The AGM will again be held in Taupo on the 4th, 5th and 6th of June 2011.

Further details will be listed as they come to hand.

 

Last years account...

 

Capri Club AGM Weekend, Taupo
5th, 6th June 2010.

By Lindsay Lyons.

Initially things were not shaping up too well for me.  With our up-coming AGM weekend only a couple of weeks away my Capri was still languishing in the back of my shed feeling sorry for itself after the MG Classic weekend “incident” last November.  Sadly it was looking more and more like I was going to be following the Capri Convoy in my old Nissan Safari … when suddenly, from out of the blue, from the middle of Iran somewhere, “poof”, in a cloud of sparkling stardust my fairy godfather appeared.  With a wave of his “magic” wand, the fairy godfather said I could borrow his RS 3100 for the weekend.  (Every person should have a “Transmission Magician” fairy godfather!)

Wow!!......so now things were really looking up!  After picking it up and giving it a little makeover (don’t have many opportunities to polish 3100s in my garage), we were ready.

I met up with Graeme Dixon, one of our Dunedin members who had come up specially to attend our AGM weekend, at the Rotorua airport then we were off to Taupo. We met Graeme and the rest of the Dunedin team during the Southern leg our Anniversary Tour, and were delighted to be able to have him join us.  Friday evening was the traditional Capri Club catch-up at the Suncourt.  It was awesome to see so many new faces.

On Saturday morning 23 Capris lined up outside the Suncourt and, in convoy through the mist and the fog, traveled to the Village Green at Rotorua to line up for the Capri Club Concours.  The reason we traveled to Rotorua being that once again our club had been invited to take part in the NZ Dunlop Targa Tour.

By the time we arrived in Rotorua the sun was shining and the Capri numbers had swelled to 28.  What a sight!  28 sparkling Capris lined up in a semi circle on the Rotorua Village Green.  As the Village Green was also the base for the Dunlop Targa, there were large numbers of spectators wandering around taking in this fantastic spectacle.
One of the highlights of our Concours display was when Bernie Heistand, who was competing in the Targa with his always immaculate black 2.8, slowly cruised past our Capri lineup.

Bernie’s end result was 7th overall in classic, and 3rd in class. Those damn “Beamers” again Bernie!!   A terrific result, the club is proud of you! And better still, no damage considering the appalling conditions on the Sunday.  Congratulations!

As the Targa Tour was due to depart Rotorua at 12.15pm, there was quite a bit of pressure on the Concours judges to carry out their judging, and on our “girls” who were flat out buying and preparing lunch for everybody.  Sorry about the time squeeze team, but we made it.

At 12.15pm on the dot, our Capris, all 25 of them, tagged on to the tail of the Targa Tour and departed for the stage.  The Stage was 37kms long and ran from the Eastern end of Lake Rotoma, through winding tar seal roads to behind Kawerau.  After a briefing from the Targa officials we were off!  The Targa Tour, as opposed to the actual Targa (which runs just behind the Tour), provides an opportunity for participants to drive their cars on closed, tar sealed roads.  The speed is governed by the lead Targa Tour car, there is no passing and you must follow in line astern, but it allows you to cut corners, drive using the entire road, and in many places well exceed the speed limit….. which we did.
What a stage!!....  What a sound!!!  The sound of 25 Capris going full noise through 37 kms of winding hilly roads was truly orgasmic!

All too soon it was over, but that was just the first time!  We had been invited to do this same stage again!  So after a 45 minute break at Kawerau we were off back to the beginning of the stage.  This time there were only 12 Capris, with the others deciding to head off back to the Rotorua Village Green for the show and shine.

With fewer cars, the Tour speed increased quite considerably.  At one point I saw in my rear vision mirror a metallic beige Mk 3 Capri from Ngongotaha ‘360ing’ on a tight slippery left hander. (I know I said wouldn’t say anything Jim, but I thought it was worth forfeiting the beer for). As Jim was sorting himself out I realized that I was being chased by another Mk 3, this one driven by a grinning Gary Adlam with his son in the passenger seat.  Paul (No1 Son) was following Gary.  A little white pocket rocket in front of me got all out of shape on an off-camber damp corner and ended up sliding backwards in front of us along a wet clay bank.  Fortunately no damage was done but ‘Mum’, who was sitting beside me, reminded me that my fairy godfather could be watching, so not wishing to replicate my Manfield incident and have the dubious distinction of writing off a 3100 to my “credit” I took things a little more quietly.
What a road! ...What a drive! ...Just fantastic!

By the time we finished the stage it was getting later in the afternoon, so we headed back to Rotorua to join the others in the “show and shine”.  Because the following day was to be our track day, and certainly not wanting to put my “Godfathers” car on the track, I decided that maybe discretion would be the better part of valour, so took it back to my garage and tucked it up in bed.  We then piled into the back of Paul’s Capri and headed off back to Taupo for an evening of quiet socializing at the Suncourt.

Ok……..ok…. I know!  My early-in-the-week weather predictions for the Sunday were a little off the mark! … Just a little … It rained!!......and how! 
But even so 48 cars/drivers braved the elements and supported our day.  Everyone I saw had a ball!  The wet track conditions made for some careful driving, but close racing. And all credit due, no one came away with any damage.  Russell Cooper tried his best, but despite all his most valiant efforts, and even chasing it across the grass, the Armco wall still managed to evade him. This little excursion of Russell’s was watched by Jason Sole who was right on the spot behind him.  Shane Parsons (club member) in his super quick CRX was consistently fast all day, trying to scare the hell out of his Mother who was in the passenger seat. (We will convince him to buy a Capri one day!)
Ron Findlay (V8) Capri was also really fast until his gearbox let go on the start line.  This was a real pity as Ron’s was the fastest Capri at Hampton downs and I was looking forward to watching it go on Taupo. JP gets faster and more consistent every time he goes out on the track (bit of a worry!), and Tricky in PAMPUR was smooth all day under the watchful/critical eye of Pam who was organizing the grid. Tricky had the warmer/drier option there.  No wonder he was smiling!  Jim Griffiths, not wanting to repeat his 360 degree view of the world as he did the day before, managed to keep things on the black. 

Natalie and Ed Campbell were at it all day trying desperately to beat each other’s times, a challenge made all the more difficult by a severe power band making driving in the wet easier said than done.
Bruce Teirny and his wife loved it, competing to see who could have the largest grin.  Liam Callaghan, not intentionally, had a ball sliding all over the track, while Paul Lyons, intentionally, also had a ball doing controlled slides/drifts in the wet conditions.  That was until they were “ticked off” by the Course Steward.  My thoughts are that we encourage young drivers to gain driving/handling experience on the track rather than by boy racing on the road.  It seems a bit of a shame that they receive a rocket as soon as they do!  As long as they are not jeopardizing any other cars on the track, and if it’s a social club day … why not?  I guess not everyone thinks the way I do!

By 3.00pm everyone was pretty much raced out. The flaggies, the pit-gate crew and all the other outside helpers were suffering early symptoms of hyperthermia, so it was back home for a hot shower before the AGM.

Once again the AGM was held in the conference room at the Suncourt, with more than 70 people attending.  There were various issues discussed during the course of the AGM, not the least being the timing and location of future AGMs….. More on that later.

Last year, at extremely short notice, we cajoled Nelson Marshall into giving us a very impromptu talk about his history with the Capri, and his exploits on the world rally scene.  Nelson’s talk was so well received that we decided to do it again this year.  Mike John (ex “Mr.Targa”, and another Capri nutter) offered???  to speak to us at the AGM about his association with the Capri, how he imported Capris to NZ (and there were quite a few of them) and on how, despite many setbacks, he actually came to own a Cologne Capri. Mike’s talk about these exploits was very informative and often extremely funny.  (Maybe if I leave my car in the shed a little longer I’ll have two Fairy God fathers??)

Mike’s talk was followed by prize giving with Mike presenting the trophies.  I mentioned earlier that Natalie and Ed Campbell (Dad) were hard at it trying to beat each other’s times on the track.  Well, guess who took out the trophy?........ by 00.1 of  a second?...........Dad!. …. The things daughters do!!

The following morning saw our traditional Capri Club “breakie” at the lake front.
After an exciting weekend like this, and all the organization involved in making it happen, it’s always a quiet “flat” trip back home.  No matter though.  There are always things going on in this club and something else to look forward to… bring it on!
    
I’d just like to say a few thank  to people who helped make the success of our AGM weekend possible:  To Peter Martin of Targa, for once again inviting our club to participate in the Targa Tour, to Nelson Marshall (the fairy Godfather) for allowing me the use of his RS3100, to Mike John for being a part of our weekend and speaking at our AGM, to J.P. and his “Freshup” sponsor for providing the Freshup drinks at our Saturday lunch, to all the time-keepers, the “flaggies”, the chefs and any other helpers who assisted on our track day, to the Taranaki Car Club who supported our track day, and a big thanks to all our members who came along to support our AGM weekend.  Last, but not least, I’d like to thank all our young members, who are continuing to increase in number, and who don’t  seem to just see us as a whole bunch of old farts… I don’t think so anyway? … You are the future of our club.  It’s great to have you on board.