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Kaikohe Speedway or Kaikohe Burn Outs
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Welcome to the
Kaikohe Club Incorporated web site
Kaikohe Speedway started in the Kaikohe District in 1974,
on a grass track approximately 300 meters
along the Ngawha Springs Road (7 km from Kaikohe).
Kaikohe Car Club moved to its present location
along State Highway 12 approximately 4kms south/east of in Kaikohe 1975.
The Kaikohe Car Club became an Incorporated Society on the 7th December 1976.
During the race season a standard race day can see up to 400 people through our gates,
however during a special or invitation meet we see numbers of 4000 plus.
Visitors come from all over the North Island, this not only creates revenue for the Speedway
but filters out to the wider community;
Kaikohe, Kerikeri, Kawakawa, Paihia etc.
Kaikohe Speedway was put on the world map with the recognition
of Florian Habichts movie "Kaikohe Demolition".
Each year Kaikohe Car Club holds its annual Easter Stampede,
We see competitors from all over New Zealand coming along to enjoy
the fun and competition. We normally have approx 4,500 spectators
and over 200 drivers through our gates over the weekend.
The Easter meeting was started when the Kaikohe boys,
(Ray Makene, Ray Jordon, Des Trubshoe, John Jenkinson, Dave Parrish,
Graham Rodley, Mark Bullen, Whangarei Bruce Freese and Paul Pickerell)
travelled the North Island racing. In return the people racing want
to come to the Kaikohe Car Club track and race.
At the first Easter meeting we had 42 people for breakfast whom had travelled from
Stratford, Auckland and Napier. Just to attend the Kaikohe track;
The first meet was held over the Easter weekend, and this is how the Easter meeting started.
At this first meet there where approx two and half thousand people through the gates
and the United Kawakawa rugby club did the gates.
*****
Racer's Hive
(a short story written by Michaela Beadle Price - 102K)
It is early afternoon. You stand as the sun sucks your skin, and dust smothers you.
You�re being pushed between people. Sweat lingers and voices cheer.
Sausages sizzle on the barbeque as you watch the cars drone past like bees.
You can feel the cracks in the ground as you walk towards the track.
Racers, spectators and cars surround you. Walking closer to the track,
you see the overlooking fence that borders the track,
and the concrete plates that line the walls inside the track.
Spectators are speckled around you, and racers busy themselves with their cars.
Volunteers in fluro vests are scattered about the track preparing for the race.
Each sound echoes in your ears, as the vibration of each engine reverberates through your body.
Hear the people around you in conversation.
By the fence now, the cars are lining up, revving their engines enthusiastically.
In slow motion- the green flag drops.
The race begins; each car drops into second gear,
as they swarm ahead like bees. Beneath you the floor hums at each rev of an engine.
The first lap passes and more spectators crowd around you, huddling in excitement.
As the second lap begins one car overtakes another.
Suspense builds as you wonder who will win.
The third lap comes around, and unexpectedly one of the race cars swerves
off into the concrete wall. The red flag drops and cars screech to a halt.
Minutes pass as we wait for the tractor to arrive to pull
the car off the track- leaving a crumbling wall behind it.
The race has ended.
Unfortunately the car that crashed was the car you hoped would win the race.
The suspense you once had is replaced with disappointment.
Abandoned the track sits after another day of racing, left scattered in debris.
Listening to the distant voices of racers, you realise how peaceful the atmosphere now is,
as the revving you once heard is now replaced by gentle song from the trees close by.
As the day comes to an end, you take a bite of that sausage you�ve been craving all day.
Like bees the racers have moved from the track to the clubrooms.
Taking a refreshing sip of a cold beer, with a smile on your face you sit and
watch the airy night as it devours the heat from your body.
*****
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Please note these reviews may reflect the perceptions and opinions
of
the authors involved and are strictly unofficial