Festival still on despite fatality

Whitianga's Festival of Speed will go ahead next month despite the death of the son of the event's major sponsor.

Stace Hopper, 25, was killed instantly in Northland on Friday when the Cessna 206 he was in crashed into a company Volks-wagen van while taking off at the Hopper Developments airstrip at One Tree Point.

His funeral was held yesterday in the North Shore Aero Club hangar at the North Shore Airfield in Albany.

Stace Hopper was heir to the Hopper family property development empire – responsible for Pauanui and Whitianga waterways, and also the major sponsor of the Whitianga Festival of Speed.

He took part in last year's inaugural event, taking on his father, Leigh Hopper, in a race which pitted helicopter against rally car.

Leigh Hopper, who piloted the chopper, narrowly beat his son in that race.

"There might be some minor adjustments to the event, but it will still go ahead," Hopper Developments marketing manager Paul Shanahan said.

"It maybe that someone else pilots the chopper, because Leigh might not feel up to racing if it's not against his son."

Mr Shanahan said Stace Hopper had boosted the horsepower of his rally car in anticipation of the race against his father at the Festival of Speed, to be held on April 10 and 11,

"It has the capability of being faster than the helicopter. It's now running I think at about 650 horsepower and it was running at about 400 horsepower last year.

"His comment to me only over a week ago was `this thing will be throwing up dirt and dust for the first hundred metres just trying to get traction, it's got so much power'. It's probably the most powerful Subaru WRX in New Zealand. It's quite a beast that he'd built.

"That was just the nature of Stace to be honest. He was a go at it, thrillseeker kind of a guy and would want to see the event go ahead."

Mr Shanahan said there would definitely be some form of tribute to Stace Hopper at the event, but details around that were still to be worked out.

A huge turnout was expected at this year's event following the success of the event last year.

Mr Shanahan said more and more Whitianga businesses wanted to get involved, making it a true community event aimed at families and not just "petrol heads".

Entry to the event is free.

- © Fairfax NZ News