It’s amazing how many people get the whole “CJC” buzz totally wrong. We are a group of mates first and foremost, from all walks of life,  all over the country. Cars are just a mutual passion that we all share. Some of these guys I’m lucky to see twice a year, but whenever we do get together we just pick up right where we left off last time -as if I’d just shot down to the dairy to grab a Fruju, rather than several hundred kilometres north for 6 months. To me, that speaks volumes about how tight everyone is, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

So a few months ago, when Ants and myself sat down one night after work to plan the second ever Jerkfest event, we knew it had to be big. Something people would travel for, build their cars for. After much deliberation, we settled on an invite-only track at Taupo Motorsport Park – the track was booked, the word sent out, and people started stockpiling parts for their builds…

On a sunny Friday a couple of months later, I loaded up the Shuttle and began the trek south to our hotel in Taupo…

..where the weather had really turned it on, I think I had my arm out the window for the whole 2hr drive. If you look closely in the above picture you can see the spa where Patrick attempted to seduce me. Just one girl bro!

After an early night, it was off to the racetrack at some ungodly hour to start running shit. Not long after we rolled up, the first of the bleary-eyed drivers began trickling in the gate – some had left from Auckland at 5am!

After one of the funniest drivers briefings I’ve attended , we got stuck in – wanting to get our moneys worth from the track hire!

I was stoked at the sheer variety of entrants, we had everything from an E Type Jag, to twin Lotus Exiges, to Honda Cup racecars, right down to a stock standard daily driven BMW..somehow trackdays with such a diverse lineup always seem to be the most fun.

George in his freshly-completed, 5-years-in-the-making Lotus Exige…

..And Jason in his rowdy, flame spitting Pro 7 FD3S were amongst the first to get out there..

..With Honda Cup racer Logan not far behind in his H2B converted EJ coupe.

Meanwhile in the carpark, Brian pretty much captured the variety of the cars people brought along in this one shot. If that doesn’t sum it up well enough for you, how about this?

After a couple of sessions, the first (and only) serious mechanical failure of the day struck – Cody’s WRX throwing a rod midway down pit straight.

There was so much oil dropped on the track, we had to ask the track management to go pick up more absorbent as we used it all up with about 10 metres of oil slick to go.  Huge thanks must go to Damian, Brian and Jase for getting stuck in and the track cleared!

As you can see, the flag marshals were getting pretty bored with the delay in racing..but in no time (nekk minnit??) the track was cleared and drivers lined up once more!

I was stunned by the colour scheme this Exige was wearing – The citrus hue just suited it down to the ground. And with a supercharged Toyota MR-S engine, it was no slouch either.

It was about this time that a car-load of Asians arrived…calling themselves the Wong Fitment Crew, they looked like they meant business.

It was pretty wicked seeing Gungs awesome FD2-R hauling ass around the track, this thing looks tough just sitting still..a bit like me really. It was great to see you Gung, we appreciate you coming along!

On my next trip out to the coffee cart in the carpark I spotted Brooks slammed Golf..loving that ride height.

And also the notorious Royce “Thug LyF” Mihaere…

..Who has succeeded in building one of the most bad-ass, out there street drifters I’ve seen in NZ…you don’t see many R32s done like this!

Matt was giving his little EF9 absolute death all day long – for an old car, they sure can take a beating!

Our friend Taryn from iheartstance.com made the trip down from Auckland in her MX5, this was my first time seeing this car in person and shit it is TOUGH! Maybe it’s the ride height, or the bright pink wheels barely contained under the guards..but this little car has some serious presence.

It went pretty well on the track too, I managed to spot a few sneaky drifts here and there… thank god the grass is ok :P

My good friends Baz and Matt made the epic trek up from Wellington in Baz’s hella slammed Civic Type R..they had an extra 3 hours added to their trip thanks to a massive detour – but that didn’t stop Baz from taking his car out on the track whenever he got the chance.

The car is daily driven at that height and sounds even more amazing than it looks…if that’s possible. I’m looking forward to seeing how he goes at his next track outing!

Baz’s little bro Spyro also filmed this sweet video – Excellent work mate!

 

Hans from NZ Performance Tuning and PJ rolled down in this extremely bright turbo Audi..

..While a customer of his brought along its evil cousin.

 

Meanwhile out in the carpark, old man Boswell had stopped off on his way home from the RSA in his Corolla.

During the afternoon break in the sessions, I decided to get some of the street cars out on the track for some rolling shots – so I persuaded photographer Chim to climb in the back of the wagon…

…where he proceeded to look hipster, oh and he took some photos too – like this one.

My homie Pritesh also took his camera out and came back with these -

Kelvin’s epic Crown wagon in all its glory. And just behind that was the E-Type Jag. (Please note the drivers authentic motoring apparel.) He took this out for a “proper” drive a couple of times; I never thought I would see an E-Type powersliding out of a corner at a trackday at all, let alone a CJC one – it’s pretty awesome to witness!

Before we knew it, it was time to begin the pack-down of the track – interior was re-fitted, semi-slicks swapped for street tyres, and a group of extremely tired but happy drivers made their way back to the hotel.

I would like to extend a huge thankyou to everyone who made this event possible – especially Ben, J Mills, Boss, J Swar, Ants & Wongs Kitchen,  Taupo Motorsport Park, and everyone that came along, whether to race or just to watch – your support means a lot!

Photo Credits

Chimnay Patel - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonmassif/
David Atkinson –  http://www.flickr.com/photos/genocidenz

Brian Cox - http://lmsportsphotography.com/

Kelvin Taylor

Royce “Thug LyF” Mihaere
Caleb Wong
Brook Miller
And anyone else I may have forgotten.

Video – Spyro Serepisos