollie 0.5 sec later !! Very lucky that no injury was caused !

Murray Johnston moonlighting in another series in his Alfasud, leads a Porsche over the top of the John Deere Hill !	Another new entrant to the series. Leon Henry's 155 2.5 V6. A great effort for his first time out with the series.