I've been looking forward to starting the process of posting this first part of the Bill Pottinger Collection on here for some weeks, since Bill and I first made contact, thanks to Roaring Season member, Michael Clark. Bill grew up in Invercargill, in the deep southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand. His local race track, as a young enthusiast, beginning in the late 1960s, was Teretonga, and its Teretonga Bill's incredible collection centres around.
The majority of the photos in this collection were taken during the Teretonga round of the Tasman Series, beginning in the late 1960s, running through to the early '70s. I'll let Bill tell the story from here: "I started taking photos in 1967 at age 14 and used to bike out to Teretonga with my father's Asahi Pentax and a 135mm telephoto lens which I bought. I learnt developing and printing so I could sell the photos to the drivers and local newspaper, and then Eoin Young took an interest when he came out for the Tasman Series and used the photos in his overseas magazine articles.
"The thrill of being close to the track and then rushing home to develop and print them and see the images appear on the photo paper was something to never forget".
So far, Bill has sent me 48 photos, and has taken the time to caption each, as he recalls clearly taking every photo that appears here. Therefore, I'm splitting these 48 photos over two parts, so each can be appreciated on its own merits, and with Bill's caption for each.
You'll note, several photos have been signed by the drivers, which makes them even more interesting, in my opinion. One of the few drivers whose signature Bill didn't get, was Jim Clark. Bill explains: "Jim Clark was my hero but I was always too shy to ask him for an autograph!! April 7th this year marked 45 years since his untimely death at Hockenheim, but that time has gone in a flash".
Sadly for us, Bill's collection only spans a few years. "In the early '70s I moved to Christchurch for Uni so didn't have Dad's camera anymore and that was the end of the car photos!"
