Home - Welcome to Craig Howser Panel & Performance in Hamilton New Zealand. On this website you will be able to find out about the quality products and services that we offer and that have allowed us to develop our reputation for value and service.Accident Repair - That supermarket bang the low speed scrape, general cosmetic damage to your vehicle are all easily repairable. No one wants to drive a car with a dented boot where the letter box jumped out in front of you! Bring your vehicle to us and we will restore it to its original condition.Estimate Enquiry Form - Car Restoration - In todays, shapeless, wind tunnel designed people movers, the thought of driving a unique classic from a by gone age is very tempting, but we often do not have the time, skill or space to do it. At Craig Howser panel and performance we offer a unique vehicle restoration service.We work with you to find out what you want to achieve with your vehicle and then work to make it happen. Projects range from simple re-sprays to full ground up restorations of classics.We recently completed the restoration of a Trekka, not the most glamorous of vehicles, but it had special meaning to its owner.Racecar Preparation - Anyone can build and prepare a race car. However if your time (or experience) is limited why not consider letting our expert staff help you. We have constructed many cars at all levels of competition, we even race a car ourselves, and we put the same skill, experience and safety into EVERY car we prepare.Completed/Current Projects - Some of our recently completed projects hamilton new zealand Craig HowserCars For Sale - race cars for sale racing cars for sale iin new zealand hamilton new zealand Craig HowserAbout Us - Based in Hamilton New Zealand, over the last 15 years we have grown, expanded, moved, expanded and grown again, and over the years our team has grown and gained greater levels of experience and skill. Our staff are all committed to delivering on our promises. The company is a family run business, my wife Kirsty works with me to keep the ship running smoothly. Sadly some of our customers insist on re-damaging their vehicles and return to us for more work. Although we hope never to have to work with you in an accident situation, it is reassuring to know that customers are satisfied with our work and will return to us or recommend us to their friends, family and colleagues.FAQS - We employ fully qualified trades people who understand that our business is about providing and maintaining high standards of repair and safety workmanship. We guarantee that we do not cut corners whilst carrying out the repairs to your vehicle, nor do we compromise the safety of your vehicle while performing these repairs. Our objective has always been to maintain high standards in our deliverance. By being active members of the NZ Collision Repair Association we can support these claims, as to become a member of this association and retain membership status, we are required to operate our business to a high standard, and this standard is monitored by the NZCRA, by way of inspections and audits that are carried out by them, on a regular basis.Contact Us - Support Please complete this form to request further information and we will contact you shortly At The Race Track - News At The Racetrack News and information about our racing team in Hamilton New Zealand sponsored by Craig Howesr.Links - Links To Other Web Sites car crash repair services insurance work undertaken panel beaters, collision repair car repairs hamilton new zealand Craig HowserOnline Shop - Online shopShopping Basket - this is the description

Stephen Barker 2009 Possum Bourne

Following a very successful fund raising auction evening at the Hamilton car club,
SBM competed in the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally run out of Hamilton City.
With the opportunity to run Brand New Dunlop tyres for the first time combined with the amount of Top New
Zealand drivers, I was excited to have the chance to truly show my supporters just how good we can do. Some of
the big names competing were Current NZ Rally Champion Hayden Paddon, 2009 Production World Rally
Championship Driver Mark Tapper, Andrew Hawkeswood, Chris West, Stewart Taylor, Glenn Smith along with
my usual NZRC junior and rookie championship competitors.

Being a one day rally meant that any mechanical malfunction or driver era would put us out of contention for a
good result. So my goal once again was to stay clean and tidy with my driving style and avoid hitting anything.
Our day started well with a short stage to open the day. We just scraped into the top 10 and I knew I would have
to try a smidgen harder throughout the rest of the day.

Stage 2 was the famous Whaanga Coast Rally NZ stage. We raised the bar here and moved into 4th position just
in front of eventual winner Chris West. We did well here but had made the wrong choice of tyre. The narrow 195
tyre worked well but was knackered for the following stage 3 where we were passed on the leader board by West.

Stage 4 Waitomo was to be our best of the rally. At 44kms long it certainly was a test of fitness and concentration.
With new 205 dunlops on the car I knew as we neared the end we were on a flyer!!

We caught Sloan Cox and narrowly avoided a collision with Stewart Taylor (ex owner of our current evo 8) who
was rejoining the road after changing a puncture, when Cox had gone past we were right behind him and cut the
corner to slide through before Taylor was completely blocking our path. We maintained a smooth fast pace until
2km from the finish when along with several other cars we clipped a sharp exposed rock with the right front
wheel. Tearing open the tyre and smashing the rim. We crawled to the finish losing a lot of time.

I was very surprised to hear we were 2nd through that stage only 25seconds off the pace with a puncture.
Now we sat 4th overall.

Through stage 5 we moved ahead of Kingsley Thompson for 3rd position and with another new set of tyres for
Whaanga coast stage 6 we eased into a steady pace and once again lost a small amount of time after catching
Sloan Cox's evo 10 midway through the stage getting blinded with dust.
Rally Waitomo winner Neil Marshall now leap frogged Thompson and I, dropping us down to 4th by one tenth of
a second.

After stage 7, myself and Neil had started a good battle and he extended his lead to 6.5 seconds with one stage to
go. A Re-run of Waitomo where i placed 2nd during the morning.
I hadn't payed attention to results all day until the penultimate stage when doing the calculation, as to whether 3rd
place was achievable.
I decided it was worth pushing in stage 8 because 6 seconds separated me from some recognition, where as
consolidating 4th meant none at all.
We attacked from the get go once again we set a cracking pace, clean and tidy.
Brett had an exceptional stage on the safety notes and I felt very confident in what he was reading to me. When
we neared the finish I backed the pace off to make sure we avoided the rock that ruined our progress in the first
run.

We missed that rock and pressed on to finish that stage.

During the touring stage to the finish i was told by the team via txt we had taken 21 seconds back off Marshall
and claimed his 3rd position!!
We had finished 30 seconds behind 2nd place crowd pleaser Andrew Hawkeswood and 50 seconds behind winner
former NZ rally champion Chris West.
We had managed to be a lot more competitive than the previous rallies and come the end of the event there wasn't
a scratch on the car anywhere. With the level of competition entered for this rally we initially thought to make the
top 5 was "out of reach."
I am wrapped with our result and feel a lot happier with our pace.
It is due to the support shown by many at the fund raising evening that enabled me to take another step in my
career, and for that I can't thank people enough.

Next we head to Nelson for the final round of NZRC where I hope to secure 2nd place in the Open 4wd class for
2009. Once again we have new tyres and well prepped car, so we hope to be able to show the same speed there.
Thank you again for your ongoing support.
Stephen
SBMotorsport