Hamilton 400
Supercharged Entertainment
Built for Street Racing
V8 Supercars

HAMILTON 400 Supercar action on the first day (Saturday) was not a dissapointment. My wife Jennie and I were invited to the Toyota Financial Services Paddock Club.

We can only describe this stand as the best on the track as it was right on Holden Hairpin(corner # 2) on the corner of London and Tristram streets.

The first of the V8 Supercar races on saturday was awesome plenty of scrapes and bruises to the body work of the cars. View the video which tells a better story than I could write here -

The Toyota Team absolutely overdelivered in their customer service role. Walking into the gates we were met by smiling welcoming gate people who directed us to a registration desk and the advised us to check our seating for lunch. (Tell you about lunch in a minute.)

We then wondered up into the stand to ascertain the best position to get some video footage. I decided the best position was at the southern end of the stand just because I could stand up and not block anyones view. So we made ourselves comfortable for the morning.

At times we weren't comfortable at all due to the consistent showers and southerly wind which felt like it was coming off snow somewhere, but just as we were getting ready to get under cover out came one of the Toyota team with a bag full of ponchos, so not one person got wet. I looked behind me and all I could see were a sea of black plastic humps.

Saw all classes of racing. There are always one or two drivers that stand out and this race meeting was no different.

Craig Baird showed his outstanding driving skill in his race on sunday in the Porsche GT3 class, where the grid was reversed for the top six drivers. He was coming second with two laps to go. Coming down the main straight he was following Jody Vincent coming up to turn 1 he took an outside line and exited this corner at superior speed and got right behind Jody and followed closely coming to turn 2 (Holden Hairpin) he took this corner wider than any other time. To the eye it looked slow but the result was spectacular. He entered the corner at greater speed and maintained that speed throughout the corner, slammed his foot hard down on the accelerator and passed easily.

Now when I say easily we all know it's not easy but it was a case of exceptional driving.
The result - another win!

The Toyota open wheelers - Now this class is made up of drivers that are the foundation for our future driving talent. These drivers can step into the likes of a formula 3 competition car and do really well as on saturday they were going around the track faster than the V8 Supercars.

Standout driver - Earl Bamber as he showed his ability to pass and maintain superior speed. This class has no complicated electronics to assist setup so to be competitive in this class relies very heavily on the practical skill of two people, the driver and his engineer. So to win you need a winning combination.

I know, I know, you want to know about lunch right? Well, Jennie and I were scheduled in for the second of three sittings at 1'oclock. We sat down at our table and were joined by six others. I had a really good chat to Fred who had a plaster manufacturing business in Whaharoa but lived at the Mount. Anyway we walked up to the smorgasboard table and were treated to first a selection of gourmet buns then a salad which was a mixture of greens, olives, tomatoes and cheeses, cool chicken drumsticks and to top it off hot roast lamb and gravy. mmmmmm...

When we sat back down again the Toyota staff offered everyone a choice of red or white wine Jennie chose white and I had red. Fred and I commented on the quality of the wine and food.

For desert, yes desert! We had a chilled chocolate cup cradle filled with chocolate moouse covered in white chocolate topping. As you can imagine we were feeling a little full but that didn't stop us going for a coffee or tea.

We thought about dropping into the bar facilities later on which was just beside the dining area but after 40 winks around 2.30pm we were still full from lunch.

A 1959 Ford Retractable ORGAZM -
Featuring A Smooth Foose Mothers Finish And A Livin Loud Kicker Sound System