David McKinney wrote:Not quite
Dave Simpson won the NZRDC Championship (for allcomers), which didn't have capacity classes
Ivan Segedin won the Over 1300 class of the separate MANZ Gp2 Championship
David is quite correct to point this out, as, for the sake of any tributes related to Ivan's motor racing achievements, the Group 2 championship was run completely separately from the NZRDC championship. The 1966 NZRDC championship (usually just referred to these days as the NZ Saloon Car Championship) was open to Allcomer cars, and was won by Dave Simpson in a Lotus twin-cam 'Breadvan' Anglia, with Paul Fahey finishing the championship second in a similar car. Rod Coppins finished third in the Zephyr Corvette.
For the 1966 season, a separate championship under FIA Group 2 rules was introduced, perhaps as an indication of where Motorsport NZ wanted saloon car racing to head in the future. The Group 2 championship had its own points system, and while sometimes the series ran within the NZRDC series, with Group 2 cars being awarded points based on where each car finished in relation to other Group 2 cars, they also sometimes ran their own separate races. Whereas the NZRDC championship had seven rounds, the Group 2 championship had eight rounds.
Jim Mullins won the overall 1966 Group 2 championship in a Mini Cooper, collecting 57 points from Brian Innes in a similar car, who scored 50 points. Segedin finished third, on 47 points. Cars were split into two classes: 0-1,300cc, and Over 1,300cc. Points were awarded 10, 7, 5, 3, 1, within each class, which counted towards the overall Group 2 championship. But within the overall championship, drivers were then awarded for their final points positions within their class. Therefore, Segedin collected 47 points to the 41 of his closest class rival Alf Bell in a Cortina GT.
So while the Motorsport NZ site is not incorrect, it is slightly misleading, as it suggests Segedin won a class within the NZRDC championship that the Allcomers were contesting. But that said, he did indeed win his class in the 1966 Group 2 Championship.