He described himself as ''a wee bit rusty'' but Inky Tulloch and his 5.5 tonne racing truck were the stars of the show at the first Highlands Fling.
The event was a crowd-pleaser at the inaugural Highlands Motorsport Park Festival of Speed, held on Saturday and Sunday at the Cromwell track.
The festival attracted a crowd of between 7000 and 8000 yesterday, double the number that attended on Saturday. The ''fling'' was based on the hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom.
It was a standing start sprint using part of the circuit, with vehicles starting 30 seconds apart. All types of vehicles were entered, from karts through to street cars and classic racing machines.
Tulloch (63) said he was a ''blast from the past'', appropriate for an event marking a century of motorsport in New Zealand.
''My timing's been a bit out ... so far. It takes a while to get back in tune with how the truck handles.''
His best lap time was 2min 12sec. Highlands owner Tony Quinn won the ''fling''in a Nissan GTR in a time of 53.6sec.
Tulloch, who lives north of Gore and is still involved in the transport industry, was impressed with the event.
''The whole format is excellent and there's nothing like this anywhere else in the country, so I think it'll continue to get a strong following, especially as any vehicle can compete.
''You get a bit of everything from high performance vehicles through to a 1974 Ford Capri ... and a 5.5 tonne truck .''
His Freightliner truck has a governor which restricts it to 160kmh ''and I hit that in four places on this circuit.''
Tulloch admitted to being a bit nervous during his lap of the circuit, which went under an overbridge ''but it came out the other side OK''.
The weekend programme included races for modern classic cars, nostalgic classics, vintage and historic vehicles and a section for formula vehicles.
Racing machines ranged from a 1994 Van Diemen Stealth Formula Ford through to Jaguars, Alfa Romeos, Porsches and a host of other 1960s and 1970s vehicles.
In keeping with the historic theme, spectators and pit crews were encouraged to dress in period costume and a fashion parade of garments through the decades was staged.
Other events off the track included a classic and racing car show which featured more than 80 cars, boats, vans, motorcycles, caravans, trucks and cars, all displayed in the car park at the venue. Mr Quinn described the event as a ''rip-roaring success''.
