Results

Lyn Hatton

Thirty-three results, eighteen of them wins. The Mini Cooper S won two of ten, the Mini Sprint thirteen of twenty, and the Terrapin all three of its recorded outings. Ruapuna circuit races and the 1977 beach race aren't included.

LH

Lyn HattonGold Star hill-climbs and sprints · Marlborough to Otago · 1974-1977

AllAll cars85Cooper SMini SprintTerrapin

▦ Grid▶ Animation

33Races

P1Best

31Podiums

33Top 10

P1P5P10Out

1. 1974
   P2
   Tua Marina
   May 1974
   Bent sprint · 40.8 · 2nd to L. Owens' Formula Ford (38.6) · A. McKenzie (Mini Sprint) 3rd
   Cooper S
2. P1
   Redwood Pass
   3 Aug 1974
   Time-test hill-climb for the Gold Star meeting · 1:04
   Cooper S
3. P2
   Rosedale
   24 Aug 1974
   Gold Star round 1 · 69.19, beaten by 0.02 s by Peter Leversedge's V8
   Cooper S
4. P2
   Redwood Pass
   28 Oct 1974
   Labour Day Mills-Toyota Gold Star · 2nd to Ron Nicholls · 1300 cc class winner, 1:02.74
   Cooper S
5. P2
   Gebbies Pass
   Late 1974
   1:50.05 in a 1300 cc Mini, next best to John Rush's unofficial FTD (1:46.3)
   Cooper S
6. 1975
   P3
   Craigmore
   1 Mar 1975
   57.2 · the day Leo Leonard set the 56.0 record
   Cooper S
7. P3
   Otago Peninsula
   Mar 1975
   Otago Gold Star round · 81.58 · Austin Cooper 1293 cc
   Cooper S
8. P6
   Houghton Bay
   26 Apr 1975
   NZ Gold Star final · fastest South Islander · 2nd in the 1974-75 South Island series
   Cooper S
9. P1
   Tua Marina
   17 May 1975
   Bent sprint · new record 45.95
   Cooper S
10. P2
    Moenui
    Aug 1975
    44.5 · 0.1 s behind Ross Hore's Escort · Athol Smart 3rd
    Cooper S
11. P1
    Tua Marina
    Sep 1975
    0.8-mile gravel sprint · 44.8 record · his first drive in the Mini Sprint
    Mini Sprint
12. P2
    Rosedale
    25 Oct 1975
    First Gold Star round for the new Mini Sprint · 1:09.6 · equal 2nd overall
    Mini Sprint
13. P1
    Redwood Pass
    26 Oct 1975
    61.6 · course record, 0.6 s under the old one
    Mini Sprint
14. P2
    Ngapara
    15 Nov 1975
    54.230 · both he and Russell Greer (53.890) beat the old record
    Mini Sprint
15. P2
    Tua Marina
    Nov 1975
    Gravel bent sprint, about 0.6 mile · 37.4, 0.1 s behind Russell Greer's Stanton Corvette
    Mini Sprint
16. P2
    Waihopai Valley
    Dec 1975
    Standing quarter-mile · 15.1 s in the Middle Park Clubman, behind Russell Greer (13.2)
    Mini Sprint
17. 1976
    P1
    Kaitangata
    21 Feb 1976
    55.29 · broke a five-year-old 60 s record on his first run
    Mini Sprint
18. P1
    Reefton
    28 Feb 1976
    Garveys Creek, 2.8 km gravel · 147.18 aggregate · record
    Mini Sprint
19. P1
    Castle Hill Road
    6 Mar 1976
    Fourth series win · points lead now unbeatable
    Mini Sprint
20. P1
    Craigmore
    4 Apr 1976
    Shingle · FTD 56.65 · 0.65 s off Leo Leonard's record
    Mini Sprint
21. P1
    Gebbies Pass
    24 Apr 1976
    NZ Gold Star inter-island final · 1:48.67, 4 s clear · 1976 New Zealand champion
    Mini Sprint
22. P1
    Tua Marina
    11 Sep 1976
    0.6-mile bent sprint · 44.0 · 29 starters · drizzle
    Mini Sprint
23. P1
    Reefton
    23 Oct 1976
    Radio 3ZA hill-climb, Garveys Creek · from Alan Hewlett and John Rush
    Mini Sprint
24. P1
    Redwood Pass
    24 Oct 1976
    1.12 km gravel · 62.95 · 3.2 s clear · newly painted red, Kinross Motors
    Mini Sprint
25. P2
    Coronet Peak
    6 Nov 1976
    1:04.95 behind Ian Tulloch's Camaro Z28 (1:02.88, a course record) · light snow · Ramada Cup for the hardest trier, his first series defeat
    Mini Sprint
26. 1977
    P2
    Castlewood Road
    26 Feb 1977
    Tar-seal · 80.23 behind Graham Jenkins' Formula Ford · the paper's "first loss in the series"
    Mini Sprint
27. P1
    Kaitangata
    27 Feb 1977
    Gravel · 60.66 · second year running · South Island title with two rounds to spare
    Mini Sprint
28. P1
    Ngapara
    2 Apr 1977
    55.529 · John Rush 0.16 s behind in a gusting wind
    Mini Sprint
29. P1
    Craigmore
    3 Apr 1977
    55.95 · breaks Leo Leonard's two-year-old record · 130 of 140 points
    Mini Sprint
30. P5
    Masterton
    9 Apr 1977
    NZ Gold Star final, Admiral Road · 41.62 · 3rd in the championship · title to Kevin Ingram
    Mini Sprint
31. P1
    Waihopai
    Jun 1977
    Standing quarter-mile · first outing reported for his new Mini-powered Terrapin
    Terrapin
32. P1
    Redwood Pass
    23 Oct 1977
    1:03.14 · only his second run in the Terrapin · 25 starters · windy and dusty
    Terrapin
33. 1978
    P1
    Mahakipawa
    Later · date not known
    2.5 km tar-seal · 1:57.44, from Russell Greer · back after a year's layoff
    Terrapin

Date	Venue	Car	Result	Notes
1974
May 1974	Tua Marina	Cooper S	🏆 2nd	Bent sprint · 40.8 · 2nd to L. Owens' Formula Ford (38.6) · A. McKenzie (Mini Sprint) 3rd
3 Aug 1974	Redwood Pass	Cooper S	🏆 1st	Time-test hill-climb for the Gold Star meeting · 1:04
24 Aug 1974	Rosedale	Cooper S	🏆 2nd	Gold Star round 1 · 69.19, beaten by 0.02 s by Peter Leversedge's V8
28 Oct 1974	Redwood Pass	Cooper S	🏆 2nd	Labour Day Mills-Toyota Gold Star · 2nd to Ron Nicholls · 1300 cc class winner, 1:02.74
Late 1974	Gebbies Pass	Cooper S	🏆 2nd	1:50.05 in a 1300 cc Mini, next best to John Rush's unofficial FTD (1:46.3)
1975
1 Mar 1975	Craigmore	Cooper S	🏆 3rd	57.2 · the day Leo Leonard set the 56.0 record
Mar 1975	Otago Peninsula	Cooper S	🏆 3rd	Otago Gold Star round · 81.58 · Austin Cooper 1293 cc
26 Apr 1975	Houghton Bay	Cooper S	6th	NZ Gold Star final · fastest South Islander · 2nd in the 1974-75 South Island series
17 May 1975	Tua Marina	Cooper S	🏆 1st	Bent sprint · new record 45.95
Aug 1975	Moenui	Cooper S	🏆 2nd	44.5 · 0.1 s behind Ross Hore's Escort · Athol Smart 3rd
Sep 1975	Tua Marina	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	0.8-mile gravel sprint · 44.8 record · his first drive in the Mini Sprint
25 Oct 1975	Rosedale	Mini Sprint	🏆 2nd	First Gold Star round for the new Mini Sprint · 1:09.6 · equal 2nd overall
26 Oct 1975	Redwood Pass	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	61.6 · course record, 0.6 s under the old one
15 Nov 1975	Ngapara	Mini Sprint	🏆 2nd	54.230 · both he and Russell Greer (53.890) beat the old record
Nov 1975	Tua Marina	Mini Sprint	🏆 2nd	Gravel bent sprint, about 0.6 mile · 37.4, 0.1 s behind Russell Greer's Stanton Corvette
Dec 1975	Waihopai Valley	Mini Sprint	🏆 2nd	Standing quarter-mile · 15.1 s in the Middle Park Clubman, behind Russell Greer (13.2)
1976
21 Feb 1976	Kaitangata	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	55.29 · broke a five-year-old 60 s record on his first run
28 Feb 1976	Reefton	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	Garveys Creek, 2.8 km gravel · 147.18 aggregate · record
6 Mar 1976	Castle Hill Road	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	Fourth series win · points lead now unbeatable
4 Apr 1976	Craigmore	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	Shingle · FTD 56.65 · 0.65 s off Leo Leonard's record
24 Apr 1976	Gebbies Pass	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	NZ Gold Star inter-island final · 1:48.67, 4 s clear · 1976 New Zealand champion
11 Sep 1976	Tua Marina	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	0.6-mile bent sprint · 44.0 · 29 starters · drizzle
23 Oct 1976	Reefton	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	Radio 3ZA hill-climb, Garveys Creek · from Alan Hewlett and John Rush
24 Oct 1976	Redwood Pass	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	1.12 km gravel · 62.95 · 3.2 s clear · newly painted red, Kinross Motors
6 Nov 1976	Coronet Peak	Mini Sprint	🏆 2nd	1:04.95 behind Ian Tulloch's Camaro Z28 (1:02.88, a course record) · light snow · Ramada Cup for the hardest trier, his first series defeat
1977
26 Feb 1977	Castlewood Road	Mini Sprint	🏆 2nd	Tar-seal · 80.23 behind Graham Jenkins' Formula Ford · the paper's "first loss in the series"
27 Feb 1977	Kaitangata	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	Gravel · 60.66 · second year running · South Island title with two rounds to spare
2 Apr 1977	Ngapara	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	55.529 · John Rush 0.16 s behind in a gusting wind
3 Apr 1977	Craigmore	Mini Sprint	🏆 1st	55.95 · breaks Leo Leonard's two-year-old record · 130 of 140 points
9 Apr 1977	Masterton	Mini Sprint	5th	NZ Gold Star final, Admiral Road · 41.62 · 3rd in the championship · title to Kevin Ingram
Jun 1977	Waihopai	Terrapin	🏆 1st	Standing quarter-mile · first outing reported for his new Mini-powered Terrapin
23 Oct 1977	Redwood Pass	Terrapin	🏆 1st	1:03.14 · only his second run in the Terrapin · 25 starters · windy and dusty
1978
Later · date not known	Mahakipawa	Terrapin	🏆 1st	2.5 km tar-seal · 1:57.44, from Russell Greer · back after a year's layoff

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Mini Cooper SMini Sprint (1293 cc)Mini-powered TerrapinPodiumTop 10↻ ReplaySources: Lyn Hatton's scrapbook: Marlborough Express, Christchurch Press, Timaru Herald, Otago Daily Times, Motoraction and others, 1970-1977

The points as the papers reported them through the season:

Sources: Motoraction, 12 December 1975 (Russell Greer 2nd on 42); Marlborough Express, 10 April 1976, 8 November 1976, 28 February and 4 April 1977. In the 1974-75 series Lyn was 2nd in the Cooper S.

The first version of this site was built from a typed summary of the clippings. Reading the scrapbook itself changed several things:

• The Terrapin is a 1977 car, not 1972. In June 1977 the Marlborough Express calls it his "new Mini-powered Terrapin". The Redwood Pass win "in only his second run in his car, a Terrapin" (1:03.14) is labelled 25/10/72 in the scrapbook, but it sits beside the preview of 20 October 1977 and must be October 1977.
• Mahakipawa wasn't a tie. Lyn won in 1:57.44 in the "Terrapin 1400"; 2:01.58 was his first run and Russell Greer's 1:59.9 was 2nd. The clipping says he was back "after a year's layoff", so it is later than 1977, year not known.
• Masterton 1977: Lyn was 5th in the final (41.62) and 3rd in the national championship, not unplaced.
• Gebbies Pass 1976: the times and full field are now known: Lyn 1:48.67, four seconds clear of John Rush.
• "Last year's winner" at Larnach Castle road refers to the Otago Sports Car Club's March 1976 climb on Castle Hill Road, which Lyn won.
• The Terrapin. A 2011 list of New Zealand Terrapins by David McKinney says Lyn's was Kevin Ingram's Mk1, the 1975 and 1977 Gold Star winner, owned by Lyn "1978-79"; the clippings have him in it from June 1977.
• Coronet Peak, 1976. The winner was Ian "Inky" Tulloch, not "Pulloch", and the times were 102.88 s and 104.95 s, not 1:02.88 and 1:04.95. The meeting was on Saturday 6 November, and Lyn's trophy was the Ramada Cup for the hardest trier.
• The Mini Sprint's first livery. A colour print shows the Middle Park Motel car was orange-red, not a light colour as the black-and-white newspaper photos suggest. John Hocken, who bought it from Lyn, says it was orange.
• Ruapuna, March 1970. The scrapbook dates two Ruapuna clippings to March 1974, but the speed sheet with them is for Sunday 15 March 1970. The Marlborough Express called it Lyn's first race meeting, yet another clipping, "Local drivers at Ruapuna", has him racing his Mini there at the last meeting of 1969: from the back of the grid to 4th in a scratch race (54.5 s laps), 5th in a handicap and 4th in the fast-saloon feature. 1969 is the earliest meeting on record.
• Tua Marina, May 1974. An earlier version of this site had Lyn winning; the Marlborough Express of 21 May 1974 has L. Owens' Formula Ford fastest in 38.6, Lyn 2nd in 40.8.
• The Mini Sprint's first drive. Rosedale in October 1975 was its first Gold Star round, but its first outing was a Tua Marina gravel sprint a month earlier, won in a record 44.8 (Marlborough Express, 23 September 1975).

• Gebbies Pass placings. The Christchurch Press lists times (Rush 2nd, Ingram 3rd); the Marlborough Express lists "final placings" with Ingram 2nd and Rush 3rd, which match the championship order.
• Ngapara, 1977. Motoraction gives Hatton 55.529, Rush 55.693, Greer 58.365; the Marlborough Express gives 55.52, 55.63 and 55.93.
• Reefton, February 1976. One report calls it a 1¼-mile climb, the other 2.8 km.
• The Mini Sprint after Lyn. John Hocken says he bought the rolling body from Lyn and later sold it on; Graeme Farr (Maximum Mini blog, 2020) has Lyn selling it to Tony Gilbertson and doesn't mention Hocken. Farr also says that after he sold the shell back to Ash McKenzie, Ash "built a replica", while Brendan McKenzie (2024) says Ash is restoring the car. The site gives both accounts.
• Mini Sprint engine. The papers say 1293 cc; one blog photo caption says 1330.
• Big Bertha's base model. The period profile "Veteran is hard to miss" names Big Bertha as Reg Cook's saloon championship car and calls it "120Y-based" with a 1960 cc engine; Reg's own 2021 post calls it a Datsun 160J coupe with a 2000 cc engine.
• Dates. Where only the newspaper's date is known, the climb is placed on the Saturday or Sunday the report refers to.

Help fill the gaps

Missing so far: a photo of the Terrapin, the year of the Mahakipawa win, Lyn's results at Coronet Peak and in the other 1975-76 rounds, the 1975 Tua Marina and Moorlands sprints, and anything after 1977.

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