Spectator

Groundhog Day

2012-02-08T21:24:00.000+13:00

Another teams champs completed, another win to the Panthers. It would almost become boring if it weren't for the fact our two-day pilgrimage to Superstock Mecca, has quite simply become the best meeting of the year, bar none. Despite the Panthers continually 'annoying' everyone by winning, you can't help but admire this team, they are without doubt, the best. The good news though for non-Panthers fans, and I believe there are a few, many of the teams that have been either missing or performing well below par were back, or racing better than ever. Rotorua Rebels fans will be most heartened, after Friday nights qualifying, they easily looked the best, and with lady luck on their side perhaps would have been worthy finalists Sunday night.

I wont give a wordy review of each race but instead a few thoughts and highlights from a meeting that ranks as one of the better ones in recent years. What makes a great meeting - in this case it has to be evenly matched teams, plenty of action, a little bit of drama, controversy and dare I say it, the Panthers playing the bad guys in the finals. First impressions arriving in the pits on Saturday night and the masses of fans usually swarming about the Team GB cars were missing! Fame is fleeting, even in the speedway world. They had found a new favourite, after an absence of seven years, the Wellington Wildcats were grabbing all the pre-race attention. I loved the look of the team and the numbering based on well known former Wildcats. Everything was going to plan until they hit the dirt. They were up first against the resurgent Rotorua Rebels who took a clinical win and then went down to the Canterbury Glen Eagles, eliminated after race 7, the first team out. The lesson here might be getting a team back into the meeting is easier than actually winning a race. The long term prospects look good, this team will do the business and possibly at Auckland we will see some results to match the professional image.

Race of the night on Saturday had to be the Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes verses Great Britain Lions, one of those races that left no cars undamaged, with action everywhere and a very unlucky Hawkeyes team who joined the first night casualties despite being in two of the better races. The Stratford Scappers and Auckland Allstars were the other two not to make it through to finals night. We were pleased to see the Allstars back and despite a few dire predictions from 'concerned friends' in the pits, I have to say it was their best performance in years. Two narrow losses, one of them giving the Nelson Tigers a damn good fright. I think this could be the beginning of a new era for the Allstars. Bernie Fox and Darryl Hammond the standouts.

Well, what can you say about night two, best finals night in ages. The races for 5th and 6th between Waikato and Manawatu, and 3rd + 4th between Great Britain and Rotorua were stunners. Karl Ross v Tony Whittaker had the crowd on their feet in a race that will go down as a classic. For Nelson and Palmerston North, their semi final hopes both centered on stand out performances by Dale Ewers and Peter Rees almost single handedly getting the teams through to the final. Ewers made an important block that won their race while Rees drove like a man possessed fending off Rebels blockers like they were ministocks. Despite eager fans wanting a non-Palmy final it was highly unlikely going by performances on night 1, either the Panthers or the Manawatu Mustangs would make it, just so long as they both didn't was the general consensus! Nelson took the underdog and crowd favourite tag into the final, but I think both teams made a pre-race decision that would be the biggest factor in finding this years champion. 8p Scott Miers had received a hefty amount of damage in their semi-final and despite his incredible pedigree in this event was made the reserve and sat the final out. Nelson took the other option and although they managed to get Dale Ewers car on the track, the damaged sustained in their semi would ultimately cost them dearly when his car failed to complete a lap. Any team, no matter how passionate or talented, cannot take on a full strength Panthers team with only 3 mobile cars and expect to win. They put up a great fight but the writing was on the wall pretty early and the incredible Panthers had done it again, champions for 2011/12.

There was talk floating around the pits about a new team emerging called "the Dream Team" consisting of former NZ Superstock Champions which sounds kinda cool to me, but not wanting to point out the obvious, we have a dream team already, they are called the Palmerston North Panthers and they are worthy of the name. Well done to everyone involved in an incredible event, it was one of the best I've ever been to.

Meeting rating : 9.5/10
Programme : $5, excellent quality, collectable
Driver of the weekend : Bryce Steiner, the backbone of the Rebels
Parking : On the street, hired car so who cares!
Best Moment : Karl Ross v Tony Whittaker

024

2012-02-06T19:07:00.000+13:00

Link to the full story is HERE.

Faram at last!

2012-01-31T19:40:00.001+13:00

TWS New Zealand Superstock Title
Huntly Speedway, January 28 + 29

At last years NZ title held at Rotorua, Joe Faram was possibly the first man eliminated, sent skyward on the infamous turn 1 push, failing to complete a single lap. Fast forward a year and Faram is the last man standing after a run-off for first place at the hugely successful 2011-12 version of the New Zealand title, completed last night at Huntly Speedway. A fairytale comeback for one of the most popular competitors in the class. Also a fairly amazing feat considering he was the only non-Palmerston North car with a realistic shot at the title heading into heat three. Two of those P cars did manage to fill out the rest of the podium, 79p Kerry Humphrey in second and 7p Shane Penn rising from the ashes of the repercharge to claim third spot.

A big crowd was in fairly early for the finals night's first act of attrition, to reduce 28 last chance hopefuls in the repercharge down to two, to complete the line up of finalists in the three heat championship. A few cars failed to front for various reasons and were replaced including 31p McCabe, 16b Jude and 10r McRobbie. This meant 115h, 87n, 5r, 24h and 591p Wayne Hemi would get one more go, albeit from the rear of the field. 87n Stanaway required a 3 minute bell but was unable to fix a brake line and pulled to the infield. Green lights and with only 2 chaotic laps completed, most of the front runners had been eliminated including both Ngatai brothers, Karl Ross and Kerry Remnant. 7p Shane Penn escaped the carnage to lead from 33r Robbie Mabey but of more interest was 591p Wayne Hemi having powered his way up to 8th place already. The race restarted and then it was a full on drag race for those prized first two places. Penn cleared out to consolidate his place but 5n Nick Fowler and 23h Lance Ashton battled for second with Fowler's last corner lunge at Ashton not enough to qualify. Hemi's progress was halted somewhat with a ride over the wheel of 16h Headington a few laps previous but at least we saw a glimpse of what the new Red Waka can really do.

Championship Heat 1
41b Jason Long required the 3 minute bell but had he known what was coming he might have just quietly headed for the infield! Turns 1 and 2 the pack managed to negotiate okay but like a steam train the pack barrelled in to turn 3, 1nz Dale Ewers was spun and dragged causing a pile up which 7n Craig Boote narrowly managed to avoid, unfortunately for 41b Long he rode up over the front of 62p Joblin and was rolled. Also involved was 5v Taylor who received damage to his roll cage ending his night, 118r Bryce Steiner DNF, and the very unlucky 8h Dave Roigard who was sent infield for moving on the red light. 8p Miers and 1nz Ewers were left on the track but were firmly last. 92r Kyle Fraser lead 23h, 4b, 7p, 2nz, 79p and 4p Chad Ace. The next drama to play out took two real prospects from the competition, what started as a simple spin of 58p Peter Bengsten by 135r Scott Hewson ended up with the 58p rolled and the 135r perched on top. Hewson was given the chance to drive the car off the 58p but failed with DNFs recorded for both of them. Between red lights 23h Lance Ashton had been spun out of the leading pack and Craig Boote had moved up to 8th with Fraser still leading. The next stanza of racing claimed both 54p Bevan Humphrey and 8p Miers both with terminal issues ending their nights. 92r Fraser went wide on turn three letting both 2nz Scott Joblin and 4b Faram through the gap with 2 laps to go the 2nz was putting distance between himself and the whole field. A big lunge by 79p Kerry Humphrey in turn 3 gained him 2 vital spots at the expense of Shane Penn and Kyle Fraser. Palmy cars would finish 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7th but a post race relegation for 2nz Joblin would drop him two places. 88p Jack Miers recorded the fastest lap, 16.99 seconds while 282s Phil Ogle moved from grid 23 up to 9th.
Heat 1 Top 10: 4b Faram, 79p Humphrey, 2nz Joblin, 7p Penn, 92r Fraser, 72p Joblin, 14p Ace, 7n Boote, 282s Ogle, 89w Robertson

Championship Heat 2
In contrast to the full on action of heat 1, heat two was a straight out drag race and points grab. Early spins for 92r Fraser and 282s Phil Ogle were costly as was 32p Graeme Barr's wall ride courtesy of 118r Steiner but unluckiest of all was 7n Craig Boote puncturing the right rear early in the race and relying on other cars retiring to gain any sort of decent points. 41b Long retired early while 72p Simon Joblin lead for most of the race until held up by Fraser, 88p Jack Miers inheriting the lead, recording the fastest lap again for heat two but unable to hold off Joblin who recaptured the lead late in the race. 8h Dave Roigard impressed with a solid third place. 14p Ace spun dropping a few spots while 32p Barr also dropped 5 spots from his starting grid. The result left 5 of the 6 top cars from Palmy with only 4b Joe Faram sitting in third on points the odd one out. Heat 2 Top 10 : 72p Joblin, 88p Miers, 8h Roigard, 16r Osborne, 79p Humphrey, 37r Hunter, 4b Faram, 135r Hewson, 7p Penn, 62p A Joblin. Points after two heats 79p 47pts, 72p 47pts, 4b 46pts, 7p 41pts, 88p 40pts, 2nz 38pts

Championship Heat 3
Any person in their right mind looking at the points after two heats knew we were going to have a new champion and he was most likely registered to Palmerston North, also that Joe Faram was going to have a very short and spectacular third heat. Anyone with a video camera was focusing it on the bright orange tri-rail. Perhaps the only upset would be some of the Rotorua cars might get up for a podium spot if they worked together. Faram and Osborne both appeared out of the pits with new colour schemes on the front and rear of the cars in the faint hope of avoiding detection. Faram had a grid 18 start, Osborne 25 but the obvious favourites for the title Humphrey and Joblin were on 12 + 13. 23h Ashton was slow off the start and 7n Boote was sent into the wall, 135r Hewson was first to be spun and Faram quickly moved up to 6th place. The major action erupted as Boote had a shot at 62p, 118r Steiner took 4b Faram to the wall in a shot that could so easily have ended his run, luckily able to refire and continue. 1nz Ewers took 72p Joblin into the wall between turns 3 + 4 and 88p Miers smashed into the pair, facing backwards into the wall where his race, and title hopes would end. Red lights to remove 72p Simon Joblin. At this stage Faram was still running, Simon Joblin was out, Scott Joblin was tangled up with Boote on the infield and Shane Penn had moved his way up to 5th spot. 58p Bengsten held up 16r Osborne and both 135r and 118r starting put in some big shots and most of the damage to the Palmy cars, Steiner making a telling blow by spinning 79p. Red lights for Rees and Miers who were stalled at either ends of the track, Miers not having moved since the first red. 32p Barr was leading but points-wise it was 79p Humphrey on 67, Penn on 65 and Faram on 64 having lasted longer than most people expected. The final couple of laps involved a big group of the leading cars all coming together on turn 3 including Osborne, Humphrey, Steiner and Joblin, Faram seized the opportunity and ultimately made the move that would win him the title, passing the entire group with a daring outside manoeuvre. Despite some blocking from Bengsten on the final lap, Faram would end up tied for 1st with Humphrey on 68pts requiring the runoff that he would deservedly win. Rotorua cars did manage to get up behind 2nz Scott Joblin for 5th and 6th, Ken Hunter and Mark Osborne respectively.
Heat 3 Top 10 : 32p Barr, 282s Ogle, 7p Penn, 37r Hunter, 4b Faram, 79p Humphrey, 135r Hewson, 16r Osborne, 92r Fraser, 2nz Joblin

An incredibly popular win going by the reception the Hawkes Bay driver received on his flag lap after outpacing Kerry Humphrey in the runoff. It did make me wonder how many more accolades this talented driver may have collected over the years had he not been out in the wilderness as the lone Gisborne representative at so many meetings. It's unimportant now, having finally captured the big one. Well done also to the Huntly club for putting on a great finals night, plenty of atmosphere, strong programme, a fantastic heat three finale requiring a runoff for the title with excellent commentary, buildup and updates throughout the night - a vital part of any championship.

Meeting rating : 8.5/10
Programme : $5, good quality, collectable
Driver of the night : 4b Joe Faram, quite an achievement
Parking : $2, with security
Best Moment : The first two laps of that repercharge, carnage!

NZ Superstock Title, Night 1

2012-01-29T13:14:00.005+13:00

Part of being innovative these days means you have to have a hide like a rhino, there are always going to be masses of critics ready to kick you when you are down and that I'm sure is the feeling in the Red Waka camp today following a qualifying night that can best be described as 'below expectation...' Rumours that the Waka was leaking more oil than the Rena, that the engine was blown, the steering wiped out, it was made of pastry and that Elvis was actually driving summed up the fervour for Waka news during the night. Hemi wasn't the only one of course to miss the cut, a number of pre-meeting favourites will now be in a star-studded repercharge that almost resembles a finals night field. There was plenty more action than your usual qualifying night, delayed 24 hours because of rain, 82 cars split into four groups battled it out on a surface that rutted up early on and brought out the best in some drivers whilst others will be rueing missed opportunities.

Red Group
99r Mark Decke was officially the first DNF with a heat 1, lap 1 incident ending his night. DNFs for 31p Andy McCabe, 46w Alan Levien and a puncture for the reigning champ 1nz Dale Ewers. The win went to 72p Simon Joblin ahead of 16r, 19c, 73h and Joe Faram in 4b. Heat 2 had early punctures for 19c Ngatai and 48n Nicholls which would ultimately cost them both there chances of qualifying, 72p Simon Joblin taking another win from Faram, Ewers and McCabe in a fast close race. 7p Shane Penn had recorded a 6th in heat one but a broken driveshaft gave him a DNF for heat 2. It was about 10.10pm by the time heat three for this group emerged from the pits with quite a few gaps in the grid. Points leaders were Joblin 42pts, Faram 37pts, 16r 35pts, 73h 34pts, 5v on 30pts and 1nz hanging in there on 27pts. The top six would qualify. An early shunt to the wall and a spin later in the race would eliminate 73h Ross from the qualifiers while 55h Allen Van Den Ven was happy to stir up trouble almost getting Joblin on lap 2. Penn recorded the win but not enough points to get through.
Top 6 : 4b Faram, 72p Joblin, 16r Osborne, 5v Taylor, 1nz Ewers, 54p Humphrey
Notable omissions: 31p, 48n, 7p, 19c

Blue Group
Heat 1 would claim 10b Sam Bartholomew, a wild ride over 5n Nick Fowler was followed a lap later by rolling over 118r Bryce Steiner in turn 4. 18n Shane Harwood was next to go involved in a pile up with 73a, 712p and the stationary 33h. All three removed on a red light. The big story from this heat though was after a race long battle with 282s Phil Ogle, 591p Wayne Hemi lost steering hit the wall and then retired to the infield on about lap 9. 41b Jason Long lead from start to finish ahead of 282s Ogle, 23h Ashton, 71p Mellsop and 2nz Scott Joblin. Heat 2 had a big pile up on the back straight sending race one winner Long spinning on to the infield and then rear of field, but once again that man Hemi in the wrong place with a collapsed front end, wheels akimbo bringing on the reds. 118r Bryce Steiner would lead early but Joblin would chase him down for the win. 79p Kerry Humphrey home 3rd. 5n Nick Fowler was up to 2nd place mid race from grid 20 until a spin left him 10th and struggling for points. Going into the final heat the leading group were 2nz and 282s tied on 38pts, 41b Long on 37, 79p Humphrey and 71p Mellsop tied on 35, 118r Steiny on 33pts and local hope 8h Dave Roigard had quietly amassed 30pts. Heat 3 had Scott Joblin on pole but a bad start dropped him down to about 12th place, 6k Graeme Ward put a huge hit on 71p Shane Mellsop all but rolling him and bring on the red lights. 79p Kerry Humphrey had the lead and would hold it to the finish. Hemis night ended with a spin and stall on turn 2, 3 heats, 0 points unbelievable. Ward wasnt finished stirring and an expensive spin on 38r Redfern ended his hopes along with 23h Ashton who ended up stranded in the turn 4 wall.
Top 6 : 282s Ogle, 79p Humphrey, 2nz Joblin, 41b Long, 118r Steiner, 8h Roigard
Notable omissions: 5n, 591p, 18n

Yellow Group
Scott Hewson took the lead early and impressed with a start to finish win. 32p Graeme Barr had a early spin but would manage to recover to 7th with the fastest lap of the night, a 16.95 second flyer. Costly spins for 11r, 10p, 52w Paul Fairbrother dropped them all well down the pack. Kyle Fraser came home second from Canterbury's 55c Matt Ngatai. 7n Craig Boote seemed cautious in this heat with 4p Chad Ace biting at his heels for the duration pipping him on the line for 4th. Heat 2 had a nasty prang into the wall for 5k Brad Ridland leaving him knocked out for a moment and bringing the race to a halt. 37b Gary Foley and 55c Ngatai had managed to get caught up in the same incident. Upon the green it settle into a big flag race with everyone playing safe, I did notice the 7n taking very wide lines into the turns leaving himself exposed to a tap and spin but nothing eventuated. Barr wins race with , Boote, Hewson, Ace and Wade the top 5. Points going into heat 3 had 135r Hewson on 40, 7n Boote on 37, 4p Chad Ace and Graeme Barr both on 36, followed by Fraser, Wade and Ngatai. 16h Headington was on pole for heat 3 and first casualty was 859p Wade tangling with 10p Asher Rees and retiring. 4p Ace had a spin and when 32p Barr attempted to spin leader Headington they both dropped a number of places. 115h Darren Short spun and brought on the red lights just as he refired. 87r Elsworth took the win from Barr and out of nowhere 8p Scott Miers had done enough to tie for 6th spot overall with 55c Ngatai requiring a runoff that Miers would win.
Top 6 : 32p Barr, 135r Hewson, 7n Boote, 92r Fraser, 4p Ace, 8p Miers
Notable omissions : 859p, 87r, 62h

Orange Group
The track surface started cutting up in the corners for Orange groups first heat and it would catch out 87n Thomas Stanaway spinning, digging in and ending up on his side. A big pile up in turns 3 + 4 with Kerry Remnant going over the bonnet of 66b Meechy causing the Bay driver to retire infield. 58p Bengsten was spun early from a front grid start and spent the race gaining back places eventually up to about 12th. 89w Dale Robertson taking the win but the fastest lap to 2nd placed 88p Jack Miers, Rees home 3rd ahead of 37r Hunter. Heat 2 for this group I noted as being 'very tame' spins were about it for 71h Wootton, 27p Gargan and 10r McRobbie. The win went to 37r Ken Hunter from yet another Joblin, this time 62p Adam, 3nz Rees, 58p Bengsten and 89w Robertson. Heat three for orange group finally rolled out of the gate at 10.55pm! 27p Phillip Gargan took a wild ride down the length of the back straight dragged along by the pack, 10r McRobbie spun almost taking out 89w Robertson. Mid way through and 16b Steve Jude was leading and in with a good qualifying chance only to be spun by Gargan and then after refiring and trying to gain race speed the frontrunners caught him on turn 3 with Miers sending him heavily into the wall bringing on the reds. Unfortunately a long delay before the red lights came on with Jude's thumbs down, he was hit by 66b. Two laps away from qualifying, Jude was the hard luck story from this group. 88p Miers took the win.
Top 6 : 62p Joblin, 88p Miers, 37r Hunter, 3nz Rees, 89w Robertson, 58p Bengsten
Notable omissions: 16b, 10r, 6h, 87n

So there you have it, a great night of qualifying with a few surprises getting through, the repercharge first up tonight should be a ripper, 28 cars vying for the last two spots in the finals. Hopefully the meeting wont drag as much as it did last night, not getting home until 1.15am, the support programme was too much. Also my pet peeves, the cars parked on the infield before the meeting so you cant have a look at them or photograph them. The pits were empty and void of any atmosphere unless as Smeats pointed out to me, head down to "Ngatai Fun Park" at the end of the pits, at least there was something to do there! Also reading out results while the race is still going - WE CANT HEAR YOU! Wait until the cars are leaving the track and then give us the race result. We were awash with points last night, some right some wrong it was very hard to keep track. Apart from those minor points, a bloody good meeting and well above what I expected for night 1, roll on the finals...

Damn the rain!

2012-01-27T14:35:00.001+13:00

It's looking like a rainout at Huntly for tonights NZ Superstock qualifying meeting. So here are a few flashbacks to previous NZ Superstock titles I've been to until I can put up some fresh content from Huntly. Turn on the sun!

Underwhelming
2006 at Waikaraka Park here

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Del and Rex Neild's visit to Dunedin
2007 at Dunedin here

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Hurricane Warning!
2010 at Kihikihi here

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Four Nights in Paradise
2011 at Rotorua here

Like father, like son

2012-01-22T16:50:00.002+13:00

Auckland Stockcar Title, January 21
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

Stone the flamin' crows as Alf would say, not only did the Auckland Stockcar drivers work together to get one of their own home for the local stockcar title, they annihilated all the visitors and made it a 1-2-3 Auckland podium! Im lovin' it. It could have something to do with the fierce warning I saw Marissa Gough shouting out in the pits before the meeting "if any Auckland car takes out another Auckland car they are gonna get the bash from me!" A field of 37 cars turned up to contest the Auckland Stockcar title, including a decent amount of Huntly cars and four Rotorua drivers. Split into two groups, the top 10 from each group would go through and then a repercharge for the remaining cars to get the final 10 for a 30 car field, then 3 x heats to find the champion.

Group 1, heat 1
91a Paul Chatfield was spun in front of the whole field and had a massive effort to claw his way back to 5th place to qualify. Biggest disappointment was 14r Matt Nilsson who was actually leading for a couple of laps (flag racer) being spun late in the race and slipping to 11th place. 2nz Bernie Fox managed to finish 4th even with a puncture. Biggest casualties, 15a Carl Campbell and 81r Damian Orr dnf. 69h Callum Whiter took an impressive win from grid 15.
Top 10 qualifiers : 69h, 12a, 57a, 2nz, 91a, 7a, 34h, 8a, 85a, 137a

Group 2, heat 1
Defending champ 88h Justin Hutchby was in this group but a race long battle with 51a Mark McNabb meant neither would get through. Hutch almost had McNabb over on his side on lap 1 and a flat right front tyre ended his chances. 8r Scott Fredrickson took the lead early and was a convincing winner. 55h Neville Hazeltons hit on the 981r tank of Steve Gray cost him his place finishing 11th. 61a Leroy Neill took two huge hits, one from Hazelton and one from 59a Mason who was letting nothing get in his way.
Top 10 qualifiers : 8r, 95a, 59a, 29a, 5h, 981r, 78h, 67a, 10a, 22a

Repercharge
Last chance to dance and there were a few cars you wouldn't expect in this race. From the green flag 42h Lance Gribble was on the brakes holding up the inside row and when both 51a McNabb and 88h Hutchby were leading with neither wanting to go ahead of the other, the race turned into slow motion! 13h Jamie Symon was spun in front of the pack and then it was a mad scramble for those remaining spots to qualify. Both Hutchby and 81r Orr made slow progress but did enough to get through, 15a Campbell and 51a McNabb both dnf. 14r Matt Nilssons night ended here in a huge cloud of smoke. Eleven cars qualified from the repercharge for a 31 car field.
Top 11 qualifiers : 55h, 69a, 11h, 65a, 88h, 81r, 77a, 38a, 51h, 28a, 13h

Finals Heat 1
It only took until turn 3 of lap 1 before the first pile up and rollover. 10a Chanelle Gordon spun in front of a group of cars including 28a, 11h, 5h and 13h with 38a Ryan Smith left with nowhere to go except over onto his side. 95a Gary Lonergan was just able to sneak round the outside. Both 38a Ryan and 5h Stenson removed to the infield. On the red light 59a Trevor Mason had taken the lead and would eventually take the chequered flag. 88h Hutchby would retire soon after spinning 95a Lonergan who was able to hook reverse and take Hutch to the wall, they had been running in 2nd and 3rd place. 8r Scott Fredrickson was taken to the infield losing valuable places, while 69h Callum White would smash into a spinning 28h. 67a Krizo was slowed by a puncture but biggest stirrer of this heat was 85a Shannon Savage, spinning 34h Anton Leek and landing a huge hit on 51h Alistair Van Amsterdam. Biggest movers were 81r Damian Orr from grid 24 and 12a Mike Stanaway from grid 30 up to 4th.
Top 10 : 59a, 81r, 29a, 12a, 77a, 95a, 137a, 55h, 2nz, 8a

Finals Heat 2
This heat had plenty of action with Anton Leek and 22a Leigh Cossey having a great race long battle. 29a Scott Tennant had the early lead until 8r Fredrikson took over but a spinning 67a couldnt be avoided, then a massive hit from 85a Savage sent Fredrikson into the wall taking a while to refire the car. 69a Dave Seymore's promising start ended in turn 2, stuck in the wall for a number of laps before rejoining the race. 88h Hutchy served 137a Jamie Fergusson into the wall in turn 1 almost tipping him over before once again retiring. Tennant held on for the win from 81r Orr, Lonergan, Mason and Fox.
Top 10 : 29a, 81r, 59a, 95a, 2nz, 57a, 65a, 91a, 12a, 69h

Finals Heat 3
Going into the final heat there was a three way tie for first between 81r Orr, 29a Tennant and 59a Mason with 95a Lonergan 6pts adrift in 4th. There were about 5 empty spaces on the starting grid. 12a Mike Stanaway sitting 6th on points was on pole postion with Lonergan handily placed on grid 4 while Tennant was starting well back on grid 26, Orr (13) Fox (18) and Mason on grid 24. On the green 85a Shannon Savage, easily the best stirrer of the night put 34h Leek up the wall, 95a Lonergan had smoke emitting from the engine bay and when 8a Laurie Maber went hard backwards into turn 4 bringing on the red lights, the 95a was also pushed from the track, not sure what the story was but a certain podium positon was gone, one contender down. On the restart 81r and 8r lead 12a Stanaway and 65a Adam Mills. Next it was Scott Tennants turn to be attacked and first it was 69h Whiter taking him to the grass, only for 8r Fredrikson then to have a go. It was good to see Tennant one of the few drivers who would turn back on to the grass and re-enter back where he was taken off unlike many others who took the fastest way back to the track. 81r Orr had driven a blinder up to this stage and pushed both 137a Fergusson and then 85a Savage out of the way but next lap (or should I say Nek Minnit) Fergusson got him good and while Orr reversed to get out of the way 12a Stanaway ploughed into him. 59a Mason had a flat right front wheel but was still able to circulate gaining points. 2nz Bernie Fox took over the lead and held it to the finish. Time though for one more big hit and Mason managed to roll 34h Leek on the back straight just for good measure. The Auckland stockies had managed to eliminate every visiting car except Scott Fredrickson, awesome stuff.
Top 10 : 2nz, 65a, 12a, 77a, 29a, 59a, 85a, 8r, 137a, no other finishers.

On paper this meeting looked okay, the quality of the show was definitely going to be how good the Stockcars performed and boy did they perform. Scott Tennant had an outstanding night and proved he's not only fast around the WP track in the Marx chassis but also he can now take the hits and work his way out of trouble. If he's anything like his Dad we are in for a long and successful career and its great to see it really blooming in this, his second season of racing. The new Auckland champion and finalist at the NZ Stockcar title, a pretty good month for Team Tennant! Trevor Mason taking second in the very fast 59a and Bernie Fox rounding out the top three, another driver having a golden run at the moment.

Meeting rating : 7/10
Programme : $2, good quality
Driver of the night : 29a Scott Tennant
Parking : Free
Meetings Best Moment : 85a Shannon Savage, the terminator absolutely took to the visiting cars helping give the locals their best result in ages.

Long time coming

2012-01-16T19:43:00.001+13:00

Superstock World 240's
Paradise Valley Raceway, Rotorua

In recent times the domination of Palmerston North cars at major titles, heck any title, has made them rather unpopular to say the least. First there was the "Smash the P" campaign and now the "Plastic P" reference to describe imported drivers who register to the Palmy track. So it comes as no surprise that at this title, those familiar 'P' cars were once again at the pointy end of the field going into the final race. What was a refreshing change though was that one of the real journeymen of the Superstock class, 31p Andy McCabe picked up that elusive BIG title, 240 World Champion, sounds grand doesn't it, and I don't think a single person at the stadium would have denied him a title that has been a long time coming.

Friday nights qualifying had been cut short with you guessed it, rain, a meeting I couldn't make it to, so Saturday nights programme included an entree sized starter beginning at 5.30pm to finish the last two group heats and a stockcar race - a great bonus for the big crowd who turned up. As 7pm rolled around, the finals night proper began with the always spectacular repercharge to find the last qualifiers for the 26 car World 240 championship. 89w Dale Robertson looked the likely winner but a flat tyre ended his hopes gifting the lead to local 10r Alan McRobbie, 72p Simon Joblin grabbed the second spot while the real battle was for the last spot between 48n Brett Nicholls, 87n Thomas Stanaway and 38r Scott Redfern. A last corner lunge by the two Nelson drivers ended up costing them both as Redfern darted through.

Heat 1
As expected the turn one push claimed yet more victims and 4b Joe Faram must wonder what he has to do to get safety round this track on the first lap! The chaos was caused by 4p Chad Ace spinning 2nz Scott Joblin in front of the whole pack. The result left defending champ 3nz Peter Rees, 88p Jack Miers, 97r Pat Westbury, 4b Faram and 2nz Scott Joblin either on the infield or right at the back of the field. Then began a massive flag race from the rest of the field turning the track surface black after only a few laps. 2nz Joblin had a flat left front but was still managing good speed, 515gb Frankie Wainman Jnr punctured mid race dropping well back. 8uk Mick Harris in the Rees Superstock tank was spun in turn 1 and was stranded for a few laps. 32p Graeme Barr was making a charge for the front and pushed both 8p Scott Miers and 2nz Joblin out of his way in his drive to win, the 2nz left facing the wall in turn 1. 19c Malcolm Ngatai whose good fortune to make the finals came at the cost of 135r Scott Hewson who had withdrawn with a damaged car, looked out of sorts in this race perhaps getting the setup wrong. Big chunks of track from turns 3 + 4 were flying up into the crowd and it was going to be a battle all night to keep on top of the track conditions. 7p Shane Penn made huge moves up to 5th place ahead of 31p Andy McCabe. 38r Scott Redfern was left stuck in the wall on turn 1 unable to refire the tank. There were a few poleline indescretions and post race 18n Shane Harwood was dropped two places for passing 58p Peter Bengston on the grass. Six of the top seven drivers were from Palmerston North, only 282s Phil Ogle managing to get a look in.
Top 10: 32p, 282s, 72p, 4p, 7p, 31p, 58p, 1gb, 18n, 87r

Heat 2
Rees was on pole for this one but after a dnf in heat one, would he run or play? 87r David Elsworth spun 4p Chad Ace and 282s Phil Ogle was an early casualty. This heat again was a big flag race with the field separating in to two distinct groups at either end of the track for a number of laps. Whatever was wrong with the 19c Ngatai car in heat one, was fixed for this one as he diced with Rees for the lead eventually winning the race after Rees ran foul of the refs and was relegated one spot for a pass on Ngatai. A mid race red light for the muffler off 515gb saw 7p Penn retire to the infield along with 1nz Ewers and 10r McRobbie. After an early hit into the wall, 32p Graeme Barr moved from grid 24 up to a finish of 11th.
Top 10: 19c, 3nz, 18n, 31p, 58p, 87r, 1gb, 4b, 72p, 16r

Heat 3:
Going in to the final heat 31p Andy McCabe was leading on 44pts ahead of four cars on 42pts, Peter Bengsten, Simon Joblin, Shane Harwood and Graeme Barr. Barr had the best starting position on grid 6 while most of the major players were in a tight group mid pack. It took until lap 1, turn 2 for things to turn ugly with 16r Mark Osborne taking a wild ride on top of 32p Graeme Barr's bonnet. Barr's throttle stuck open and he ended up backwards into the wall on turn 3, adding to his impressive resumé of spectacular heat three demises! On the red light, 18n Harwood retired along with 16r Osborne. 10r Alan McRobbie was the chief stirrer having pot shots at most Palmy players but with both 87r Elsworth and 31p McCabe battling side by side McRobbie was unable to get McCabe. Elsworth managed to pass McRobbie and put some distance between himself and McCabe but with the 10r eventually being despatched bringing on the red lights, Elsworth would not get the necessary points to beat the Palmy battler. A late semi-spin attempt on the 31p by Joe Faram would cost McCabe a spot but finishing third the title was his. Only 14 cars crossed the finish line.
Top 10: 87, 4b, 31p, 97r, 38r, 58p, 282s, 8p, 1gb, 8uk

31p Andy McCabe 68pts
87r David Elsworth 64pts
58p Peter Bengston 63pts
1gb Paul Harrison 57pts
72p Simon Joblin 56pts
4b Joe Faram 55pts

So then, two weeks out from the NZ Superstock title in Huntly and a number of drivers will be fairly pleased with their progress, 32p Graeme Barr, 19c Malcolm Ngatai and 58p Peter Bengston to name a few, but one or two will have concerns. Reigning national champ Dale Ewers had a night to forget, with a 15th and two dnfs, hopefully this was just an off night. 89w Dale Robertson, 37r Ken Hunter and 7p Shane Penn also must have wondered what they had to do to get a break. Well done once again to the Rotorua Club for what was a superb "effortless" show, in reality a lot of work must go into it of course. The bobcat driver in turns three and four deserves a medal for the work he did all night on the track surface! The support racing was first class, saloons were hotdog time for me though. For the record, winner of the Superstocks in Paradise was 118r Bryce Steiner, gaining his automatic entry into next seasons 240's final.

Meeting rating : 8/10
Programme : $10 collectable, excellent
Driver of the night : 32p Graeme Barr
Parking : Free
Meetings Best Moment : 31p McCabe winning and his speech at the finish of the race with Barry Brown, "Awesome, Bloody Awesome!"

Teams Update Vl

2012-01-07T12:55:00.003+13:00

After a lull in teams racing it has roared back to life with the two nights of action at Palmerston North for the NZ Stockcar Teams title. Hit of the night can be viewed HERE Stockcarscene video by Wal86. Here is the table after both nights results. The Wanganui Vulcans may not have won the title but their efforts as runners-up have moved them to the top of the table. The victorious Pumas and the Tasman Thunder are the only two unbeaten teams this season although Tasman have had a few less races! Also I heard that the next Rees shield challenge at Waikaraka Park will be against the Wanganui Vulcans.

October 29
Rees Shield 1
At Waikaraka Park
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

October 29
At Stratford Speedway
Kihikihi Crusaders def Stratford Stormers

November 5
Eastern States Speedway Blenheim
Canterbury Crushers def Eastern States Titans
Ken's Cowboys def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Ken's Cowboys

November 11
At Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Team Moon Goon
Ken's KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans
Canterbury Crushers def Ken's KB Cowboys
Eastern States Titans def Team Moon Goon

November 19 & 20
TWS Huntly Teams Night 1
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Huntly Raiders def Wanganui Vulcans
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators
Wanganui Vulcans def Meeanee Maulers
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Manawatu Steelers
Stratford Stormers def Rotorua Rascals
Night 2
Meeanee Maulers def Stratford Stormers
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Waikato Raiders def Rotorua Rascals
Stratford Stormers def Gisborne Gladiators
Meeanee Maulers def Manawatu Steelers
Wanganui Vulcans def Rotorua Rascals
Auckland Alleycats def Waikato Raiders

November 26
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Meeanee Maulers
Wanganui Vulcans def Manawatu Minors
Palmerston North Pumas def Stratford Stormers
Manawatu Steelers def Wellington Young Guns
Wanganui Vulcans def Waikato Raiders
Manawatu Minors def Meeanee Maulers
Waikato Raiders def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Manawatu Steelers

At Nelson
Tasman Thunder def Greymouth Grizzlies

Stockcar Teams Title Palmerston North
Night 1
Meeanee Maulers def Auckland Alleycats
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Meeanee Maulers def Stratford Stormers
Wanganui Vulcans def Gisborne Gladiators
Wanganui Vulcans def Waikato Raiders
Waikato Raiders def Gisborne Gladiators
Eastern States Titans def Wellington Young Guns
Eastern States Titans def Kihikihi Crusaders
Wellington Young Guns def Kihikihi Crusaders
Palmerston North Pumas def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def Rotorua Rascals
Palmerston North Pumas def Rotorua Rascals
Night 2
Rotorua Rascals def Auckland Alleycats
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Palmerston North Pumas def Meeanee Maulers
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Rotorua Rascals
Wellington Young Guns def Eastern States Titans
Palmerston North Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans

Costello wins

2012-01-05T12:23:00.001+13:00

Finals night for the Grand Prix turned out to be one of the best nights of the season with what can only be described as a 'fairly decent' support class, the international Sprintcars. Even the Ministocks came to the party and put on a great display. The track surface was still not 100% but it was a vast improvement on the night before. The crowd size had improved but Im guessing a large amount of those people had come for the Sprintcars, hopefully they enjoyed some of the Stockcar racing too. A couple of times during the evening it did feel a bit like the feature class were being pushed to the side for the Sprintcars but when they weren't running lap after lap on yellow lights they were stunning to watch.

First job for the night though was to find the final four cars from the repercharge, and surprisingly their were only 17 cars for this race. A rather straight forward flag race ensued with 47c, 84m, 45r and 73c qualifying. I may be mistaken but I thought I heard 84m Ryan Smyth set a lap record during this race? If someone can confirm that would be good to know. A couple of cars that I thought had qualified were missing from the field, 92g Brett Lloyd and 517s Mark Woods.

Heat 1
24r Shane Newlands, 97m Stacy Keatch and 321v Hilton Parker were the front row for a monster field of 36 Stockcars. Green flag and on turn two 321v Parker was spun and with a field this big at least four other cars were tangled up in the melee. 21s Duthie punctured, 4r Shaun Stewart took the lead from local hope 35m Eben Young, Newlands and 98r Costello. 8r Scott Fredrickson spun 84i Taylor which held up 95a Gary Lonergan, and within a lap or two 95a had a flat right front tyre. 15p Rob Miers had made huge moves forward in the field. The leading cars were 4r, 24r, 35m, 97m, 24m and 557p the first of the Palmy contingent in 6th. 35m Young tried to spin 24r Newlands costing them both a lot of places and opening a gap that Miers darted into to grab 2nd place. It was at this point Im guessing a little bit of payback from the NZ title at Rotorua took place as the crippled 95a took Miers out of the race. 41c Ben Jacobs retired to the infield and 97m Keach seemed to lose a bit of power dropping lots of places. 33r was ailing and retired and slowly 581p Jordan Dare was moving into contention up to 6th place. After the red light to remove Miers, 45r Vallance stalled, 24r Newlands went off along with 17r Kitt and 97m. Reining champ 67w Hargreaves was in trouble and retired too. It left a 5 way battle for the lead that finshed with a win to 4r Shaun Stewart ahead of the 24m tank of Ian Daniel. 581p had moved up an incredible 33 places.
Top 16: 4r, 24m, 581p, 35m, 98r, 557p, 73p, 86r, 29m, 15r, 17b, 72r, 29a, 8r, 81r, 229s

Heat 2
67w Hargreaves was supposed to start on grid 1 but was a DNS. 72r David Rumney pulled infield right off the start ending his title hopes. 24m Ian Daniel was the first to be spun dropping to the rear of field. 98r Costello took the early lead ahead of 557p and 35m. 24r Newlands attacked the 23m tank. 17r Murray Kitt was spun in turn 1 and the 29m car of Ryan Hunt began smoking heavily but was able to continue. 321v Parker joined the growing list of puncture victims with the entire tyre then coming off. 21s Todd Duthie retired. 35m Eben Young moved up to 2nd from his grid 10 start. 86r Keijzer pulled to the infield and heat one winner 4r Stewart was slowing due to yet another puncture. 81r Damian Orr made his big move at this stage taking the lead with 2 laps to go by negotiating the lapped traffic best. Both 24r and 73c ended up in the wall and 23m tank blew a tyre dragging himself home in 22nd.
Top 16: 81r, 98r, 35m, 557p, 17b, 8r, 52r, 581p, 84m, 84i, 41c, 15r, 229s, 29a, 24m, 29m

Points after the second heat were hard to come by as the Sprintcars were showboating and somewhat stealing the limelight so I did my best to work them out myself and I think they were something like this:

35m Eben Young 67pts
98r Mark Costello 67pts
557p Darrell Wallace 64pts
581p Jordan Dare 63pts
17b Aaron Iremonger 58pts
81r Damian Orr 58pts
24m Ian Daniel 57pts
8r Scott Fredrickson 54pts
15r Paul Mabey 52pts

Heat 3
There were a few gaps in the field and Jordan Dare had the best possible start position with grid 1. 86w Hawkins and 73p Hill made up the rest of the 3 wide front row. Upon the start 17b Iremonger was the first to strike trouble taken infield by 23m and forced to rejoin last. 581p Dare was then spun which would ultimately cost him the title. 229s Kylee Symes lead from 8r Fredrickson, 84i Taylor, 29a Tennant and 81r Orr in the box seat. 35m Young was attacked and spun sending him to the rear while the stirring tank of 23m Karl Daniel then had a go at 557p. Unfortunately for the Daniel clan the other tank who was in with a title shot, 24m punctured at this point. 86r Keijzer was next to have a go at Dare while the Palmy challenge was faultering with 73p losing pace and slowing. 84i and 29a both spun with Tennants race ending. Just time for one more puncture, the unlucky Orr this time ending his hopes dropping to 21st place. 23m had one last go at Dare pinning him in the wall but not before he crossed the line in second behind 8r Fredrickson. 98r Costello had pretty much kept out of trouble and coasted home in 4th securing the title by two points from Dare. Eben Young had managed to claw his way back from last to 11th place to grab third overall.
Top 16: 8r, 581p, 229s, 98r, 4r, 15r, 94r, 29m, 41c, 84i, 35m, 86w, 17r, 557p, 73p, 84m

98r Mark Costello 100pts
581p Jordan Dare 98pts
35m Eben Young 93pts
8r Scott Fredrickson 90pts

Meeting rating : 8/10
Programme : $4 some in colour, good photos and content
Driver of the night : 35m Eben Young
Parking : Free, and miles of it!
Meetings Best Moment : 14r Matt Nilsson's stirring

NZ Stockcar Grand Prix

2012-01-04T18:51:00.002+13:00

Bay Park Speedway, Mt Maunganui
January 2 + 3, 2012

About seventy stockcars took the same risk I did and travelled to Bay Park despite dire weather predictions. Just like the New Zealand title in Rotorua, the rain held off long enough to complete the two day elimination process to find the 2012 NZ Grand Prix champion. The crowd size was pathetic considering the calibre of cars competing but it didn't stop the racing from being first class with drivers split into two larger than normal groups to find the final 36. 16 would progress from each group and a further 4 through a repercharge on night 2. There were many positives about this meeting but I cant in all honesty put a positive spin on the track surface. It was terrible, cars were bouncing over the moguls in turns three and four and the number of breakages, tyres popping and wheels shearing off was testament to the harsh conditions. A number of drivers failed to complete all three heats in qualifying.

Qualifying
Red Group
Heat 1 14r Matt Nilsson was the stirrer supreme in this group putting 6m Colin Denize into the wall on the first lap of the first heat signalling his intentions for the night. 15p Rob Miers took the first heat win with 45r Nick Vallance the biggest mover finishing 12th from grid 32. 29a Scott Tennant and 23m Karl Daniel also making great progress.
15p, 52r, 8r, 17b, 4r, 73p, 517s, 15r 29a, 23m
Heat 2 A great four way tussle for the lead between Tennant, 35m Eben Young, 8r Scott Fredrickson and 15p Rob Miers with Fredrickson grabbing the lead with about 6 laps remaining for a solid win. 47c Chris Hall joined a number of dnf's on the infield. 557p Darrell Wallace survived a moment when 14b Jemma Palmer spun infront of 24v Wayne Wright causing him to swerve sending Wallace into the wall on the back straight in a huge hit, Wallace only managing to finish in 16th place. 517s Mark Woods and 73c Nathan Taylor both puncturing. 15r Paul Mabey biggest mover.
8r, 29a, 35m, 15p, 73p, 97m, 17b, 15r, 52r, 4r
Heat 3 Last chance to qualify and with all the damage and dnfs from the previous two heats it was still possible for a number of cars to get through. First incident involved 73c taking 557p, 23m and 89r Ray Channing into the wall causing the side rail to come off the hot yellow coupe bringing on the red lights. 73p Mitchell Hill was leading at this point from 47c Hall and 15r Mabey. 97m Stacy Keach sent 8r Fredrickson into the wall with a decent hit, but hit of the race was a massive shot from 23m Karl Daniel into 557p Wallace like a freight train, sending the hapless 36m Mike Lowe into a big rollover. Mabey and Hill battled on with almost a dead heat on the line, the win going to 15r. 17b Aaron Iremonger had a quiet night but still managed a 4th, 7th and 3rd in trying conditions making him a real prospect for the finals.
15r, 73p, 17b, 4r, 517s, 15p, 35m, 52r, 29a, 8r

Photo above by Zach Rayner, Pitbull Creations

Qualifying
Blue Group
Heat 1 95a Gary Lonergan on the front row had a superb battle with 92g Brett Lloyd for the entire race until puncturing 2 laps from home, ending up well down the pack. 84i Mark Taylor drove a near perfect race to finish 2nd from an incredible grid 29 start. Biggest incident was 22m Les Hepworth becoming airborne on turn one (with some help from 25m, 878r and 123r) and damaging the safety fence. 74b Tony Palmer was the other red light incident in this race. Defending champ 67w Kane Hargreaves in the tank came home in 10th.
92g, 84i, 981p, 86r, 72r, 84m, 24m, 98r, 29m, 67w
Heat 2 Going by my lack of notes on this heat, it was pretty action packed. 98r Mark Costello was in trouble on lap 1 turn 2 held up in a 3 car crash, both 86r Richard Keijzer and 84i Mark Taylor circled the track with damage just trying to collect points. The turn 3 and 4 ruts really showed up in this race with big craters causing cars to actually bounce their way round the bend. Heat 1 winner Lloyd finished mid pack in 16th.
72r, 74b, 24m, 67w, 81r, 21s, 95a, 29m, 32h, 24r
Heat 3 87w Malcolm Ayers was the first spinner in this heat as 98r and 32h Darcy Meurant diced for the lead. 84i Taylor spun Costello with Meurant taking over the lead and Ill go out on a limb and say this is by far the fastest tank racing at the moment, incredible to watch. Unfortunately it became yet another victim of the track with the right rear bursting in spectacular fashion sending the tank into the wall just passed the start finish line bringing on the reds. On the restart 229s Kylee Symes lead 84i Taylor and 92g Lloyd. Taylor stalled on the restart losing heaps of places. Lloyd eventually worked his way to the front and took the chequered flag. The car was sounding pretty sick on the victory lap though and he didnt front for night two despite qualifying.
92g, 229s, 81r, 29m, 24m, 94r, 21s, 67w, 72r, 321v

Qualifiers:
4r Shaun Stewart
8r Scott Fredrickson
15p Rob Miers
15r Paul Mabey
17r Murray Kitt
17b Aaron Iremonger
21s Todd Duthie
23m Karl Daniel
24r Shane Newlands
29m Ryan Hunt
29a Scott Tennant
33r Kieran Hines
35m Eben Young
41c Ben Jacobs
52r Mike Herbert
67w Kane Hargreaves
72m Hamish Curd
72r David Rumney
73p Mitchell Hill
81r Damian Orr
84i Mark Taylor
86r Richard Keijzer
86w Kent Hawkins
94r Shaun Stewart
95a Gary Lonergan
97m Stacy Keach
98r Mark Costello
229s Kylee Symes
321v Hilton Parker
557p Darrell Wallace
581p Jordan Dare
Repercharge
47c Chris Hall
84m Ryan Smyth
45r Nick Vallance
73c Nathan Taylor

Finals night review coming...

DHL Interislander Saloons, Waikaraka Park

2012-01-02T10:35:00.000+13:00

The weather did everything it could to stop this meeting but they perservered and the Saloons put on a rather excellent feature race taken out by young 124m Dan Corrin from Gisborne (registered to Baypark) ahead of 5t Daryl Ainsly from Cromwell. Considering sheets of misty rain fell throughout the final race there were no yellows or stoppages, a credit to the drivers involved. The series moves to Baypark tonight and then back to Waikaraka Park on the 3rd. Check it out if you are in Auckland, the racing was top notch. Check this website for all the results HERE.

Weather wins again

2011-12-31T16:42:00.000+13:00

Here are a few shots from the rained out Superstock Grand Prix at Waikaraka Park that got about as close as you can get to running a meeting, raindrops starting as the meeting was about to kick off, typical. The meeting will be re-run in February I believe, keep an eye on the Waikaraka website for details.

Legend!

2011-12-30T20:19:00.001+13:00

Finals Night, NZ Stockcar Title
Paradise Valley Raceway, Rotorua

A huge crowd turned up for night two of the New Zealand Stockcar Championship and with the qualifying having been a bit more torrid than most expected, the entire add-on area to the pits was completely empty of cars resulting in one of the consolation groups being dropped. It didnt make much difference to a strong programme including three championship groups, the leftover stockcars and Modifieds fronting almost as the 'hotdog' class. Of the three podium winners last season only 2nz Rees managed to qualify, both 1nz Kyle Lane and 3nz Kane Hargreaves not making the cut. A runoff for the last qualifying spot was won by 23m Ian Daniel

Heat 1 for the title had surprise qualifiers 17p Shane Simpson and 24m Ian Daniel on the front row although all eyes were on on the red tank of Rees who was starting from a rear grid of 23. The action was as per most first heats in a title, lots of racing for points although a number of cars failed to finish most notably 6w Paul Gaskin. The Huntly clubs hopes were extinguished pretty quickly with both 81h Rod Smythe and 88h Justin Hutchby dnf. Biggest mover of the race was Peter Rees who finished 4th behind 581p Jordan Dare, 73p Mitchell Hill and local boy 98r Mark Costello stopping an ominous Palmy 1-2-3. Scott Tennant in his first ever NZ title stealthily worked his way through the field gaining 19 places, finishing 8th from a rear grid of 27. Unfortunately his luck would end there for the night.

Heat 2 was the heat everyone would be talking about post meeting. The Gaskin v Rees incident that really would define the outcome of the meeting in my opinion. Former 1nz Graeme Ward was in the box seat after an impressive first heat 6th starting in pole position with 24w Scott McIntosh on his outside. Rees on grid 9 and heat 1 winner Dare starting near the rear of field. Two cars failed to make the start. The famous first turn push would claim some more victims with 741a Craig Chatfield taking a wild ride finishing balanced on 89v Blair Lockett's bonnet. After an impressive run, 97p Ward was taken to the wall and halted by 81h Rod Smythe. Rees had carved his way through the field and inherited the lead until 6w Paul Gaskin hooked onto the tank and drove him into the turn 3 + 4 wall, then spinning him. Rees was able to restart and the crippled tank limped home just outside the top 10. Post race, Gaskin was pinged by the refs as having cut the pole line to attack Rees and was excluded from the rest of the meeting. A very harsh call having watched the footage by Petrolfumes on YouTube. 73p Mitchell Hill and 29a Scott Tennants chances both ended with DNF's along with 9 others. Palmerston North cars came home 1-2-3 with Auckland's Bernie Fox finishing 4th. Rees misfortune gave Dare another win with maximum points after two heats, a very dangerous place to be. My feeling was ironicly Gaskin had almost helped Rees by dropping him down the points table he wasn't quite the target that Dare would be in heat 3, and with Gaskin's exclusion would anyone step up to the role of taking on the tank?

Petrolfumes video can be accessed HERE

As mentioned by the commentary team, history showed that the winners almost always came from the top six going into the final heat and this meeting would follow that tradition. 581p Jordan Dare on 56pts, 242a Bernie Fox (48) 17p Shane Simpson (46) 52b Regan O'Brien (43) and 98r Mark Costello and 2nz Peter Rees tied on 42 points. O'Brien had the best chance with a grid two starting position whereas Dare and Fox were on grids 20 and 19. Three cars failed to make the grid including Gaskin of course. On paper Dare only had to finish in 15th place or higher to gain the coveted 1nz which as it turned out was not that easy. A few cars had a 'quick makeover' in the pits with Mark Costello's car now black and the front of Fox's car blue. O'Brien took an early lead and along with Bernie Fox were probably the two most set upon cars for the whole race, both somehow managed to keep there cars going. 98p halted O'Brien while leading but Fox in particular took a huge shot from Graeme Ward in turn 3 that I was sure had ended his run. Through all the carnage Rees picked his way from grid 9 to take the lead but after his heat 2 finish he was not going to have enough points to beat Dare. Step up the Wellington T-Macs as both 12w Simon Hendry and 24w Scott McIntosh took Dare to the wall on turn 4 just metres from the finish line and held him there despite the efforts of 73p Hill to push the stricken 581p towards the line. Fox managed to finish in 9th, two places behind O'Brien, only 12 others managing to cross the finish line. 2nz Rees had just done the seemingly impossible and taken his 4th NZ title, but the feeling in the crowd was one of "oh so close" for Jordan Dare who had driven the meeting of his life. Rees, Fox and O'Brien NZ 1, 2 and 3 with 74p Chevron Taniwha and 69s Tony Zehnder rounding out the top 5.

Final thoughts on the 2011/12 New Zealand Stockcar title? This is how a meeting should be run, as a spectator you couldn't fault the show. A massive field of the best drivers this incredible class boasts, with a nightmare amount of entries to accommodate and yet the meeting ran smoothly. The commentary was detailed and up to the minute, the printed programme is a stunner and well worth the $8 charged, with great content too. Loving the AWS cover art as usual, very collectable. A mammoth effort by the team involved in putting the event together and hopefully a great sense of achievement now the dust has settled. Personally it was great to see some Auckland stockcars make the finals, huge congrats to 741a Craig Chatfield, 242a Bernie Fox and 29a Scott Tennant. Just on the topic of Scott Tennant, the current crop of young talented drivers on the scene at the moment is incredible, Jordan Dare is almost scary to watch and both the Rotorua and Palmerston North clubs have a frightening amount of these up and coming drivers. Perhaps that is why so many people I spoke to after the meeting were just over the moon with the podium finish for two of the sports real battlers, Regan O'Brien and Bernie Fox. As for Peter Rees, wow, 4 x 1nz what more can you say?

Meeting rating : 9.5/10
Programme : $8 full colour, collectable, excellent
Driver of the night : 581p Jordan Dare
Parking : Free, and miles of it!
Best Moment : Rees v Gaskin, controversy, we love it

Qualifying Night 1

2011-12-30T10:27:00.001+13:00

NZ Stockcar Title, Dec 27 + 28
Paradise Valley Raceway, Rotorua

Night 1, Qualifying
What do you do with 167 Stockcars, some decent weather and New Zealand's best Stockcar track? Well, you put on a stunning meeting that propels one of our greatest drivers to the level of legend, that's what you do. Entries from as far afield as Christchurch and Invercargill were in town for the 12th official running of the NZ Stockcar title, unfortunately a few dramas at scrutineering meant a small number of cars were excluded from the meeting, one of them having hauled all the way from Christchurch. It left us with seven groups of around 24 cars each and no need for any support programme, Stockcars all night!

The qualifying racing was a lot more brutal than last years effort at Blenheim and on the tight Rotorua track there was nowhere to hide. The main stirrers of the night were all locals and deserve a special mention, they appear to be a dying breed at some tracks. 981r Steve Gray, 747r Ivan Lammas, 48r Ivan King and 45r Nick Vallance. From memory we got one rollover, 15a Carl Campbell and 32p George Frear was tipped on his side but there was plenty of action and as usual some incredible hard luck stories. 11w Michael Gray, 95a Gary Lonergan, 1nz Kyle Lane, 81r Damian Orr, 126p Asher Rees and 99c Dennis Andreassend are the main ones that come to mind with the first two Gray and Lonergan less than half a lap from qualifying in their final heats. Gray spectacularly halted by Lammas and a fuel problem for Lonergan leaving him stranded on the back straight. 1nz Lane was a target all night and came close to qualifying which once again in my mind re-ignites the argument about the reigning 1nz being seeded into the final. 81r Orr made an unnecessary hit in his final heat that punctured his tyre and saw him slip out of contention. 126p Rees is just at the beginning of what no doubt will be an impressive career, he had speed and skills, only luck was missing on the night. 99c Andreassend had all the speed and aggression but continually found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time or making wrong choices when perhaps he should have just collected points. There were plenty more hard luck tales but those were the ones that stood out to me.

Peter Rees spot in the finals was anything but assured after a puncture in heat two cost him valuable points, he was placed eighth in his group after two heats (top four qualify) but in his usual style he bullied his way through the traffic in heat three for an emphatic victory. A few problems with points meant a runoff would be required for the last of the 28 spots in the final between 124s Andrew Dodunski and 23m Karl Daniel on night two (Daniel won), also an engine issue would exclude 39r Douglas Stanaway promoting 74p Chevron Taniwha instead. Palmerston North cars as expected dominated qualifying with 9 getting through compared to the locals, Rotorua next best with 6 cars. There was a great mix of talented veterans, former champions, expected finalists, up and coming young guns and a few suprises.

Qualifiers:
2nz Peter Rees
6w Paul Gaskin
29a Scott Tennant
12w Simon Hendry
13r Grendon Beazley
17p Shane Simpson
18p Craig Healey
23m Karl Daniel
24m Ian Daniel
24w Scott McIntosh
29p Stewart Rackham
47c Chris Hall
52b Regan O’Brien
69s Tony Zehnder
72r Michael Rumney
73p Mitchell Hill
74p Chevron Taniwha
81h Rod Smythe
88h Justin Hutchby
89v Blair Lockett
93r Brent Stewart
97p Graeme Ward
98r Mark Costello
98p Brian Taniwha
122r Allan Corcoran
242a Bernie Fox
581p Jordan Dare
741a Craig Chatfield

Related Links:
Rotorua Website review night 1 HERE

Reviews coming...

2011-12-29T15:14:00.000+13:00

Reviews for the NZ Stockcars in Rotorua should be up tomorrow - awesome meeting.

More Ho Hum than Ho Ho

2011-12-04T11:36:00.000+13:00

Christmas Special
Meeting 5
Waikaraka Park

I now know the difference between a basic club night and a Christmas special, put Santa on the back of a stockcar and throw some lollies at the kids during a parade lap and jingle jingle, Christmas Special! I think there were more lollies than kids, Santa is losing his audience it would appear. This was meeting five for the Auckland club and really it could have been meeting one, fairly similar sized fields, usual suspects in the pits, same old same old. Im still waiting for a bit of the 'Robertson magic' to rub off on the club but patience is wearing a bit thin, note to self, it will not happen overnight, keep the faith...

There were seven classes in attendance which made the pits very full, 30 Ministocks, 24 Stockcars, 8 Modifieds, 6 Sidecars, 5 Supersaloons, 10 Streetstocks, 14 Saloons, and the lone Superstock of Paul Vasey, who ran off the back of the Stockcars all night. This means we have now sighted THREE Superstocks with an A on the side, two more and we have a team! Christmas joy. Stockcars predictably stole the night, which wasn't much of a challenge, three action packed heats. Heat one, and within two laps 67a Nick Krisnic had put 7a up the wall in his signature move, he wasn't finished there, he then applied the Krizomatic move on 242a Bernie Fox and put him up the wall just after the start-finish line bringing on the red lights. Welcome back 67a, christmas bonus for you if I was dishing out the dough. 168a Billy Neill continued his wretched start to the season failing to complete a single race. 29a Scott Tennant slowed 95a Gary Lonergan, taking him out of the running for heat one ending his impressive run of wins and 741a Craig Chatfield in his first race of the season beat 15a Carl Campbell to the line for the win.

Heat two had plenty more action and featured a great battle between 82a Rob Neill and 22a Leigh Cossey, 16a Dave Ingram seemed to be a popular target getting belted all over the show. Regular transmission was restored though with Gary Lonergan taking the win and also managing to take the feature for night in heat three. Rob Neill put 28a up the wall and spent most of the feature battling with 85a Shannon Savage. Even with one tyre gone he kept on stirring, one of the performers of the night. 77a Brad Bates fortunes took a turn for the better, completing the feature and being able to drive off to the pits in a car that has had some issues. 2nz Phil Towgood in the Saloons was the other standout driver, also competing in the SuperSaloon section he was either in the action or contesting the lead all night. He got his moneys worth with six races in one night. Two Palmy sidecars gave the locals a thrashing, 31p winning every race. The rest of the racing was tame, and thats being kind at Christmas, really not much to write home about, as the title of this posting says, more ho hum than ho ho. Not really a $20 show in my opinion.

Meeting rating : 4/10
Programme : $2, Colour cover
Competitor numbers : 97 over 7 classes
Driver of the night : 82a Rob Neill / 2nz Phil Towgood
Santa : DNF, tough night for Santa
Snoopy's Christmas : played 3 times
Parking : Free

Santa's Bitchin' Gift List 2011

2011-12-01T19:57:00.000+13:00

What to get the Speedway fan who has everything? Well hopefully this list of ideas will help. Here are a few items you won't find in your Warehouse catalogue or your Briscoes flyer. That's because they are top quality speedway bitchin' hot products! If you have something you would like added to the list email me otherwise...get ordering!

1. New Zealand Dirt Track Magazine subscription
Noah was reading it on the ark and its still going strong. A 12 month subscription will cost you NZ$75.00 and all you need to do is email the editor here, and you or the person you are getting the subscription for will get your copy hot off the press before the shops get it each month. Its our speedway bible and it just gets better and better every year.
$75.00 12 Month Subscription

2. Speedway Calendar 2011
Del Neild has put together a speedway calendar for the past few seasons and demand just keeps on growing each year. There are only 38 calendars left available for sale now. $25.00 if people want to email Del for bank details (rexdelnield@xtra.co.nz) or alternatively if they want to pay by credit card $27.00 listed on Trade Me.
$25.00

3. Spectator Speedway Review 10/11
Over 225 pages and in full colour, a retrospective review of last season. Covering all the big Stockcar and Superstock meetings and with contributions from a number of photographers. Either email me (gregobro@xtra.co.nz) or order direct from the USA and order here.
$110.00 including p&p in NZ, check US price online

4. One Tough Dude
Allan Batt's incredible book about speedway legend Barry Butterworth. Five years of research and an endorsement from Barry's family and brother Max. With a foreword by Ted Tracey, read all about Barry's on track battles with his rivals, and the off track wars with officialdom. Barry went from being an apprentice jockey to one of the most fearless and determined drivers on the rough and tough Speedway tracks of Australia, the USA and New Zealand. Very few copies are left of this landmark book, a fantastic Christmas present for any speedway fan. Mail order here or have a look at a video about the book here.
$39.00 + p&p

5. NZ Midgets 2011
Ian Abrahams book covering the New Zealand Midget Championship 2011. The website to order from is here (www.tappublishing.co.nz) published in April 2010/11 The Championship was raced at Western Springs Speedway and covers the meetings leading up to and including the title. A bargain at $40 + p&p for all the open wheel fanatics out there.
$40.00 + p&p

Teams Update V

2011-11-27T19:28:00.003+13:00

I am fortunate to be able to feature some more photos from the teams racing that took place this weekend at Palmerston North and Nelson. Please support the photographers by clicking on the links to see more of their work and remember the actual printed photos are miles better than these small web versions. Thanks Blair and Brendon for this weeks shots below. Any other photographers that would like their work featured can email me anytime. Thanks again.

Courtesy Blair Hall via www.photoaction.co.nz here.

Courtesy Brendon Learmonth via here.

The top of the table has changed considerably after the Teams Invasion at Palmerston North over the weekend. The mighty Pumas have started as they finished last season, unbeaten after three hard races and winners of the meeting. The Waikato Raiders take over the top of the table while the Nelson and Greymouth teams both make their first appearances of the year, the Tasman thunder taking the win over the Grizzlies.

October 29
Rees Shield 1
At Waikaraka Park
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

October 29
At Stratford Speedway
Kihikihi Crusaders def Stratford Stormers

November 5
Eastern States Speedway Blenheim
Canterbury Crushers def Eastern States Titans
Ken's Cowboys def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Ken's Cowboys

November 11
At Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Team Moon Goon
Ken's KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans
Canterbury Crushers def Ken's KB Cowboys
Eastern States Titans def Team Moon Goon

November 19 & 20
TWS Huntly Teams Night 1
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Huntly Raiders def Wanganui Vulcans
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators
Wanganui Vulcans def Meeanee Maulers
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Manawatu Steelers
Stratford Stormers def Rotorua Rascals
Night 2
Meeanee Maulers def Stratford Stormers
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Waikato Raiders def Rotorua Rascals
Stratford Stormers def Gisborne Gladiators
Meeanee Maulers def Manawatu Steelers
Wanganui Vulcans def Rotorua Rascals
Auckland Alleycats def Waikato Raiders

November 26
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Meeanee Maulers
Wanganui Vulcans def Manawatu Minors
Palmerston North Pumas def Stratford Stormers
Manawatu Steelers def Wellington Young Guns
Wanganui Vulcans def Waikato Raiders
Manawatu Minors def Meeanee Maulers
Waikato Raiders def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Manawatu Steelers

At Nelson
Tasman Thunder def Greymouth Grizzlies

Fame at last

2011-11-25T21:51:00.000+13:00

Thanks to Clive Turner, my logo on the 147a Stockcar.

Teams Update lV

2011-11-22T21:59:00.000+13:00

The Auckland Alleycats jump to the top of the table after their unbeaten run at the TWS Huntly Teams meeting last weekend. The next big meeting comes this weekend in Palmerston North including the mighty Pumas. 13 Teams have now competed in at least one teams race this season.

October 29
Rees Shield 1
At Waikaraka Park
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

October 29
At Stratford Speedway
Kihikihi Crusaders def Stratford Stormers

November 5
Eastern States Speedway Blenheim
Canterbury Crushers def Eastern States Titans
Ken's Cowboys def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Ken's Cowboys

November 11
At Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Team Moon Goon
Ken's KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans
Canterbury Crushers def Ken's KB Cowboys
Eastern States Titans def Team Moon Goon

November 19 & 20
TWS Huntly Teams Night 1
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Huntly Raiders def Wanganui Vulcans
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators
Wanganui Vulcans def Meeanee Maulers
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Manawatu Steelers
Stratford Stormers def Rotorua Rascals
Night 2
Meeanee Maulers def Stratford Stormers
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Waikato Raiders def Rotorua Rascals
Stratford Stormers def Gisborne Gladiators
Meeanee Maulers def Manawatu Steelers
Wanganui Vulcans def Rotorua Rascals
Auckland Alleycats def Waikato Raiders

Auckland Win!

2011-11-21T17:42:00.000+13:00

TWS Stockcar Teams
Huntly Speedway

How good it feels sitting here on a bright sunny Sunday reflecting on the Auckland Alleycats comprehensive win in the final of last nights stockcar teams meeting at Huntly Speedway. It has taken until now of course to warm up after a chilly night of viewing but if that's the only complaint from a weekend of top notch racing then it was a very small price to pay. How good were they? Well as a one-eyed Aucklander I have to say I was damn proud of the boys and I'll apologise now to the poor buggers filming the meeting either side of me who will no doubt have to edit out some colourful language and noisy celebratory cheering. It was worth it though, what a great final. Here then are a few short notes on the finals night match-ups. I forgot to take my trusty notebook so most of it was scribbled on the back of an old bank statement, so it could be a bit 'unofficial' shall we say.

Stratford Stormers v Meeanee Maulers
First up race for these teams meant a very wet track and it played out almost in slow motion. 85b Iremonger took off as HB runner followed by 404s and Beatle Tarrant, the entire rest of the field sat on the start finish line. Iremonger got held up by 406s on lap two giving the lead to 404s. 406s Sandy Flett put in a great shot on 86B Cooke, then took out 84b Tarrant. 81b O'Brien put in a great shot on 404s and did some great blocking instead of his usual runner role. 404s Hayden Barker had taken over the lead and looked set to give the Stormers a win but on the final lap O'Brien smashed him into the turn 1 wall giving the lead back to 85B for the win. Maulers go into the race for 5th and 6th.

Gisborne Gladiators v Manawatu Steelers
I understand 9p Gareth Edwards was injured so Manawatu only had 4 cars , 61g was the sub for Gizzy. Manawatu had pole and 510p Knight shot out in front followed by 971p Jayden Ward. 67g took a huge lunge at Knight that involved a bit of lawnmowing that would result in a fine later on but the damage done to 510p ended his race. 64g took out 97p Ward but damage to 66g Hutton meant he sat out a few laps trying to restart. He managed to get going again and held up the lead car 971p giving a brief glimmer of hope to the Gladiators with 62g in front. Rob Mason spun him, Jayden Ward assumed the lead role and held if for win to the Steelers. 67g came home second.

Wanganui Vulcans v Auckland Alleycats
Auckland won the toss and elected to start as far out by the wall as you can get. The race was almost immediately won with one simple hard hit on Vulcans hard man Dion Mooney. Bernie Fox spun him in turn four and Gary Lonergan smashed the spinning 6v taking out his left front wheel. 4 v 3 didn't mean it was over as the Wanganui boys gave everything they had. 96v was leading the race until 137a Fergusson held him up, 383a Lonergan moved into first place followed by 99v. 7v Cunningham got a great shot in on 333a Mark McNabb, smashed his mirrors which made it difficult, was blocking by hearing the cars come up on him, got some right and some wrong. Then 7v with 96v held 137a Fergusson in against the wall but with one car down and two trying to stop the 137a it left only Blair Lockett running. Lonergan won the race, 137a escaped and managed to finish of Lockett leaving the 7v tank the lone finisher for Wanganui. Auckland through to the final.

Waikato Raiders v Rotorua Rascals
204r and 94h were the subs and Waikato drew pole position. From memory Rotorua has usually had the better of the many encounters between these two old foes but after Friday nights qualifying Rotorua had looked a bit rusty compared to the Raiders sharp performances. 203r stood on the brakes, 202r lead from 95h. 97h took over the lead as 205r went off to the infield. 203r held up Scott Gallop, and 98h Hutchby managed to push 203r into 206r. Rotorua looked a bit disorganised and 97h managed to complete laps unscathed and the only car finishing on 12 laps. 94h had spent most of the race stalled on turned 2, so it had been a very good performance for the Raiders who would meet the Alleycats in the final.

7th and 8th Place
Gisborne Gladiators v Stratford Stormers
66g and 404s subs. It had been a hard weekend for both teams but Stratford proved too strong for a Gisborne team that really faded in this race. A 1-2-3 finish for the Stormers and a complete capitulation from the Gladiators, 407s taking the win from 408s and 406s.

5th and 6th Place
Manawatu Steelers v Meeanee Maulers
The 501p car was damaged and out but I have a feeling Jay Knight was driving the 9p, 83b Andrew Powell was the other no show obviously. HB had pole. 971p Jayden Ward did the running for the Steelers and 97p Graeme went out to do the damage! He put Maulers runner 81b on the grass then launched big time at 84b Tarrant. It was looking good for the Palmy boys until 971p found himself isolated and on the back of 3 HB cars, he punctured his rear tyre and his running was over. 85b Aaron Iremonger assumed first place and apart from a red light incident late in the race he was untroubled for the Maulers win and 5th place finish.

3rd and 4th Place
Wanganui Vulcans v Rotorua Rascals
206r was the sub for Rotorua. Maybe the race of the weekend? It will be remembered for the monster hit from 86v Francis Potaka on 205r Jeff Munro who was leading the race. My notes say "205r smeared across the wall" between turns 3 + 4 and the car was quite a wreck as they towed it back to the infield. You could see the hit coming half way down the back straight and boy was it a big hit. There was more carnage throughout this race, a red light for a fire under 6v Mooney's car and a huge hit on 86v as he crossed the line for the win. Wanganui take third place with only 2 Rotorua cars finishing.

Final
Auckland Alleycats v Waikato Raiders
This was the final most people were wanting (well at least the people sitting around me.) It was also the race that 833a Bernie Fox delivered big time for the Alleycats putting in a huge roll on Scott Gallop and eventually winning the race. Gary Lonergan had lead out for the A's but on turn two 98h Justin Hutchby turned in front of the 838a car and did some serious damage. Fox rolled Gallop and the red lights came on. Hutchbys race was over, Gallop was out and things were looking good for Auckland. On the restart Lonergan was stationery and as with all good finals there has to be some controversy, 333a Mark McNabb reversed a few car lengths and push started Lonergan. I believe he was fined for the incident but luckily neither car won the race so in my eyes it wasn't so bad, and because Im biased I believe he actually 'accidentally hooked reverse' before realising the mistake and then bumped into Lonergan who had missed the green light because he was concerned with Scott Gallops well being... anyway 137a Fergusson managed to put yet another car up the wall and by race end it was a fairly comprehensive victory for the Alleycats. It came at a price looking at the damage to the cars, the 333a toasted the engine, the 137a front end and body were munted, also the damage to Lonergan's car but a great victory none the less. The Raiders cars also looked very second hand and epitomised the incredible effort teams put in to make this meeting a success.

1st Auckland Alleycats
2nd Waikato Raiders
3rd Wanganui Vulcans
4th Rotorua Rascals
5th Meeanee Maulers
6th Manawatu Steelers
7th Stratford Stormers
8th Gisborne Gladiators

Some final thoughts then, compared to just a few seasons ago, the quality of racing at this event has improved immensely. There are no 'easy' teams anymore and this event could become the equivalent of the Palmy teams for superstocks. I know there is an official Stockcar teams champs for this class but that travels to the winners club each season, this one stays put. You meet up with your mates, you sit in your favourite seats and diss each others teams! The quality of the support racing was light years better than past shows and hotdog classes were few and far between. And did I mention the Alleycats won? Huge thanks to all the teams that participated, I feel like my 2011/12 season has just kicked off for real.

Meeting rating : 9/10
Driver of the Meeting : 137a Jamie Fergusson
Honourable mentions : 86v Francis Potaka, 510p Jay Knight, 6v Dion Mooney, 7v Justin Cunningham, 971p Jayden Ward

Previous Huntly Teams reviews:
2010 night 1 here night 2 here
2009
2008 night 1 here night 2 here
2007 here
2006 here
2005 here

I got chills!

2011-11-19T14:20:00.001+13:00

TWS Stockcar Teams Night 1
Huntly Speedway

The midweek withdrawal of the Wellington team took nothing away from a meeting that just keeps getting better every season. In fact, it seems to signal the start of the real speedway season for me, following what are usually a few lacklustre opening and fireworks meetings leading up to this event each year. Eight very strong teams had entered and included the Rotorua Rascals who only made one appearance last year against Gisborne at home, a welcome return indeed. The locals warned it was going to be a cold night and man it was! Even hardened veterans from Palmy were reaching for the travel rugs to keep warm. The calibre of teams meant there were no walkovers and picking a winner pre race was no easy task. Here's a quick rundown of the eight heats with unofficial points, check out the Huntly website for the full results.

Manawatu Steelers 130 v Meeanee Maulers 60
A repeat of last years first heat and the eventual final. 34p Rob Mason and 86b Marty Cooke were the reserves and 971p Jayden Ward had pole. Ward was spun early by 85b Iremonger who lead from 9p Gareth Edwards and 81b Regan O'Brien. I huge hit on lap 2 by 510p Jay Knight on 83b Andrew Powell would bring on the red lights and end Powell's night big time. This would have given the Steelers a 4 on 3 car advantage but 97p Graeme Ward's car was creating a big pool of oil on turn four during the red light and he too went to the infield. After a long delay the greens came on and it was 81b O'Brien leading with 84b Tarrant running as his cover. This is where 'Ward the Younger' really came into the spotlight by first taking out 81b and then putting in a huge shot on 84b Tarrant. 510p Knight took over the lead and won for the Steelers.
510p, 85b, 9p, 81b

Auckland Alleycats 160 v Stratford Stormers 35
Stratford had pole, 137a Jamie Fergusson stood on the brakes holding up the entire pit side row of cars letting 404s Shane Kells lead out on lap 1 but his lead ending on the next lap, that man Fergusson spinning him. 833a took over for the Aucks and 137a then took out the new Stratford runner 407s Andrew Dodunski who was in second place. Bernie Fox hit the stationery car of Carl Campbell in turn 3 opening the door for 405s Haydin Barker to take him out leaving the two cars locked together in turn 4. Gary Lonergan took over the lead from there. 408s Sandy Flett had a broken wheel guard bringing on the reds and leaving just 2 Stratford cars running against Auckland's 3, with one lap to go. 137a Fergusson finished an awesome individual display by pushing the stricken 838a Campbell car over the finish line to grab a few more points.
383a, 388a, 404s, 137a

Wanganui Vulcans 60 v Huntly Raiders 130
This was the best race of the night, two very even teams with Hilton Parker of Wanganui almost pulling off a great victory only to be pipped on the finish line by 98h Justin Hutchby, one of the other standout drivers of the night. There was plenty of action in this race with the 7v Justin Cunningham tank dishing out some great hits including the removal of a wheel from 97h Scott Gallop in turn 4. The final lap though was the teller with Parker leading but joining all four Vulcan cars in despatching 96h Neville Hazelton giving Hutch the opportunity to go round the outside of the melee around the Gallop car and pip 96v Parker by a bumper. Only stirring up trouble here but should there have been a red light for the Gallop wheel sitting on the track?
98h 96v

Rotorua Rascals 165 v Gisborne Gladiators 30
This race was a bit hard to follow with both teams in similar colours and the stupid use of team numbers making it extra difficult. I know a few of the Gisborne guys but with Rotorua who have been absent a while it was a bit harder to fathom who was who. Anyway a good race but a red light injury to 66g Nick Hutton mid race, and the 61g Giddon car stalling on the start finish line really left it up to 64g Ian Barron and 67g Dave Kingsbeer to match the flying Vegas boys, Stewart, Munro and 202r Damian Orr who sailed around in the 1, 2 + 3 positions. Kingsbeer did managed to get to third by race end.
202r, 206r, 67g

Wanganui Vulcans 110 v Meeanee Maulers 80
With Andrew Powell out for the night the remaining Maulers needed a big win to advance, likewise Wanganui had to win or it was over rover. Like their first race 81b O'Brien took a good lead with 99v Blair Lockett and 85b Aaron Iremonger chasing. 7v Cunningham took first blood with a decent walling of 86b Cook. 6v Mooney took care of the Maulers runner 81b. Iremonger spun Lockett to inherit the lead but Mooney took him out gifting the lead to Lockett who cruised almost untouched (with skillful driving) and some excellent blocking from his team mates to take the victory. A last gasp attempt from 86b Marty Cooke missed the 99v, win to the Vulcans.
99v, 85b, 81b, 7v

Auckland Alleycats 115 v Gisborne Gladiators 80
Auckland just needed a win with this race and they were through, not so for Gizzy who had to finish with big points. Fergusson took out a Gisborne car early in turn two and it was 4 on 3 for the rest of the race. Nice smart driving avoiding the big hits and lots of damage saw the Alleycats through to what seemed like a fairly simple victory, Bernie Fox picking up the win. Once again 137a Fergusson starred in this race with some great driving.
833a, 67g, 383a,

Manawatu Maulers 30 v Huntly Raiders 150
My guess was that the winner of this race would probably be the winner of the title. Aaron Alderton lead from the green but was put away in turn three in a big hit by 510p with 9p in third. Things were looking good for Manawatu. 98h Hutchby put in a great block holding up three Palmy cars and managing to take one of them to the wall. At this point two major things happened effectively ending Manawatus hopes, Knight punctured his right rear while leading and 9p Edwards rammed a Huntly blocker instead of flying round the outside causing him to spin and stall for 2 laps. Caldwell took over the lead for the Raiders ahead of 97p Ward. When Hutchby removed Ward and 34p Mason went to the infield it was over for the reigning champs. Fine win to the Raiders. I did wonder why 971p was the reserve after his stellar performance in the first race, but hindsight is a great thing.
95h, 94h, 9p

Rotorua Rascals 70 v Stratford Stormers 135
With Nick Vallance again the reserve the Rascals had pole. 404s sat it out for the Stormers. Munro had the early lead for the Rascals but was ploughed into the turn 3 wall by 405s Dodunski who lead from 202r, 206r. 205r Punctured and one Rotorua car pulled to the infield leaving 3 v 4 Stratty cars. 405s Dodunski took the win for the Stormers but the Rascals managed enough points to make the semis.
405s, 202r

Qualifiers: Alleycats, Raiders, Vulcans and Rascals.

Remember these results are just what I tried to scribble down, and the points are all unofficial as the race finished, I'll see if I can get official results later. It was a great night of teams racing at Huntly and if you can make the finals tonight, do it, you won't be disappointed but bring your thermals! I'm hoping for a Raiders v Alleycats final, go the Alleycats!

Meeting rating : 7/10
Programme : $2 black and white
Driver of the night : 137a Jamie Fergusson
Parking : $2 with security guards

Teams Update lll

2011-11-16T19:42:00.000+13:00

The Canterbury Crushers top the table after a rain affected meeting in Christchurch. A review and some great MikeyB photos are HERE.

October 29
Rees Shield 1
At Waikaraka Park
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

October 29
At Stratford Speedway
Kihikihi Crusaders def Stratford Stormers

November 5
Eastern States Speedway Blenheim
Canterbury Crushers def Eastern States Titans
Ken's Cowboys def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Ken's Cowboys

November 11
At Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Team Moon Goon
Ken's KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans
Canterbury Crushers def Ken's KB Cowboys
Eastern States Titans def Team Moon Goon

Waikaraka Park Meeting 3

2011-11-07T20:37:00.002+13:00

Fireworks and Derby Ramp Race,
Waikaraka Park

Not too much to write about with this one, your typical fireworks meeting with a huge crowd, and a fairly average programme of racing. Pretty cold too, almost needed to break out the David Bain jumper! The Stockcars were predictably the best of the bunch with 95a Gary Lonergan notching up some more wins, heat one and the feature, 29a Scott Tennant managing to break his stranglehold on the chequered flag by winning heat two and Lonergan having to settle for second place. 20 cars fronted with a few more expected soon. Driver of the night for me though was Mark McNabb in the 51a Chestnutt chassis. Causing plenty of trouble and showing some good pace while adjusting to the car he will be racing for the Alleycats at Huntly for the teams meeting in two weeks, an exciting prospect. 14 Saloons, 21 Ministocks, 6 Modifieds and a feral looking bunch of derby cars that had two heats and a ramp race with some blatant avoidance of the ramp by a number of competitors.

The most poignant moment of the night though was Cameron Kenworthy talking about the battle young Jesse Bessant faces and the lap of the track he did on the front of the 9a Stockcar with his dad, stockcar driver Shane Bessant. There is a facebook page you can access HERE to help the young fulla or send a donation directly to the bank account in the header above. $3,100 was raised on the night, an awesome effort.

Meeting rating : 5/10
Programme : $2 Colour cover, good value
Food : Some things never change, Hamburger $7
Competitor numbers : 61 over 4 classes
Driver of the night : 51a Mark McNabb
Parking : Free

Stockcar Teams Update ll

2011-11-06T14:46:00.001+13:00

Seven teams have now competed in teams racing events with the first big meeting coming up on November 18/19 at Huntly Speedway. Here are a few photos that Wayne Brunton took from the latest racing at Eastern States Speedway last night and kindly let me use:

October 29
Rees Shield 1
At Waikaraka Park
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

October 29
At Stratford Speedway
Kihikihi Crusaders def Stratford Stormers

November 5
Eastern States Speedway Blenheim
Canterbury Crushers def Eastern States Titans
Ken's Cowboys def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Ken's Cowboys

Rees Shield, WP Meeting 2

2011-10-31T19:58:00.001+13:00

Stockcar Teams Race, Meeting 2
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

The featured event for meeting two at Waikaraka Park was the yearly visit from the Gisborne Gladiators stockcar team. With the added bonus of the winner taking home the Rees Shield a new Ranfurly Shield style challenge, there was a little more on the line than usual. Last season the Gladiators came as close as you can to beating the Alleycats and on the back of a some strong performances late last season, they had a very real chance of taking it out. The Gladiators were represented by 61g Allan Giddens, 64g Ian Barron, 65g Jason Jones, 66g Nick Hutton and 67g David Kingsbeer. The very strong Alleycats squad consisted of 383a Gary Lonergan, 833a Bernie Fox, 137a Jamie Fergusson, 388a Trevor Mason and 838a Tony Gavin.

During the warm up laps it was obvious there was a problem with Bernie Fox's car, one of the standout performers last season became the reserve for the Alleycats. 61g Giddens sat it out for the Gladiators. From the green flag 66g Hutton put 388a Mason up the wall by the start finish line, Mason was able to drive off but first blood to the G's. Lonergan and Gavin did the running for Auckland and Jones and Kingsbeer did the same for Gisborne. 67g had a shot at 137a Fergusson then the Auckland blocker did exactly what his role is and took out the Gizzy runner 65g Jones. Hutton had a shot at Lonergan and was left stranded on the infield for a few laps. Mason took out Ian Barron and the Aucklanders had the upper hand until Gavin was spun and unable to restart on turn four. 66g had rejoined the race and Lonergan had managed to avoid most attempts to stop him but 64g Barron blocked him and then hooked reverse while being spun almost managing to block the race leader in the wall. By this stage 65g Jason Jones and 67g David Kingsbeer had caught up and were in 2nd and 3rd places. It was edge of your seat stuff as only 66g Hutton stood between Lonergan and the chequered flag and he managed to spin the 383a in turn 3. Lonergan was able to right the car and finish ahead of the two Gizzy boys. A good close race but the vital win to Auckland : 383a, 65g, 67g, 137a.

A good race then and a good start to the night, it didn't seem like there was too much damage to the cars either as most of them made it out for the normal heat races and I think I can honestly say heat one for the stockcars was waaaaay better than the teams race! In fact there was carnage, the Gisborne cars were given a great big Auckland welcome from the locals and head of the welcoming party was 9a Cameron Kenworthy. This guy took it upon himself to introduce the visitors to his bumpers, the wall, the grass and everywhere in between. It wasnt all one way though, Ian Barron gave as good as he got and was awesome to watch. The reason the Gisborne team are so popular is their never say die attitude and they gave as much grief to the locals as they could. A bloody good race. The second heat and feature were exactly the same, stand out class for the night and well worth the entry fee. Gary Lonergan not only won the teams race, he took out heat 1, heat 2 and came home second behind Mason for the feature. Performance of the night.

The rest of the programme included 10 Saloons, 6 Streetstocks, 8 Modifieds, 30 Ministocks and 21 Stockcars. Apart from the Ministocks, fields were fairly light and probably the only gripe I could mention. Hopefully numbers will increase asap, as its the only glaring issue at the moment. The meetings flow well, there is a newly painted pole line, an improved printed programme from last weeks version (with driver listings included) and a really good buzz about the place. A couple of drivers worth noting too, 11a Lynn Yates in the Saloons probably drove better than I've ever seen before and in the feature held out 1nz McClymont for a number of laps which was great to see. Also the stunning 85g Ministock, not sure of the driver but talent to burn, stood out in a huge field.

Final thoughts, this shield is going to be a winner, not only did it bring five Gisborne cars to the track, there was a great buildup and more importantly, the four Stockcar races for the night were outstanding solely because there were five out of towners here to stir up trouble. Not only that, we now have the prospect of another team coming to have a go which means five more cars to add to the local mix. Its a simple idea, easily promotable and its only going to get better and better.

Meeting rating : 7/10
Programme : $1 Colour cover, good value
Food : Some things never change, Hamburger $7
Competitor numbers : 75 over 5 classes
Driver of the night : 383a Gary Lonergan
Parking : Free

Stockcar Teams Update l

2011-10-30T00:09:00.001+13:00

October 29
Rees Shield 1
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

October 29
At Stratford Speedway
Kihikihi Crusaders def Stratford Stormers

A new beginning, again.

2011-10-24T17:09:00.001+13:00

Grand Opening, Meeting 1
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

One of the major offseason points of interest during the winter months was the announcement of the new promoters at Waikaraka Park. Taking over the reins, the very successful duo of Bruce Robertson and Bryan Puklowski who run Palmerston North Speedway, home of the biggest meeting of the season and the most registered competitors of any track in New Zealand. A very successful operation by all accounts, so adding them into the mix with the 'graveyard of good intentions and grand plans' that we lovingly call Waikaraka Park, certainly makes one hell of an interesting equation. The short lead up to this meeting didn't give them much time to make obvious changes to the actual speedway and probably this season will be very much a steady-as-she-goes approach I'm guessing. So with the first meeting the numbers in the pits were very similar to what you would expect for an opening night. New cars were thin on the ground, new paint jobs were more the order of the day. 10 saloons, 17 stockcars, 9 Superstocks, 29 MiniStocks and 8 Modifieds rolled out the pit gate to a modest crowd.

Jamie Fox took honours on and off the track with the incredibly cool looking Anglia-bodied modified but close on his heels were a few of the MiniStocks with 13r one of the most beautifully presented stocks I've ever seen, stunning. The stockcar racing started off very tame which is understandable on the first night but for the feature they turned on some biff and bash with 85a Shannon Savage giving 59a Trevor Mason a ride up the wall. Superstocks 5k Brad Ridland won heats 1 & 2 but 414h Warwick Ansty made sure he didnt take the feature, that going to 115h Darren Short. Ray Chatfield took the biggest tumble in the Modified class, it looked painful and expensive too. Best battle of the night though was 2nz Phil Towgood v 46a Nigel Ross in the Saloons. The meeting ran smoothly and finished before 10pm. I left a bit before that though. As opening nights go, it was everything you would expect, safe racing mostly, lots of DNF's and not much else to write home about.

It feels like I have written this next sentence many, many times, BUT, always the optimist: "it was a fairly good start to the season and with this new promoter we are looking forward to some great meetings ahead..." just maybe with this new team things might really change for the better and the Waikaraka faithful might have something to cheer about in 2011/12! Last point, my bloody camera gave up the ghost so there are only a few photos sorry, will be seeking out a repair place this week pronto.

Meeting rating : 6/10
Programme : $1 black and white, adequate, no driver listings
Food : Some things never change, Hamburger $7
Competitor numbers : 73 over 5 classes
Driver of the night : 3nz Jamie Fox
Parking : Free

Baypark Opening Meeting

2011-10-23T18:46:00.003+13:00

I've been lucky enough to get some photos from Gavin Evitt who ventured down to the opening meeting at Baypark. Kind of makes up for my own camera failure at WP - review coming later. Lovin' those tanks, Gavin's shot above is also this weeks header photo. Thanks Gavin.

Last Practice

2011-10-16T17:07:00.000+13:00

A few photos from the third practice at Waikaraka Park on Saturday.

Launched!

2011-09-25T19:59:00.001+13:00

Finally finished my 4th Speedway Review book after quite a few busy months putting it together. Had some great photo contributions from Yaz and Linz Dolbel, Wal Joines from StockcarScene, Craig Baker from Coast Photos, Drew Hamblyn at Westpeak, MikeyB, Gavin Evitt, Go Slideways and Brendon Learmonth from Square Photography in Palmy. There was quite a bit of editing to keep the price down a bit but still came in at 226 pages which is the largest one yet. Too many good meetings last season? Anyway, you can order it direct from the US of A using this link: HERE or wait until mid October when I have a few coming in that I can onsell. They are US$74.95 and the shipping was about $12.50 I think so in NZ dollars it works out about $NZ110.00, pretty good value for a hard cover comprehensive souvenir of the 2010/11 season. Keep an eye on the US dollar because when it goes up over .80 cents the currency conversion drops the price quite a bit (and you get a discount for bulk buying too!) Also Blurb do promotions every other month with discounts so I will let you know when the next one is on, it takes a big chunk off the price too. I have a mark up of $5.00 only on the books so as not to make them unaffordable but considering how long it takes to put one of these suckers together, I don't think that's outrageous.

The book covers most big meetings in the Stockcar and Superstock classes and some Modified action too. The cover star is 94w/1nz Kyle Lane with 14n/1nz Dale Ewers on the back cover. I sold about 30 of these books last season which almost covered the costs of making them. I gave away quite a few also to people who had helped me out during the season in one way or another. It certainly isn't a get rich scheme but the long term aim is to have at least a record of one crazy fans obsession that is actually on paper and not lost somewhere in cyberspace. That was the original reason for the first book back in the 2007 season, trying to find some results from the 2001 NZ Stockcar title and coming up with nothing until Macgor was able to resurrect an old archived page he had. I realised that if my website failed I could lose a whole lot of years worth of reviews, photos and results so putting it on paper seemed a good idea and it has grown from there.

Winter

2011-07-30T16:48:00.000+12:00

Found this photo by accident while doing a google search for the new NZDTR cover. I can think of a few kiwi speedways that would benefit having a stadium like this, very professional. Anyway the point of this posting is to mention the new Dirt Track Magazine I bought this morning, the first under new editor Jeremy Savell. Already the look is beginning to change and I'm liking what I see. As with the photo above, its always good to get a fresh perspective, see something different or new and embrace change. All the best to the new team at NZDTR and I look forward to seeing more innovations and the direction they are heading in.

As for my own book, it is over halfway finished now and I'm really pleased with the way it is progressing. The good news for anyone who has bought one in the past is that with the way the NZ dollar is performing at the moment, ordering the books online has never been cheaper. Keep an eye on the NZ$ vs the US$ because it could get even cheaper still! Remember the previous three years books can be ordered at HERE.

Here is a sneak peek at the new book...

What to do...

2011-06-12T18:57:00.002+12:00

The dreaded off season begins which for a lot of us means doing the chores around home and catching up with the people we have 'abandoned' during the racing season. For me it also means having a look back over the last season and doing a book review (more about that in a moment) and finally after mentioning it to someone last season getting a few of my photos framed and out on display. From the photo above you can see we are also re-gibbing the house - this is the before. We are also re-piling, re-cladding and re-painting which of course also means we are re-financing! Never buy a 90 year old house, no matter how attractive it looks. I'm loving my Peter Rees fundraising poster (number 21/100) and can't believe these weren't snapped up immediately, got mine off TradeMe and there are a few left here. Also three photos I took over the last season in frames I got from the good old Warehouse for about $12.00 each, of the triumphant Panthers team members at the Auckland Teams event, a shot of 1nz Kyle Lane and of Peter Rees coming into the pits at Blenheim at the NZ title 2011. There's also a vintage stockcar, a "Grumpy Old Bastards" racing badge and my Speedway Saturday Night clock. I plan to add to this collection by dusting off some more stuff from the garage over the winter months.

The other major thing I will be doing as I mentioned before is the fourth installment of my Speedway Review. I haven't sold too many of these over the years yet, but the people buying them are a select few with good taste(!) including a few drivers who have appeared on the pages which gave me a great buzz. Last season I managed to get some great contributions from photographers and enthusiasts from around the country which makes it more of a speedway annual than just Gregobro's trips round NZ. Hopefully they will all be on board again this season and already I have some photos from Brendon Learmonth at Palmy who has sent me some awesome shots. If you are keen to send some let me know, the pay is terrible (ie nothing) but you get a credit in the book and a link to your website and the "glory" of having your photos remembered in a book that celebrates the 2010/11 season. Above all else that is the reason I do them, first as a great reminder for myself of what happened and to have something tangible rather than just the reviews on the website, and also they are a great time capsule - the first book from season 07/08 has a number of cars that have been onsold, scrapped or gone MIA, imagine what looking back at these books will be like in 20 years.

Updates will slow down over the next couple of months but I do hope to do a roll call of the Auckland Stockcars that appeared this year, and there were plenty of them, lets hope that rise in numbers continues for season 11/12. Anyway, better go, gotta book to write!

gregobro@xtra.co.nz

...and that's all folks!

2011-05-06T20:45:00.000+12:00

Stockcar & Streetstock Teams Racing
Kihikihi Speedway

How ironic that after a season full of cancelled or rain affected meetings, the final meeting I planned on attending turned out to be a stunner in the sun at Kihikihi Speedway. In fact the whole day was just spot on, and going by the postings I've read, I think quite a few other jaded speedway fans were just hanging out for one more decent meeting under a blue sky with plenty of biff and bash and some fierce Sprintcar action to top it off. Gisborne and Kihikihi contested three heats in the Streetstocks, and Ive gotta say 21k Brian Edwards was the entertainer in this section. Who would have thought such aggression was boiling under the surface! Get this guy into Streetstocks or Stockcars full time, star of the day! There was also Stockcar teams racing between Gisborne, Stratford, Waikato and the locals who stunned a few with two decent performances gaining them the runners up position to the Waikato Raiders. Stratford defeated the Gisborne Gladiators for third. Both Stratford and Gisborne deserve some major credit this season for the amount of teams racing they have completed, 16 races for Gizzy and 15 for Stratty, awesome stuff. Also it was encouraging to see a cohesive Kihikihi Crusaders team that looked the goods and hopefully can build on this effort. If they are ever short of a blocker, that 11k tank that was in the stockcar heats looks like one solid piece of heavy metal!

The other feature for me was the final Stockcar all in heat for the Rosetown Stockcar Classic 25 lapper. A field of about 25 cars fronted and I've got to say I really like these longer races, we don't see too many of these any more - anything over about 15 laps is pretty rare. 34a Mark Wearing took the win from 95h and 66g, managing to survive a last corner attack from the Huntly contingent. Sprintcars, Superstocks and Saloons filled out a strong programme and left the crowd satisfied and no doubt checking out what few meetings are left to get their last fix before the winter hibernation begins.

Final Standings, Teams Update XI

2011-05-03T21:00:00.002+12:00

The final round of teams racing was completed at Kihikihi Speedway last weekend with Waikato Raiders taking out the final and moving up the table quite a few positions to finish in 4th place overall. The weekends racing was great for all four teams that competed moving them all up the ladder considerably. Overall though, this season belonged to the Palmerston North Pumas who finished unbeaten and 8pts clear of second placed Auckland. Gisborne competed in the most teams racing this season with 16 match-ups. Meeanee Maulers rounded out the top three with seven wins from their twelve races. Only two of the recognised track teams (Greymouth and Baypark) failed to make an appearance. I think the most interesting statistic from the table is the actual amount of teams racing that occurred in this class, way more than I would have guessed, and with the introduction of the Rees Shield and the continuing growth of South Island teams I think there will be even more racing next season. Congrats to the Pumas!

Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd

Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns

World 240's Meeting, Rotorua
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators

At Gisborne Speedway
Foreign Legion def Gisborne Gladiators

South Island Teams, Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Reece's Rebels
Southern Sharks def Eastern States Titans
Eastern States Titans def Reece's Rebels
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

At Stratford, 12-02-11
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers

At Wanganui, 13-02-11
Palmerston North Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans

Peter Barry Teams, Meeanee Speedway
Meeanee Maulers 165 def Stratford Stormers 20
Waikato Raiders 155 def Gisborne Gladiators 35
Te Marua Terminators 155 def Auckland Alleycats 30
Palmerston North Pumas def Kihikihi Crusaders
North Island Select 140 vs Orange Roughies 20
Meeanee Maulers 170 def Kihikihi Crusaders 15
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Orange Roughies
North Island Select def Te Marua Terminators
Stratford Stormers def Auckland Alleycats

At Riverside Speedway, Invercargill
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

Peter Barry Teams Finals
Palmerston North Pumas def North Island Select
Waikato Raiders def Meeanee Maulers
Meanee Maulers def North Island Select
Palmerston North Pumas def Waikato Raiders

At Top of the South Speedway, Nelson:
Canterbury Crushers def Tasman Thunder

At Gisborne Speedway:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

At Kihikihi Speedway:
Waikato Raiders def Stratford Stormers
Kihikihi Crusaders def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Kihikihi Crusaders

Drive a Tank!

2011-04-26T21:27:00.000+12:00

Ever dreamed of driving one of the top Stockcars in the country? Ever wondered what it would be like behind the wheel of one of the famous Tanks? Want to help NZ's '2010 Speedway Competitor of the Year' pursue his goal to race in Europe later this year? Now is your chance.

Click on the link here to go to the auction on TradeMe.

Lights Out Part II

2011-04-14T21:26:00.000+12:00

Ollie Browne Memorial, Super Dirt Cup Modifieds
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

I seems hard to believe, during a season that has been difficult for the club, that yet another meeting comes to a premature end when things were humming along nicely. This time it was another lighting malfunction causing the abandonment of the racing before the Super Dirt Cup for Modifieds and the Ollie Browne Superstock Memorial race. They did manage to get through the Auckland Saloon title won by Phil Towgood, the Stockcar Bash for Cash title won by 59a Trevor Mason and the Streetstock title taken out by 66a Craig McKinney. Also the rarely seen Superstocks completed their Auckland title with Huntly visitor 73h Karl Ross the victor. 37r Ken Hunter and 351a Paul Vasey tied for second with the runoff another casualty of the nights power problems.

There were some great moments during the night, the Stockcars really turning on the action with a convincing win to 158a Dan Martin in heat 1, plenty of big hits in this one with 4h Matt Nilson a popular target. 9a Cam Kenworthy put on a great show that would ultimately win him stirrer of the night. Heat 2 win was credited to 59a Trevor Mason although I was sure 741a Craig Chatfield had passed him mid race and won. 88h Justin Hutchby was the troublemaker in this heat but many a car moved to the infield when he engaged them which was a bit disappointing. Only 11 cars from the original 23 coming out for heat 3 which finished with a Chatfield one-two, 91a Paul Chatfield followed home by Craig in second. Hutchby had his sights set on 29a Scott Tennant in this one but Tennants engine let go which kinda ruins your night. 85a Shannon Savage put a HUGE hit in on 38a Phil Smith and then turned his attention to Hutchby resulting in his car catching fire. Up until then it had been his best night in ages! Mason had been leading the points going into this heat but never missed an opportunity to attack anyone he felt like hitting and still managing to take the title. Great stuff.

59a Trevor Mason 62
91a Paul Chatfield 54
38a Phil Smith 45
741a Craig Chatfield 43
29a Scott Tennant 40

The big feature of the night was going to be the Super Dirt Cup for Modifieds, but only the heats for the two groups and most of the pole shuffle were completed. The major incident of the night involved 29a Mark Wade who was involved in contact with 55s Paul Ward resulting in a big roll and taking out a few cars before even crossing the start line. Also a bit of contact and dubious starts during the pole shuffles that became a farce during the 19a Scott Lane and 55s Paul Ward race. 1nz John Jackson and 4s Mark Dixon had really shown impressive pace and looked the goods for the final. Having read the Foxy website it appears they aren't going to have a fifth attempt at running this title and who can blame them. The Ollie Browne will get another go this weekend coming during the King of the Park meeting but the ugly weather looks set to return...

Teams Update X

2011-04-10T18:00:00.000+12:00

The Palmerston North Pumas remain unbeaten this year winning the rescheduled Peter Barry teams meeting at Meeanee Speedway. The Tasman Thunder team from Nelson make their first appearance of the season going down to Canterbury. Auckland notch up another win against the Gladiators in the rerun of the first teams race of the season at Gisborne's home track. Only two recognised teams are yet to race, Greymouth and Baypark.

Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd

Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns

World 240's Meeting, Rotorua
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators

At Gisborne Speedway
Foreign Legion def Gisborne Gladiators

South Island Teams, Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Reece's Rebels
Southern Sharks def Eastern States Titans
Eastern States Titans def Reece's Rebels
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

At Stratford, 12-02-11
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers

At Wanganui, 13-02-11
Palmerston North Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans

Peter Barry Teams, Meeanee Speedway
Meeanee Maulers 165 def Stratford Stormers 20
Waikato Raiders 155 def Gisborne Gladiators 35
Te Marua Terminators 155 def Auckland Alleycats 30
Palmerston North Pumas def Kihikihi Crusaders
North Island Select 140 vs Orange Roughies 20
Meeanee Maulers 170 def Kihikihi Crusaders 15
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Orange Roughies
North Island Select def Te Marua Terminators
Stratford Stormers def Auckland Alleycats

At Riverside Speedway, Invercargill
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

Peter Barry Teams Finals
Palmerston North Pumas def North Island Select
Waikato Raiders def Meeanee Maulers
Meanee Maulers def North Island Select
Palmerston North Pumas def Waikato Raiders

At Top of the South Speedway, Nelson:
Canterbury Crushers def Tasman Thunder

At Gisborne Speedway:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

John Webster / Glen Turner Memorials

2011-04-04T20:49:00.001+12:00

John Webster Memorial, Glen Turner Supersaloons
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

The John Webster for 2011 had looked a little shaky during the week leading up to Saturday. No Sprintcars or Superstocks on the agenda and fairly vague numbers being tossed around for most classes. But upon entering the pits you could see there were going to be full fields in most classes. Also the feel of the meeting would be different from previous years with the open wheel classes more dominant having Midgets, MiniSprints and TQ's present. I was a little alarmed with Streetstock numbers (which have been low all season) and predictably they were the only class that failed to fire on a night that's original intention was to showcase the best of speedway in Auckland. This is a class that really need a shot in the arm, or a shot to the head depending on your enjoyment of Streetstock racing.

Overall I thought the racing was pretty good, the SuperSaloons completely stealing the show up until their feature race, when we were treated to a four wide salute in honour of Glen Turner, a stalwart of Auckland Saloon racing. The field of 14 cars was top quality and the feature was going to be something really special. 8h Craig Cardwell absolutely overcooked the start of the race and looked to have blown all chance of winning before they had even reached the first corner. He slipped back to about 8th place from his front row grid but little did we all know that within a lap it would prove rather fortuitous as a spinning 99a Shane McInteer would be involved in a melee that would take out six cars and pretty much rip the guts out of the most anticipated race of the night. The remaining contestants basically left a 24h Harding v 8h Cardwell battle that could never reach the heights that the pre-race hype had built. It was a pity but take nothing away from Harding, he powered his way to a great victory.

I didn't quite get the gist of the way the Midgets were doing the qualifying for their final, then the cars that seemed to have been most successful on the night didn't start off the front. The feature was action packed with a few changes of leader and although their were a few yellow light incidents, it didn't turn into a marathon of endurance for the spectators. The big guns didn't quite get to the front of the field resulting in a great battle between 27a Hayden Williams, 9h Angus McLeod and 4a Dave Gick. Williams picking up the win. Of interest to a lot of WP regulars was the performance of former commentator Aaron Drever who was racing the CRC 71a, and huge respect to the guy for having the kahunas to get out there and then put on a pretty decent performance! Apart from a spin in heat two and a few tentative first laps in heat one he was on the pace, drove clean and looked very capable, great effort dude!

Stockcars were the other standout class. Twenty four cars turned out including 898s Sandy Flett and 16h David Ingram in the old Vic Neal chassis looking pretty cool. Lots of contact and good fast racing with 137a Jamie Fergusson and 168a Billy Neill doing most of the stirring. Wins went to 95a Gary Lonergan, 69h Callum Whiter and the feature to 29a Scott Tennant who is having a brilliant debut season in the class. The 74a stockcar was given to Streetstock pilot Jody Hooker for the feature but just as he was getting into his stride a red light incident that he was too slow to stop for meant he was sent infield robbing the race of some action.

So that was another Webster "Speedway Expo" (as it was originally called) completed. Five of the six classes on show were great and compared to a normal nights racing, $20 for all that action and quality fields was a great deal. Whether the promoters take on board comments about the intent of the meeting - the 'best of the best' concept (which the Huntly club have embraced with the Speedfest meeting) is anyones guess. I hope they do, John Webster was a huge figure in Auckland speedway and any meeting bearing his name should be something a bit special.

Ready for John Webster XII?

2011-03-30T20:59:00.003+13:00

Are you ready for this years version of the John Webster Memorial? Here are a few reviews from the last couple of years:

8th John Webster 2007 Here

9th John Webster 2008 here

10th John Webster 2009 here

11th John Webster 2010 here

...and a bit about John Webster here.

World of Stocks

2011-03-26T14:56:00.002+13:00

World of Stocks
Paradise Valley, Rotorua

Hard to believe, but yet ANOTHER meeting affected by rain! My plan had been to miss qualifying night and just head over for the finals which is pretty much what has happened over the last few seasons. The heavy downpour on Friday meant my plans changed and not being able to stay on for Sundays finals just summed up my spectating season this year. Some speedway is better than none so I headed for Paradise Valley not expecting the world to be set on fire going by the last few 'World of Stocks' qualifying nights but was pleasantly surprised by the action that was served up. Perhaps the difference was the inclusion of 12e Zac Thompson who basically spent the night stirring up trouble in the bright yellow flat chassis that was at the centre of most incidents in his group. 83h Steve Gray also added to the dramas and is fast becoming a stirrer of note with a tank that can actually go fast when needed. One of the other standouts was 24m Karl Daniel also in a tank that was deceptively fast and only narrowly missed out of qualifying after a runoff but would be given the wildcard to get through.

When the dust had settled, the field of 60+ entrants had been narrowed down to 12 qualifiers, 4 from each group with a last chance repercharge adding another one, and the wildcard entry of course joining the 14 already confirmed starters. The results for finals night can be found on the Rotorua website here with 8r Scott Fredrikson finally landing a big title, so often missing out with little support when he was registered to Baypark. It appears the Rotorua drivers really did band together on this occasion which is sometimes not the norm. This was the fifth running of the World of Stocks title I believe, and its future seems assured with a good mix of action and good hard racing. It has been an expensive few weeks for stockcar drivers with the amount of meetings they are expected to travel to for what is essentially a budget class. I did have a fear that after four or five weeks of titles in a row that the field would be depleted, but luckily it wasnt the case. Just from a spectating point of view, I know the amount of Fridays I need to take off work to get to these titles and wonder how many high profile meetings a class like this can sustain before the bubble bursts, just food for thought. Also (small gripe warning) what happened to the awesome programmes that were coming out of Rotorua? Maybe a cost cutting measure but I miss those AWS graphics...

Finally, Peter Ress may not have made the podium for this title but he did take out the BOP Superstock title on Saturday night despite a great effort from 37r Ken Hunter to take him out in the third heat. Has any driver ever had a season as spectacularly successful as Rees is having this year? Its almost a privilege to watch him drive. So a qualifying night that I didn't think would offer up too much excitement presented Rees at his best and the much vaunted Zac Thompson from Blenheim living up to the hype that we in the North Island have heard so much about.

8r Scott Fredrickson 80pts
95r Dale Stewart 76pts
17b Aaron Iremonger 69pts
71w Benji Sneddon 67pts
2nz Peter Rees 63pts

Related links:
2010 review here
2009 review here

Team Nats Night 2

2011-03-21T21:07:00.001+13:00

Superstock Teams Nationals
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

With a fairly successful first night, not only were the weather Gods playing the game but also a much bigger crowd turned up for finals night and most would have left well pleased with the teams racing at least. The support programme included the Minisprint GP, 18 Modifieds for the Auckland title and 10 Supersaloons.

First Semi Final
Palmerston North Panthers v Waikato Wanderers
Waikato were going to have to really raise the bar if they were to beat the Panthers and just a lap in it was looking good when 96h Aaron Headington managed to roll 8p Scott Joblin in turn 4. At the same time 95h Ansty was being blocked by 7p Bengsten. The red lights came on for Joblin and there were good signs for the Wanderers but unfortunately 93h Karl Ross who had been put into the wall on turn 1 would remain stuck there for the rest of the race, so any advantage had just been lost. Upon the restart Palmy assumed its usual tactic of 2 runners with Bengsten left to do the blocking. 97h and 96h both ran for Waikato and only Ansty slowed to block. The hallmark of this Panthers team is that they never seem to panic and no matter what happens in the first few laps they seem to have a composure and sense of purpose that other teams lack. Shane Penn took the win with 97h, 96h and 5p Rees all on the same lap. Win to the Panthers and a place in the finals.

Second Semi Final
Rotorua Rebels v Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
Personally I wanted Rotorua to win this because they looked the stronger of the two teams and it would make a better final in theory. HB's chances were looking shakey after the warm up laps with smoke coming from 31b Long's car resulting in a 3 minute bell before withdrawing from the team. This meant 34b Mike Mac would take his place and he had been a massive asset to the team so far with his blocking. From the green light 32b Palamountain stayed on the brakes blocking the entire row while the other row almost completed a lap (which would be a huge talking point later) 95r Hewson was leading but was taken out by 34b. This gave the lead to 35b Steve Jude and then a passage of the race where hits were going in everywhere. Easily the most action of any race from the whole weekend. It ended with a group of cars piling into each other by the start finish line resulting in Jude being spun and facing the wrong way where upon he was hit by two Rotorua cars. Now I'm just guessing, but one of the hits was by 95r Hewson and a red light was activated and he was removed to the infield. With 8 laps still to run there were plenty of damaged cars. It appeared at this point that 98r was leading from 33b and 97r Horse in third. 32b Palamountain spun 98r giving the lead to Foley which set up a nail biting finish where Foley was held up just metres from the line while the tank raced passed for a great win to Rotorua, or so it seemed. The flag was given to Foley and the win to HB with the news that 97r was a lap down.

5th and 6th Place
Auckland Allstars v Kihikihi Kings
Essentially the fight for the wooden spoon. Auckland only had four cars with 9a Hammond out. Paul Vasey took on the blocking role and 8a Bryce Marx did the running. 7a Mitchell was off early and although the Kings had many attempts, particularly Dion Mooney, Marx was able to continue on and take the flag for the Allstars first win of the weekend. No disgrace either for the Kings, as both teams had been worthy additions to the weekends racing.

3rd and 4th Place
Rotorua Rebels v Waikato Wanderers
With both Ansty and Hewson as reserves both teams had lost a potent team member. 97h lead early by was held up by the omnipresent tank of Ross Ashby, giving the lead to 98r. In fact the tank was really the difference between both teams, Ashby seemed to have a hand in everything. The lead changed a few times but Waikato seemed unable to capitalise and the structure of their race fell away. Rotorua's Bryce Steiner coming home for the win ahead of Karl Ross and Mark Decke.
Another strong result for Rotorua but as with the teams meeting in Palmy, they showed alot more cohesion than in recent years and this team really does look the goods for next season.

Final
Palmerston North Panthers v Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
The odds-on favourites up against fierce rivals Hawkes Bay who really had quite a challenge ahead of them. Perhaps wisely, maybe not with hindsight, the stockcar of 34b Mike Mac was reserve along with 6p Wayne Hemi. From the green flag 7p Peter Bengsten took the lead followed by 9p and 8p. HB's usual runner Steve Jude walled Peter Rees but then had problems and went to the infield. 31b Long blocked Bengsten until being put up the wall leaving 4 Palmy cars running against 3 as Jude had rejoined the race. Before the green light was activated 32b limped to the infield effectively ending HB's chances, 4 v 2. From there on Rees blocked Gary Foley and Bengsten blocked Jude leaving 9p Penn and 8p Joblin reeling off the laps towards an inevitable Panthers win. It almost felt as though the drivers orchestrated the finish with Penn winning the race in his last teams appearance for the Panthers, a fitting way to go out with the chequered flag for one of their strongest assets.

So that was it for another year, 5 wins in a row for the most successful race team in the sport for many years, possibly ever. Was the meeting a success? Well I guess the acid test will be whether it runs again next season, hopefully it will and the noises since the meeting seem to indicate it didnt make a loss, lets hope that is the case. Roll on next years Teams Nationals, hopefully with at least 8 teams and a full house!

Make or break

2011-03-13T18:22:00.000+13:00

Superstock Teams Nationals
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

Last season this meeting got the chop leaving Palmerston North with the only viable Superstock teams meeting, a sad indictment on the class. This year, the new promotion team at Auckland's Waikaraka Park decided to give the Teams Nats a lease of life, and over the last few weeks it has been a massive effort by those involved, to not only stage the meeting but getting enough teams to front and make some money. Then came news of the price increase and all sorts of negative feedback about unrealistic charges and threats of no shows from spectators. The good news is the meeting did in fact proceed with six decent teams and most importantly the reigning champs fielding a full strength Panthers team giving the meeting some credibility.

So how was it? Personally I thought it was as good as any recent teams meeting at WP, had some great action, a very strong support programme and although Friday nights crowd was light, the Saturday crowd was large and the atmosphere pretty good. The big question will be whether costs were covered, if the price increase was a good move and more importantly, if it is possible to get at least 8 teams back for next season, if WP do in fact run the meeting again. I hope they do, it has a great history and who in their right mind would turn up the opportunity to see Superstock teams racing in Auckland for $15 more than a club night? How much would you spend in gas to travel to some other track to see a similar meeting - quite absurd the fuss that was generated over the increase in entry.

Friday Night
Palmerston North Panthers v Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
When your team can leave someone like Peter Bengsten on the infield as reserve it really does make the opposition wonder what they have to do to beat this squad! 6p Wayne Hemi took 31p Murray Long straight into the wall from the green flag, Shane Penn and Peter Rees did the running for Palmy and 33b Foley for HB. Apart from a big shot by 32b Palamountain on 8p Scott Joblin, it was a fairly easy win for the Panthers. Panthers 165 v Hawkeyes 30

Rotorua Rebels v Waikato Wanderers
Rotorua won the toss and after a false start 95r Scott Hewson took up the running duties for the Rebels. This race would be noted for the incident involving Ross Ashby and Tony Wootten resulting in Wootten rolling over on the infield. 97h was out and on the red light Rotorua were holding positions 1, 2 and 3 with the tank still able to continue in the blocking role. As many cars would over the weekend, 95h Ansty went over the bonnet of the tank and rolled to a halt on the infield. By the end of the race only 96h Headington was still mobile for the Wanderers and Rotorua took a convincing win. Rebels 185 v Wanderers 10

Auckland Allstars v Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
The long awaited return for Allstars fans took a bit hit with 9a Daryl Hammond being tipped over just feet from the start line by Murray Long and Mike MacLaughlin. 8a Bryce Marx took the lead early on, great blocking from 7a Ricky Mitchell kept the Allstars in with a show until 34b spun Marx and 35b Steve Jude took over the lead and held it. A good even race but a vital win for HB.

Kihikihi Kings v Waikato Wanderers
Wootten sat this one out along with 29k. 93h Karl Ross took the lead early, Ansty held 25k in the wall. 94h Remnant took 27k Ridland up the wall leaving him perched there but damaged his own front end. On the restart after the red, 95h Ansty dealt a massive hit to Ian Barron. This left 3 Waikato cars against 2 Kings. Ansty and Remnant finished off 25k Guilford and only 28k Mytton was left running. Win to 93h Ross.

Auckland Allstars v Palmerston North Panthers
Talk about daunting! 5a Vasey was out with damage from their first race and Joblin sat out for the Panthers. Penn immediately tried to take 4a Phil Marx up the wall but he was able to ride it out. Hemi and Bryce Marx both ground to a halt early. Rees put a big hit in on 7a Mitchell but the veteran withstood it and at one point had 3 Panther cars attempting to take him out. It was an awesome sight to see Mitchell's blocking skills back on show. A couple of red light incidents saw the removal of both 8a and 7a for infringements and ended any hopes the Aucks had although a great drive from Phil Marx got him home in second behind Penn and ahead of the only two other finishers, Bengston and Rees.

Rotorua Rebels v Kihikihi Kings
This would turn out to be the race of the night with the biggest crash too. From my scribbled notes I had 27k puts 98r up wall, Decke leading but has problem and slows, 29k goes up and over the bonnet of Ashby's tank and 95h Ansty puts him up the wall. Decke retires and 28k Mytton is leading but makes the fatal mistake of running around the tank on the front straight. The tank clips him and Steiny finishes him off send him flying into the wall and up into the fencing in a spectacular crash. On the red light, there was still 7 laps to go and with 25k Guilford still leading it was looking like an upset was on the cards. 97r Ashby managed to spin Guilford and 95r Hewson took over the lead and held out for the win. Guilford coming home in second from 27k. A great race to end the night and a taste of things to come on finals night.

Support racing for Friday night included the Stocky boys who really turned on some great action. Race one and the sight of 65a Adam Mills sitting on top of the wall between turns 3 & 4 was the standout moment. I missed the incident but I believe Grant Littlewood was the culprit. I spent most of the race watching 137a Jamie Fergusson making life difficult for visitor 162p Adam Joblin and anyone else he felt like attacking, great skills. 22 starters and only 10 finishing summed this race up, a great start to the night. 95a, 741a, 21a, 168a

Heat two featured a great duel between 95a Gary Lonergan and 59a Grant Littlewood that had quite a few lead changes and also 162p Joblin got a fairly clear run in this race managing to pip Lonergan for second place once Grunter had cleared out for the win. Again a lot of action featured in this heat setting up a good third heat. With 59a winning, the points after two heats were: 95a Lonergan on 48pts and starting on grid 16, 741a Craig Chatfield on 46pts but way back on grid 21, 162p Adam Joblin, 29a Scott Tennant, 91a Paul Chatfield and 57a Ryan Eustace all on 39pts off grids 9, 19, 1 and 17.

Heat 3 suffered a few casualties with most of the front few rows empty. Visitor Joblins run ended early with tyre problems and 95a Lonergan was able to take advantage and win the race and title. Craig Chatfield took second and second overall and 29a Tennant continued his great debut season with a third in heat three managing third overall. 95a, 741a, 29a, 9a, 45a, 13a, 168a, 77a. Overall points 95a 73pts, 741a 70pts and 29a 62pts.

A great first night, the two obvious contenders being Rotorua and Palmerston North. The four teams that got through to the semis on points being Hawkes Bay, Rotorua, Palmerston North and Waikato. Auckland and Kihikihi would fight it out for 5th and 6th.

Night two review coming...

Teams Update IX

2011-03-06T17:30:00.001+13:00

The Palmerston North Pumas continue to keep their unbeaten record and stretch their lead with Auckland faultering at the Peter Barry Memorial teams meeting at Meeanee. Weather stopped the final rounds being completed but the Meeanee Maulers, Palmy Pumas, North Island Select and Waikato Raiders made the semi finals and have a chance to add to their points for the season.

Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd

Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns

World 240's Meeting, Rotorua
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators

At Gisborne Speedway
Foreign Legion def Gisborne Gladiators

South Island Teams, Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Reece's Rebels
Southern Sharks def Eastern States Titans
Eastern States Titans def Reece's Rebels
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

At Stratford, 12-02-11
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers

At Wanganui, 13-02-11
Palmerston North Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans

Peter Barry Teams, Meeanee Speedway
Meeanee Maulers 165 def Stratford Stormers 20
Waikato Raiders 155 def Gisborne Gladiators 35
Te Marua Terminators 155 def Auckland Alleycats 30
Palmerston North Pumas def Kihikihi Crusaders
North Island Select 140 vs Orange Roughies 20
Meeanee Maulers 170 def Kihikihi Crusaders 15
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Orange Roughies
North Island Select def Te Marua Terminators
Stratford Stormers def Auckland Alleycats

At Riverside Speedway, Invercargill
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

Waikato Stocks and Saloons

2011-03-06T16:38:00.000+13:00

Waikato Stockcar Champs
Huntly Speedway

One thing you can be assured of when traveling to Huntly Speedway is good stockcar action. Following on two weeks after a decent turnout of Waikato cars for Auckland's local title won in extraordinary circumstances by 88h Justin Hutchby, it was good to see a decent field including quite a few Auckland cars in attendance. Unfortunately the entire Alleycats team was a no show but with the Peter Barry Teams meeting this week leading into a heavy few weeks for this class, it was understandable. Two groups had two races for qualifying spots in a 20 lap winner takes all final. A repecharge featuring about six cars provided some great action but by the time the final arrived I think it had been decided that if your car was still mobile you were in, meaning a field of around 33 cars. Just quietly I had hoped that my dream team of trouble makers (4h, 83h and 84b) would get through qualifying but things were looking grim until the change of plans to include everyone.

The other feature for the night was the Waikato Saloon title raced over the three heats for points. It came down to how many cars 48a Phil Towgood could pass in the final race to beat 46m Terry Corin who started on pole. Corin could do nothing more than hold on to first place and hope Towgood had trouble moving up through the field, but as we witnessed he picked off each car and claimed the overall points win with a masterclass in driving. 18m Chris Taylor took out third place. The race was excellent and really set the bar high for the highlight of the night. Would the Stockcars be able to top it? Fear not! The 20 lap feature had action from the very first corner as 54h Larissa Van Houtte was sent spectacularly up the wall and hooked up on top of 28k Ivan Lammas bringing on the reds. The early stages of the race had every Rotorua car take a turn at leading as one by one they were removed by the locals. When 141h Rhody Game mis-timed a hit and fired into the wall on turn 1 the leader was 218h Aaron Alderton but he pulled off on to the grass gifting the lead to 72r Rumney. Next big incident was a red light for 32h Nigel Beer who had had a fairly tough night of it up to this point already carrying an injury from heat one, but was unlucky enough to hit the stranded 71h Wootten car in turn two ending with big damage to both cars. At this point 55h Neville Hazelton who had looked strong in the qualifying heats inherited the lead and looked good for the win until a puncture two laps from the end slowed him enough for 88h Justin Hutchby to grab the lead and win, repeating the feat of 81h Rod Smythe from last year taking both Auckland and Waikato titles in the same season. Rinso managed to come home in second and Hazelton limped home in third place in a hugely depleted field by races end.

Also I just want to mention the Golden Oldies racing that I thought would be a bit of WWE tappy tappy slow stuff... well these guys aint mucking round! Awesome racing and the more cars they get out there the better. They are great to look at in the pits, sound even better heading out to the track and are becoming a class well worth watching. There must be heaps of these cars lying round, in fact there is a perfect one just up the road from where I live. Get them back out there and relive the past! Anyway enough from me, sorry for the fairly basic updates lately, work has been like... well, work actually. Hard work, and so stockcars have taken a back seat. I almost didn't go to Huntly on Saturday night because I was a bit knackered but Im glad I did, it was good speedway with no weak racing. The programme ran smoothly, with the usual good commentary from Malcolm and Mintie and bloody good value for $15, just how speedway should be.

City of Sails Stockcars / Streetstock 290's

2011-02-28T20:43:00.001+13:00

Auckland City of Sails Stockcars and Streetstock 290's
Waikaraka Park

Just a few photos from the meeting at WP last weekend. 59a Grant Littlewood took out the Auckland City of Sails Stockcar title from 95a Gary Lonergan and 242a Bernie Fox rounding out the top three. The stirrers trophy won by 137a Jamie Fergusson. The Streetstocks contested their delayed World 290's title, won by 11r Stephen DeMalmanche, 7g Travis Gooch second and 12k Daniel Curran taking third to keep the locals off the podium.

Auckland Stocks and SuperSaloons

2011-02-15T22:05:00.001+13:00

Auckland Stockcar & Supersaloon Titles
Waikaraka Park

My last few visits to Waikaraka Park have involved rainouts and lighting malfunctions, but through it all good racing was always a given. Saturday night was more of the same, except this time a nasty accident in the Stockcar feature that involved 15a Carl Campbell being cut from his car on the track would be the reason for yet another meeting failing to go the distance. This meant that the Supersaloon feature was also canned and the results for both classes had to be obtained from previous laps or previous heats. It was unfortunate because the actual racing on the night for the two featured classes had been superb.

I never did a count of the Stockcars in the pits but they had been split into two groups. The pre-race estimate was around 50 cars which was fantastic. From my notes group one had 22 cars and group two had 21. Some of the cars in the pits didn't make it out onto the track so not sure what the reason behind that was. Two qualifying heats and the top 15 from each group would go through to a 30 car final, that raced two heats for points. After the first heat for both groups the obvious problem I saw was that the real entertainers (those going for the stirrers money) were not going to qualify for the finals. 67a Nick Krisnic took a fairly easy win for Group 1 heat 1, and with at least 4 or 5 cars dnf-ing our top 15 from this group was taking shape early on. 67a, 34a, 116h, 91a, 59a, 81h, 15a, 89r, 72r. For heat two only 20 cars fronted with 34a Mark Wearing and 9a Cameron Kenworthy on the front row. 9a had failed to finish heat one and would need a whole heap of points to get through. 67a Krizo was off the rear of the field. 59a Grant Littlewood took the victory from Wearing, Rinso and Mulholland. 59a, 34a 81h, 89r, 43a, 158a, 137a, 67a, 116h, 15a, 91a, 72r, 28h, 9a, 45a. Group 2 seemed to have a lot more action than group 1. 88h Justin Hutchby and 95a Gary Lonergan tussled for the lead and the Huntly cars banded together to hold up 95a giving Hutch the heat 1 win. 7a Ken Tyson spun 71h Tyson Wootton but was given some instant payback and put up the wall. 65a Mills gave a massive hit to stirrer 4h Matt Nilsson. 88h, 95a, 81r, 36h, 242a, 741a, 168a, 29a, 49h. Heat 2 had even more action with 85a Shannon Savage putting 4h up the wall but the biggest hit of the race was 71h Wootton on 95a Lonergan, it failed to stop the Aucklander qualifying. 81r Damian Orr taking the win. 81r, 242a, 95a, 29a, 7h, 5h, 741a, 34h, 168a, 88h, 13a.

The 30 qualifiers were: 168a, 81h, 34a, 158a, 43a, 71h, 49h, 36h, 29a, 5h, 45a, 13a, 89r, 91a, 59a, 15a, 34h, 48h, 81r, 28h, 95a, 72r, 741a, 116h, 7h, 88h, 67a, 242a, 137a, 85a.

Now this is where everything started to go pear shaped. By this stage the heats for the Auckland SuperSaloon title had been run and I hadn't taken too much notice of it as I was only going to write notes on the actual final race. Basically 8h Craig Cardwell had won the first heat, but it was heat two that had two rollovers, 12m and 99a (while running in 2nd place), and action aplenty. In their 3rd heat Cardwell had been sublime. Some nights he cant get a break but it was all going right for the 8h tonight. He managed to grab a 3rd place behind 24h and 1nz from a rear grid start, that would prove decisive. The Stockcars had the first of their two heats and it was spectacular to say the least. 137a Fergusson was rolled on the first lap but able to continue. 13a Hey and 158a Martin were early retirements. 29a Scott Tennant was leading from Billy Neill, Damian Orr and Lonergan. 137a went into stirring mode and slowed 81r Orr, he was then set upon by 71h Wootton and 48h Scott Gallop slowed Tennant. Krizo went into bat for the Aucklanders and removed 36h and put 28h up the wall by the start finish line but reversed out into the line of 81h Smythe resulting in a huge hit that brought on the red lights. Upon the restart 36h Mark Caldwell attacked 29a Tennant and 95a Lonergan took the victory. 95a, 34a, 88h, 15a, 29a, 168a, 89r, 34h, 81h, 72r, 741a, 81r, 45a.

After this we had protests apparently in both classes which resulted in a lot of filler as the meeting dragged on. Finally we had the Stockcars back out for the final heat. Hutchby was on grid 1 alongside 242a Fox while Lonergan was way back on grid 15 and Wearing would start from 7. From the green flag 137a tried to stop Hutchby while 95a and 34a were both spun sending them to the rear. Great blocking from 48h Gallop was making it very hard for the Aucklanders. 45a Taylor managed to put in a great shot on 34h Anton Leek but 95a was being held up by 71h. At about the 7 laps stage 34a Wearing was sent flying into the front straight wall head on and the red lights came on. 15a Carl Campbell had been injured in an incident I missed and the worst was feared. The meeting was halted and the race declared. There was no other option but to declare the Supersaloon result too. It was an unfortunate end to the meeting that had been action packed with both classes putting on a great show. Two more Auckland titles heading back to Waikato was almost as bad as the thousand of crickets that invaded the 'cemetery bend' end of the track (I'm not joking!) So we've now had floods, blackouts and PESTILENCE! I think WP has earned a break from Mother Nature!

Auckland Stockcar Champs
88h Justin Hutchby 58pts
15a Carl Campbell 53pts
29a Scott Tennant 51pts
89r Dean Mulholland 51pts
72r David Rumney 50pts
95a Gary Lonergan 47pts
81r Damian Orr 47pts
168a Billy Neill 47pts
34h Anton Leek 44pts
741a Craig Chatfield 43pts

Auckland SuperSaloon Champs
8h Craig Cardwell
1nz Shane MacIntyre
96a Lance Jennings
6m Gary Edwards
24h Ben Harding
8m Geoff Fletcher
7m Brent Emerson
63h Nigel Mouet
4a Shane Hick
58a Max Anderson

Stockcar Teams Update VIII

2011-02-13T16:42:00.000+13:00

After a lull in teams racing in the past month, its come back to life over the weekend. Quite a few new teams appearing and a few changes to the standings. Composite teams are now shown in pink with no track letter as they usually only appear at one meeting as a fill in.

Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd

Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns

World 240's Meeting, Rotorua
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators

At Gisborne Speedway
Foreign Legion def Gisborne Gladiators

South Island Teams, Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Reece's Rebels
Southern Sharks def Eastern States Titans
Eastern States Titans def Reece's Rebels
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

At Stratford, 12-02-11
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers

At Wanganui, 13-02-11
Palmerston North Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans

The Pilgrimage

2011-02-09T19:48:00.001+13:00

ENZED Superstock Teams Meeting
Palmerston North

It has become our yearly pilgrimage, our February journey to the Arena in Manawatu. Upon arrival in Palmerston North at lunchtime on Friday, we had that horrible sinking feeling that there was little chance the meeting would be going ahead that night, or even that weekend. We left the hotel at 4pm to see what the situation was at the gates outside the stadium and were shocked to see a queue of people waiting to get in. The meeting managed to proceed and we were very happy indeed! A massive effort to take the top layer off the track and run the meeting so long as there were no more heavy bouts of rain proved to be a great decision and I'm sure at many other tracks (in fact most) this meeting would have been canned hours earlier.

Eleven teams made it to the event but unfortunately for us the Auckland Allstars were not one of them. The same system they used last year was put in place meaning all teams had two races against random opposition, and the four teams with the highest points would fight it out to reach the one race, first across the line, final. There was a long delay to get the track right and once the parade laps for each team and the wheel packing were completed, it was after 8pm. The surrounding banks of threatening clouds failed to halt the meeting. The first few races were lacking in action and the track was slushy and difficult for the teams to put on much of a show. Just trying to stay on the track was proving difficult for some. It wouldn't be until the last race of the night, Wanganui Warriors vs Kihikihi Kings that the place really came alive. A one man demolition job by Dion Mooney who managed to roll two of the Kings cars gave the Warriors a massive victory and took them into the top four teams at the expense of the Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes. Joining them were the two best teams of the night, Nelson Tigers and Palmerston North Panthers and surprise package the Stratford Scrappers. Once again two very strong teams, Rotorua and Waikato had failed to make the step up and would be left fighting for the minor places. My drivers of the night were Mooney obviously, who really gave us a great taste of old school teams racing action and 95h Warwick Ansty from the unlucky Waikato team. His performance was one of the best I've ever seen in his many years of racing. Also Peter Rees who put in the biggest shot of the night on 77p in the Palmy v Manawatu derby. It was one of those 'ouch' hits that stuns the crowd for a few seconds.

Finals Night
Once again the weather held and the racing was all on for Saturday night. What a huge bonus considering we were expecting to be watching Sky TV inside our hotel room all weekend. Nelson beat Stratford and Palmy defeated Wanganui in two excellent encounters that were a huge step up from the night before. We were relishing the prospect of what would be a 'dream final' between the Tigers and the Panthers but Nelson's hopes of retaining their title were dashed before they even made it out of the pit gate. The crowd was given that news that 83n Brett Nicholls had cut the pole line on lap one of the semi final and was excluded from the results handing the win to Stratford. As you can imagine, this did not go down well with the crowd, except if you were wearing yellow and black or were a Panthers fan! The decision stood and as we now know Palmerston North took on the Scrappers in a final that was a non-event. Such was the brutal power of the Panthers that in the first few laps the Stratford team were annihilated. It was a fearsome return to form for Palmy who had looked shakey in their first race on Friday night. Nelson had to front up to race Rotorua for third and forth and produced one of the best races of the whole weekend, both teams had something to prove and ultimately it was Nelson that took the win. Ross Ashby in the tank, was rolled for the second time on the night and was one of the real entertainers all weekend. In fact the whole Rotorua team seemed light years better than in recent seasons and if they can keep some kind of continuity this group will be featuring in the finals next season I'm guessing. Finally, one of the funniest things that happened was during the usually boring "car of the week" segment, when the car is normally slowly driven round the track for a lap or two, instead the car was given a good thrashing and managed to bounce of the walls a couple of times. Had the crowd cheering wildly. Not sure if anyone would have been racing to buy it though. Great stuff, and there you have it, another fantastic teams racing weekend is over and the Panthers are the champions once again. I won't for one second belittle the Stratford Scrappers achievement of making the finals but I do hope that both Nelson and Palmy front up for the Auckland Teams Nationals, I think any meeting that pitched these two teams together would be worth the trip.

1. Palmerston North Panthers
2. Stratford Scrappers
3. Nelson Tigers
4. Rotorua Rebels
5. British Lions
6. Wanganui Warriors
7. Waikato Wanderers
8. Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
9. Canterbury Glen Eagles
10. Manawatu Mustangs
11. Kihikihi Kings

Part IV

2011-02-06T21:02:00.001+13:00

NZ Modified Title
Waikaraka Park, Auckland

Perserverance. Two rainouts last week. Then a rainout on Saturday night. The crew at WP earned themselves a huge pat on the back after I saw the photos of the waterlogged track and the extent of flooding on Saturday and managing to finally run the meeting on the forth attempt Sunday night. Rain has been the story of this season and Waikaraka really took a beating with this one. Still, its done and dusted and 71s John Jackson came out the winner. For a NZ title it certainly deserved a better crowd but with all the dramas leading up to the meeting, it was a relief to see it finally completed.

26 cars made up two groups racing 3 heats each, 8 qualifiers from each group with a repercharge to find 4 more, making up a field of 20 cars for a one race final. The track was a mess in the first few races (understandably) but with constant prepping during the night, was way better than I had expected. It still proved to be a difficult child and spat the dummy a couple of times most notably ending 19a Scott Lane's chances with a hole that opened up on turn 1 late in the night. It was a good but long meeting, and the amount of time between the final heat of group 2 and the repercharge indicated something was not right down in the pits as a few filler races took up precious time before Blair Luscombe missed out on one of four last gasp places in the repecharge.

The final was gridding up pretty soon after that and just like some of the heats earlier in the night gridding problems and not getting a clean start were features of the final. 871c Luke Keegan was unable to make his grid 18 position left sitting on the infield. 71s John Jackson on pole, with 129c Glen Leech on 2, 4s Dixon on 3 and surprise package 5gm Brandon Parkinson on 4. Defending champ Jamie Fox would have to haul ass from grid 6 to retain his title on a night when he had yet to shine. After one lap Leech had taken the lead, 33a Drube, 12s Kalin and 19a Scott Lane had joined 871c Keegan on the infield after Lane's roll. A full restart was required and 71s Jackson, who had lost his advantage on the first attempt to 129c Leech was given a second chance to grab the lead and did. From there on it was a case of who was going to take the title from him. 129c Leech and 1nz Fox would spend the next 20 laps inching closer and closer but it was Jackson's title to lose and he never set a foot wrong.

Whether it goes down as a classic title is debatable but the fans got some decent Modified racing and a worthy champion was found. The biggest disappointment was that a scheduled weekend meeting that had so much promise was once again compromised by the lousy weather that so often calls the shots.

71s John Jackson from grid 1
129c Glen Leech from grid 2
1nz Jamie Fox from grid 6
4s Mark Dixon from grid 3
67s Bunter Pierce from grid 5
21a Garry Parker from grid 8
64a Grant Harris from grid 12
72s Merv Julian from grid 17
36a Phil Crumpe from grid 20

Praise Be, Huntly!

2011-01-31T15:05:00.000+13:00

NZ Midget Grand Prix
PlaceMakers Huntly Speedway

After several attempts at watching some speedway action including a trip to Baypark which with hindsight now, was correctly postponed on Thursday much to my dismay, then the third go at running the NZ Modified title at Waikaraka Park was completely washed out, I had less than high hopes for the Saturday night meeting scheduled for Huntly Speedway. The NZ Grand Prix for Midgets was on the programme and it seems that any meeting with the letters 'NZ' in them basically means it will be rained out. Well praise the Lord, we actually got a meeting in! Driving to the track you could see whole paddocks under a sheet of water so I really don't know how Red and the team managed to present such a good looking track on first arrival.

I caught up with a friend I used to work with years ago, Bruce, who is a big Western Springs fan which was a huge bonus for me as I have hardly visited the Springs in recent years. He had a massive amount of knowledge and was able to give me the ins-and-outs on who was who, and who was most likely to perform. In fact we had one of those awesome nights when you cover so many speedway topics that the night is just a blur and probably half the reason I enjoyed this meeting so much. The other reason was the racing and full fields in most classes, one of the few BIG meetings that hasn't been let down by poor support this season. Hell, even the productions were entertaining and they aren't exactly my favourite class but credit where credit is due.

For a full review of the Midget racing you cant get better than Percy's very extensive posting on his website HERE, so all I will add is that I felt gutted for the fulla with the flat tyre who got black flagged, felt odd watching the Wades in Midgets and not Superstocks, enjoyed the commentary and could hear it even during the racing which is a massive improvement on the problems they had on my last visit and thought its about time I paid Western Springs another visit. The Stockcars at Huntly never let you down, and with a bunch of Wellington and Rotorua cars in attendance the local bullies (most notably, 4h, 88h and 83h Steve Gray) were at their best although two of them were rolled on the night so the honours were split on who won the battle. 7w Shane Davis of Wellington was one of the major highlights dishing out a bit of biff. One final thought, why is it every time the Midgets travel away from the Springs to either WP or Huntly, they put on some incredible racing and every time I go to WS I always seem to encounter an appalling track surface and a dud night!

NZ Midget Grand Prix
Final Placings
77a Shaun Insley
9a Michael Brunt
91a Shane O'Connor
9h Angus McLeod
73k Brian Edwards

The sleeper has awoken!

2011-01-22T21:12:00.000+13:00

Superstock World 240's
Paradise Valley Raceway, Rotorua

It took until the repercharge on night two, but for me, it finally felt like the 2010/11 season had woken up and roared back to life. Welcome back and what a fantastic race! Massive hits, great side by side racing, instant retribution and a great finish. Up until this point the last few weeks have just seemed to slide by with some of the sure-fire big meetings really just a bit too flat for my liking. That repercharge was followed up by a great first heat for the 240 title and the evening just hummed along from there.

Friday's qualifying, like so many meetings lately, was fairly ordinary and the field was smaller than I had expected but quality was not missing with the current 1, 2 and 3nz in attendance. Quite a few of the usual suspects failed to qualify for various reasons which brought together that fantastic repercharge on night two with Dale Robertson and Mark Osborne grabbing the last two places. The three heat wins on Saturday night went to 7p Shane Penn, 32p Graeme Barr and 515r Stan Hickey taking out the last one in his final race - a fitting tribute. A full review is available on the Rotorua website but the end result of the nights racing left 3nz Peter Rees and 2nz Scott Joblin tied for first requiring a run-off. A rather dramatic ending to the night when a wheel sheared off the Joblin car and bounced into the crowd, halting the four lap race for some time before Rees claimed the outright title. A pretty amazing few weeks for the Palmerston North driver who has claimed the 3nz Superstock title, came 2nd at the Superstock GP, 2nz Stockcar title, 1st at the World 240s and a member of the winning Pumas team at the Stockcar Teams title with the Superstock Teams meeting still to come...

32p Graeme Barr managed 3rd place after leading on points going into the final heat, a small matter of 21 years between podiums at this event, quite an achievement too. The complete domination of Palmerston North cars left Stan Hickey as the first non-Palmy car in 6th place. Support on the night featured a teams race that finally brought the Rotorua Rascals back out of hibernation. Looking a bit rusty and in danger of a beating after the first few laps, they clawed back a valiant Gisborne side and took a decent win. Lets hope we see more of this team this season.

On a personal note, I took someone along to the meeting who hadn't been to Rotorua for about five years and was completely astounded at the changes and improvements at the track. Something I just take for granted now, it was funny seeing their reaction to how different the place looked and how impressive it now is. I will put up a separate posting mid-week with shots of the teams cars and the Rotorua Stockcars that were in attendance - an awesome display put on by this class too.

3nz Peter Rees 66pts
2nz Scott Joblin 66pts
32p Graeme Barr 62pts
7p Shane Penn 61pts
58p Peter Bengston 60pts
515r Stan Hickey 57pts
55uk Frankie Wainmarn Jnr 56pts

Meeting rating : 8/10

Stockcar Teams Update

2011-01-16T21:56:00.002+13:00

Rotorua Rascals make their first appearance of the season a winning one and the Gisborne Gladiators are now tied with Wanganui and Stratford for most appearances.

Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd

Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns

World 240's Meeting, Rotorua
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators

What do you think?

2011-01-13T21:02:00.000+13:00

Feedback I received:
An incredible report.
I have heard from dozens of people both at the title meeting and the stockcar G.P. on the following wednesday night (Nelson) that the title meeting was "absolutely awesome". I would like to take some points from your article and ask others who were there to post a comment.
1..You mention you try to put a positive spin on most reviews (TRY HARDER)
2..Sound system was poor. It must have been bought from the same shop as the lights. (SARCASM))
3..No roll overs....I presume you mean no cars rolled over? (EASTERN STATES PROBLEM OR THE DRIVERS??)
4..Not bagging the club.(REALLY??)
5..You went into the pits (EASTERN STATES HAS A STRONG POLICY THAT ONLY DRIVERS,PIT CREW AND OFFICIALS ARE PERMITTED IN THERE...WHY, WHEN THE ANNOUNCER SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING NO MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WAS ALLOWED INTO THE PITS AFTER RACING COMMENCED,DID YOU DO THAT??)
Perhaps you should stay in the North Island with your negative attitude and petty and sarcastic remarks

My response
The whole point of this website is that the opinions are MINE, about how I felt going to a meeting. Not what the masses thought, not what Anonymous from Blenheim thought. What I thought. And the original reason for the website was because I sat through too many substandard piss poor meetings and paid my hard earned money to attend with no right of reply.

If you actually READ the review and you are honest, the lighting and sound were not up to scratch were they? I mentioned that there were no cars that rolled or runoffs because they add to the excitement of a meeting and there weren't any at this meeting FACT. Were did I say it was the club or drivers fault? I didnt. I mentioned a contributing factor to the lack of action.

You make no mention of the complete lack of points or updates on qualifying night? A vital part of any national championship.

After I left the pits, I noticed the poor sound system, I had to move a few times to try and hear the commentary on the back straight by the food caravans. The lighting is not great, if you are at the far end of the track it can be hard to see the other end clearly, once it is dark FACT.

Any merit your comments carry though are lost by the fact you didn't put your name, and the pointless last comment about "stay in the North Island." If you thought the meeting was great then good for you. I too am interested to see what other people that went to this meeting REALLY thought. Feel free to leave a comment below, but avoid getting personal - its only racing after all.

Finally, to give some sort of credence to my reviews, I have been to nearly every running of the NZ Stockcar title since 2000, and even the ones before it became an official title. I think I can judge by comparison which ones have been 'absolutely awesome' and without a doubt Blenheim wasn't.

NZ Stockcar Title, Blenheim

2011-01-10T20:16:00.000+13:00

New Zealand Stockcar Championship
Eastern States Speedway, Blenheim

The last time I went to Eastern States Speedway was when Craig Boote defended his Superstock title back in the 1999/2000 season. A fairly tame affair with little or no atmosphere and if my memory serves me right, no result until well after midnight with no chance to complete a run-off for third place. Not one of their greatest moments... Fast forward to 2011 and Eastern States are the first South Island track to get the opportunity to run the biggest speedway meeting of the season. Upwards of 140 cars were rumoured to be coming but as with most titles the numbers dropped a bit to a respectable 119 cars that rumbled through the pit gates. Now this is where I usually put a run down of what happened in each of the five groups, and who qualified. I try to put a positive spin on most reviews - I'm always aware of the amount of work that people put into meetings and that a lot of speedways are club run - but honestly, this is a NATIONAL TITLE and one of the best meetings you can attend and I believe the qualifying night did not meet acceptable standards.

The on track racing was great (as it usually is with the stockcar class) but poor communication with the crowd meant we got little, or no points updates, no qualifiers at the end of the night, not even provisional qualifiers and the sound system was pretty poor. It must have been bought from the same shop as the lighting system. The actual track is in an amazing setting, its also a huge track that is wide but not too wide like Baypark. The weather was a scorcher and this was a meeting I was so looking forward to, but at the end of the night I had to go into the pits to ask drivers if they had qualified! Some of them didn't even know themselves. Unfortunately I left the place thinking the whole night had lacked atmosphere and wondering what it would have been like if it had been run at Nelson or Rotorua instead. The irony in all this is that one of the best commentators and statisticians, Barry Brown, was at the meeting but working for Speedbox.

For the record the 30 qualifiers were:
Blue Group:
41c Ben Jacobs
98r Mark Costello
581p Jordan Dare
67w Kane Hargreaves
33p Brad Powell
771e Scott Alexander

Orange Group:
211w Michael Gray
8r Scott Fredrickson
42s Shane Hurley
557p Darrel Wallace
72w Simon Hendry
18n Shane Harwood

Green Group:
1nz Peter Rees
17b Aaron Iremonger
38gm Tony Oliver
94w Kyle Lane
106v Dion Mooney
76w Shane Davis

Yellow Group:
87r Damian Orr
24c Ivan McPhail
171w Benji Sneddon
46v Allen Levien
777e Tim Alexander
134p Rob Mason

White Group:
79s Shane Hurliman
10p Josh Prentice
95a Gary Lonergan
32p George Frear
107c Colin Cameron
116h Steve Halse

Hard luck story of the night had to be 39r Doug Stanaway who was hit by 72w in the first couple of laps of heat one, then after a red light for 73d, on the restart his bonnet flew up giving him a DNF. He won both of his other heats and missed qualifying by a point or two. On finals night he won 2 of the 3 heats for the 2nd tier and came third in the final race.

Finals Night
Night two had much better commentary and results coming through, a pretty big crowd and the programme ran smoothly. The action was down on what I expected but there were still some big hits that went in, maybe Speedbox didn't catch a lot of it going by a few comments I have read but I can assure you trackside the racing was intense. A number of drivers were towed straight from the track to the pits for medical attention so maybe it doesn't translate as well to the screen as being there live? 1nz Rees had a charmed run in all three heats (again) but without a doubt his ability to read a race and the speed of that red tank are huge factors in his success. Below is from my scribbled notes of the three final heats:

Heat 1
Race four on the programme was the first heat of the BASIS NZ Stockcar championship. 116h Steve Halse and 38gm Tony Oliver were on the front row. The first incident only took until turn four when 76w Davis hit 38gm Oliver, then spun in front of the field and caused chaos, resulting in 557p Darrell Wallace perched up on the wall and bringing on the red lights. This left Tim Alexander with two flat front tyres, Steve Halse facing the wrong direction and 107c Cameron in the lead. 72w Hendry took over the lead, 8r Fredrikson spun in turn 4 and 41c had a damaged wheel guard that was rubbing and smoking badly to add to the clouds of dust coming off the track. 211w Michael Gray had an expensive spin and stall in turn 1. By mid race the running order was 72w, 771e, 171w, 18n, 10p and Kane Hargreaves 67w. 98r Mark Costello had been damaged and was slowly circulating by the wall, Rees had moved up to 7th place by this point. Spins to 46v, and then 33p managed to spin 171w Sneddon in front of 10p and 1nz Rees, costing them vital points. 95a spun on turn 2 and the final act of the race was 116h Halse spinning 771e Alexander dropping him two positions before he recovered on the last lap.
67w, 72w, 94w, 771e, 18n, 1nz, 24c, 581p, 17b, 87r

Heat 2
581p Jordan Dare and 67w Kane Hargreaves were the front row for heat two giving them both a good chance to capitalise on a good haul of points from heat 1. 87r Damian Orr was the only one to have problems from the green flag, unable to get the car moving more than a crawl and just made it on to the infield. 98r Costello hit the wall violently in turn 2 losing a side rail while 171w and 17b Iremonger tangled. By lap 4 Rees was up to 3rd place already and had the tank humming. Red light for the siderail and the leader was 18n Harwood from Dare, Rees, Hargreaves, Gray and Levien. From the restart it settled into a big flagrace until local hope 777e Alexander put in a huge hit on 171w Sneddon, bringing on the red lights and requiring the Blenheim car to be towed off to the pits. I was able to check out the standings at this point and 94w Lane had moved up to sixth place ahead of Levien and behind Gray. Already out of the race were 8r, 87r, 98r, 38gm and the injured Alexander. The race continued in pretty tame fashion and no other major incidents occurred.
18n, 1nz, 581p, 67w, 94w, 211w, 10p, 46v, 557p, 771e, 134p, 95a, 72w

Heat 3
After two heats the points were 67w on 57pts, 18n on 56pts, 1nz and 94w both on 54pts, 581p on 51pts, 771e on 48pts and 72w on 47pts. 10p and 211w rounded out the major chances on 44pts. It was going to be a classic Palmy v Welly final and who ever worked best as a team would probably take the 1nz. Right from the flagfall 76w Shane Davis had 18n Harwood in trouble, 98r Mark Costello immediately punctured which would turn out to be a huge piece of luck for Peter Rees later in the race. By lap 2 Rees had stormed to 4th position. A spin for 24c McPhail and then 8r Fredrikson spun the luckless Harwood. 557p Wallace put a huge hit on Blenheims big hope 771e bringing on the reds. On the red 94w was leading from 95a Lonergan, 1nz Rees, 10p Prentice, 67w Hargreaves, 46v, 17b, and 211w. 18n Harwood was in 22nd and by lap 6 two of the major contenders were already done with. This is the point when I really noticed the incredible work by 72w Hendry as he eliminated 134p Rob Mason and then 107c Colin Cameron. The Wellington cars seemed more interested in attacking as the Palmy ones kept running. Red lights came on for Mason with 94w still leading from Rees in second. On the restart 98r Costello had one of many attempts at getting Rees, but with the flat right rear he just didn't have the speed to catch him. 33p spun by 76w, Costello's last shot at Rees fails and Hargreaves right rear collapses with a lap or two to go dropping him down a number of places. 94w Lane had done enough to edge out Rees for the title.
94w, 1nz, 10p, 211w, 17b, 95a, 581p.

Overall top ten:
94w Lane 84
1nz Rees 83
67w Hargreaves 80
581p Dare 75
10p Prentice 72
211w Gray 71
17b Iremonger 61
95a Lonergan 56
18n Harwood 56
46v Levien 55

Overall I'm not sure what to think about this meeting. As one of the biggest drawcards of the year it never really got to any sort of heights. There was good racing but not one single rollover or runoff required. The commentary was flat and lacking info and the atmosphere you usually associate with this meeting was absent. I'm not for one second bagging the club or the people that put in heaps of effort to make it all a reality, but a premiere meeting must have set standards in future and I think part of that has to be the ability to keep the paying public updated with what is happening - at the track, on their website, and during the racing. I don't regret having travelled to this meeting but it could have been so much better. On a positive note, congratulations to Kyle Lane who earned his 1nz title with great driving (a 3rd, 5th and a 1st) and good support from his Wellington club mates. I guess it brings in to question whether smaller clubs should hold big meetings, something I have always agreed with but if they don't learn from previous mistakes or improve, then its not good for the sport as a whole. Difficult things is, giving all the big meetings to a few big clubs could do just as much damage.

Meeting rating : 6.5/10

Four nights in Paradise

2011-01-05T16:53:00.001+13:00

New Zealand Superstock Championship
Paradise Valley Speedway Rotorua

Continuing a trend that has wrecked havoc with the last two NZ titles, rain rolled in on Monday evening during the grand parade and ruined the party, meaning a 48 hour delay for the most anticipated meeting of the season. With the qualifying now held over until Wednesday, four of the original competitors pulled the plug leaving a field of 80 cars to contest the title. Any thoughts of a tame qualifying night were blown away with a pile-up on the first turn of the first heat ending the title hopes of 7b Shane Mellsop, 4b Joe Faram and very nearly 492i Campbell McManaway. In fact, the first round of heats for all four groups had plenty of action and a number of title favourites were immediately on the back foot with damage or a poor finish. Overall I felt the qualifying night was one of the best I've ever been to, and certainly the biggest qualifying night crowd too I'm guessing. A number of big names failed to make the cut and would be relying on the repecharge to get through.

Qualifiers
Red Group
89w Robertson 10r McRobbie 19c Ngatai 62h Conder 8p Miers 46n Cunningham
Green Group
48n Nicholls 7p Penn 135r Hewson 23h Ashton 32p Barr 1nz Higgins
Blue Group
31p McCabe 515r Hickey 10p Rees 73h Ross 216r Pritchard 18n Harwood
Yellow Group
14n Ewers 52p Joblin 16r Osborne 4r Westbury 5v Taylor 87r Elsworth

Rotorua 7
Palmerston North 7
Nelson 5
Huntly 3
Wanganui 1
Christchurch 1
Wellington 1
Invercargill 1

Finals Night
72p Simon Joblin and 492i Campbell McManaway grabbed the last two spots for the finals in a dramatic repecharge that saw the likes of 92r Kyle Fraser, 351a Paul Vasey and 85n Dale McKenzie so unlucky not to qualify. What followed were three fantastic 15 lap heats to find our new NZ1 after reigning champ Brendan Higgins had punctured in heat one, ending his hopes of defending the title. The history books will show the heat winners as 16r Mark Osborne, 72p Simon Joblin and 19c Malcolm Ngatai but Dale Ewers managing a 2nd, 4th and dramatic third heat 9th placing getting him home by 2 points from 72p Simon Joblin and 10p Peter Rees who required a runoff for 2nd place, won by Joblin. A full report will no doubt be available on the Rotorua website.

A few personal thoughts...
I managed to get hold of a pit pass for the first time ever and saw a large chunk of both nights racing from the pit side of the fence. Thanks to Graham Hughes for the pass, it was quite an eye opener. The amount of organisation, chaos and tension that goes on "behind the scenes" was incredible. The sight of 77p Wayne Norris's battered car being brought back to the pits after that first turn pile-up in heat one was incredible - how they managed to get that car back out for heat three was beyond me, and of course the amount of racing that the crew members miss as as they work on the cars is a pretty high price to pay especially at a meeting this good.

Also the incredible scenes as 46n Blair Cunningham's tank was towed back to the pits minus a wheel (and he was the winner!) after a great runoff with 99r Mark Decke or seeing the state of Wayne Hemi's car (and crew) when his make-or-break drive round the outside of the pack failed spectacularly in yellow groups third heat. There's not a lot you can say but you certainly get to see the extreme highs and lows. My favourite sight though is an odd one, just as heat 1 of finals night had finished and the cars are about the head back to the pits, there is this massive wave of crew, family and trackstaff sprinting from trackside to the various pit spaces they have been assigned and it is pandemonium - its also exhilarating.

A lot of work went into this meeting and even with mother nature doing her best to disrupt things, as a showpiece for the sport, you would be hard pressed to find fault. As far as worthy winners, you cant deny 14n Dale Ewers was a massively popular victor. The top of the south Nelson club sure know how to produce great winners and unlike a few years ago at Stratford when the Nelson cars in the finals failed to bring home a winner, the complete opposite was the case here as Higgins and Harwood in particular made life very difficult for anyone without an 'N' on their car. Also getting a glimpse of drivers like Blair Cunningham and Dale McKenzie who are already making their mark on the national stage, the future of Nelson Superstock racing seems assured. In fact a number of younger drivers are really exciting future prospects, 87r David Elsworth, 10b Sam Bartholomew and 88p Jack Miers to name a few.

Finally I'd just like to say thanks to my friends Carolyn and Graham who put me up for the four nights during their Christmas break, and listened to me moan when it rained, and talk endlessly about what happened at stockies for the rest of the time, cheers!

Meeting rating : 9.5/10

Quality, not quantity!

2010-12-24T11:40:00.000+13:00

For the first time in years I'm going to both the New Zealand Stockcar and Superstock titles this season. Usually its quite hard to narrow down who you are going to support but this year it should be easy with Auckland fielding only one entry in both titles! In Rotorua, it will be 351a Paul Vasey and in Blenheim it will be 95a Gary Lonergan. Both are capable of snatching a victory and are having great seasons so far, so although it will be tough... bring it home lads!

New Zealand Superstock Title Rotorua HERE
New Zealand Stockcar Title Blenheim HERE

Book Offer

2010-12-17T09:16:00.002+13:00

I just got 10 copies of my book in from the USA today, which means by buying bulk I can sell them a bit cheaper than usual and will courier them out to you from Auckland to anywhere in NZ for $90. As I said there are only 10 of them until I get another good deal from the printers next year so first in gets them! You can check out the contents HERE and I will let the preview show you the whole book rather than just 15 pages. If you want one, email me at gregobro@xtra.co.nz and I will give you my bank details to deposit the $90 also give me your address to post the book to you.

Nearly 200 pages, full colour of the 2009/10 Speedway season with contributions from Drew Hamblin, Mikey B, Gavin 'Pallmall' Evitt, Warren 'Wal86' Joines, Yaz 'NZ Stockcar Crazy' Dolbel, Hadleigh 'The Observer' Smith, Alan 'Godfather' Hoult, Steven Brown, Aaza01, Roger Morrison and all the photos and reviews from this website last season. Remember if these sell out you can always order this or the two previous season reviews from the blurb website, click on the advert top right hand side of this website.

Latest Teams Update

2010-12-13T21:14:00.004+13:00

With the Steelers not appearing at the Teams meeting in Wellington, they drop down the table to 4th place. Auckland have taken over the top of the table again with the Palmerston North Pumas moving up to second and remaining the only unbeaten team after their victory. The Wanganui Vulcans climb up to third position.

Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd

Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns