hen Hugh Gardiner joined the grid for Round Six of the 2017–2018 CMC season, those in the know knew he wasn’t there just to make up the numbers. Having come from a background that reads like a how-to guide to competitive racing, including starting with karts before working his way up into Formula Fords and into tin tops, Hugh’s no slouch behind the wheel. His time in Porsche GT3 Cup and BNT Supertourers proved this, with Hugh gracing the top step of the podium on multiple occasions. Having him enter the CMC madness part-way through the season was a real ‘cat amongst the pigeons’-type scenario, where all of a sudden he was able to take points away from championship contenders. His vehicle of choice for this was a Ken Hopper-built 1970 Camaro, a car Hoppy had built on a relative budget to be a ‘rent-a-racer’ until it found a new permanent home. The car was — as you’d expect from a Hopper build — very well constructed, and utilised a lot of Nascar components sourced from a complete Nascar truck he’d imported. With the vehicle being complete and ready to race, the theory
