Debbie Chapman’s love of speed started on the Huntsbury hills in Christchurch long before she ever climbed into a race car.
“I liked going fast down the hill on my pushbike to get to school in Cashmere,” she said.
Now 70, the Tai Tapu resident has decided to call time on a 35-year racing career that spanned classic racing, endurance events and rally competition.
An early crash did little to dull her appetite for speed.
At about 20, Debbie broke her cheekbone while driving through Waltham in her father’s Vanguard while on a date with her now-husband Dennis, who was uninjured.
“I knew it wasn’t anything I’d done... The other driver came around the corner sideways, and I t-boned him.
“Dad was relieved I was still breathing, but annoyed I’d written off his car,” she said, adding she did not get the keys to his next vehicle.
About 15 years later, Debbie got behind the wheel of a race car for the first time.
“Dennis decided he wanted to do some motor racing just out of the blue. He was thinking if he could get me interested, he could do more.”
“We were fortunate to either get a nanny in or get my parents to look after the kids while we were away,” she said.
Outside of racing, Dennis is well known for his various electrical engineering business which have funded their racing adventures.
The Chapmans are also known for their home, a custom-built, almost entirely off-grid, castle perched on the hills above Tai Tapu – where they have lived for the past 13 years.
Over the years, Debbie became a fixture on the classic racing scene, competing in every SKOPE Classic at Ruapuna Raceway from 1991 until her final appearance earlier this month.
She began racing in an Alfa Romeo 164, before moving to the opposite end of the speed scale with a Ferrari Testarossa.
She has also raced a BMW 318i Supertourer and an Audi RS3 TCR.
Most recently, the Chapmans became known for their matching red-and-yellow Fiat X1/9 replicas, raced by Debbie and Dennis, with son Dale joining them in a third car.
Of all the vehicles she drove, Debbie said the Audi she raced in the South Island Endurance Series was her favourite.
“They are awesome to drive, they were so easy to drive – paddle shift.”
“The best part was beating Dennis, I finished second, and he finished fourth. He usually beats me, but I was so chuffed I got one up on him,” she said.
Teretonga has also been the scene of her biggest accidents, rolling her Fiat twice at turn one – once onto its roof and once all the way over.
“I’ve got better on that corner, I like to think,” she joked.
When not doing circuit races, Debbie also competed in two Targa rallies in 1995 and 1997.
She recalled a memorable car swap with Dennis during the 1995 event.
“He thought swapping cars would be safer, so he drove the Testarossa, and I drove his Ferrari 348, and it did not go well,” she said.
“He hit a power pole with the Testarossa, and I put the 348 through a barbed wire fence.”
Although she completed her opening stints without incident, the team failed to finish after an overnight collision with a leading car.
Despite not being behind the wheel at the time, Debbie said the announcers blamed her because she was a woman.
While she still enjoys racing, Debbie said the time felt right to step away.
“I’m still enjoying it when it’s going well, but I’m tending to focus more on the things I’m doing wrong.
“Like at SKOPE (this year) – in both handicap races I was meant to start on the second set of lights, and both times jumped the start.”
Although Debbie has retired, Dennis plans to continue racing. She said she is unsure how it will feel to attend events without racing.
Before her final SKOPE race, she was approached by many supporters.
“One guy came and said to me, ‘thank you for all your years of entertainment’. I thought it was a selfish sport.”
