Bebo

Well it was that time of year again, time for the Superstock Teams Champs!

Friday night held some intersting team tactics, some amazing hits and some awesome racing!

Here is how Friday nights racing set up Saturday nights'.

Race 1: Waikato (40) vs Christchurch (155) Group A
1: 74c Jason Smith :2: 23h Lance Ashton :3: 73c Malcolm Ngatai :4: 71c Brad Rosewarne :5: 75c

Race 2: Wanganui (45) vs (140) Groub B
1:99r Mark Decke :2: 35r Scott Hewson :3: 17v Steve Guilford :4: 16v Kerry Podjursky :5: 92r Kyle Fraser

Race 3: Stratford (120) vs Hawkes Bay (65) Group C
1:861s Ricky Boulton :2: 33b Murray Long :3: 34b Craig Owens :4: 841s Matt Boulton :5: 35b Ian Barron

Race 4: Palmerston North (120) vs Great Britain (65) Group D
1: 7p Peter Bengston :2: 01gb Frankie Wainman Jnr :3: 04gb Mark Taylor :4: 5p Peter Rees :5: 00gb Mick Harris

Race 5: Nelson (150) vs Christchurch (45) Group A
1: 85n Dale Ewers :2: 83n Brett Nicholls :3: 72c Campbell McManaway :4: 75c :5:81n Brendon Higgins

Race 6: Dunedin/Otago (0) vs Rotorua (185) Group B
1: 19r Lance Aldridge :2: 99r Mark Decke :3: 35r Scott Hewson :4: 38r Ross Ashby

Race 7: Kihikihi (25) vs Stratford (120) Group C
1: 841s Matt Boulton :2: 861s Ricky Boulton :3: 29k Kerry Remnant :4: 8s Gary Worthington :5: 686s Chris Flett

Race 8: Manawatu (85) vs Great Britain (110) Group D
1: 01gb Frankie Wainman Jnr :2: 77p Wayne Norris :3: 57p Dave Tarrant :4: 9p Brett Hislop :5:
02gb Tom Harris

Race 9: Nelson (185) vs Waikato (10) Group A
1:85n Dale Ewers :2: 82n Jared Gray :3: 83n Brett Nicholls :4: 81n Brendon Higgins :5: 28h Warwick Ansty

Race 10: Wanganui (185) vs Dunedin/Otago (10) Group B
1:14v Darryl Taylor :2: 18v Scott Duncan :3: 17v Steve Guilford :4: 16v Kerry Podjursky :5: 95d

Race 11: Kihikihi (100) vs Hawkes Bay (85) Group C
1: 29k Kerry Remnant :2: 33b Murray Long :3: 31b Steve Jude :4: 32b Tony True

Race 12: Palmerston North (160) vs Manawatu (35) Group D
1: 5p Peter Rees :2: 7p Peter Bengston :3: 77p Wayne Norris :4: 8p Scott Miers :5: 9p Shane Penn

Overall Points for the night:
Group A
Waikato 50
Christchurch 200
Nelson 335
Group B
Wanganui 220
Rotorua 325
Dunedin 10
Group C
Stratford 290
Hawkes Bay 150
Kihikihi 125
Group D
Palmerston Nth 280
Manawatu 120
Great Britain 185

Saturday Night: Finals Night

Minor Semifinal 1: Christchurch Gleneagles (0) vs Wanganui Warriors (140)
Of all the races of the weekend, this one held the least amount of finishers. Only two cars finished, and they were from the same team. There were three rollovers during this race, 2 rollovers going to 15v Dion Mooney (one which he continued racing after, it was the second one who baked him) and one rollover going to 72c Campbell McManaway after a blocking attempt went sour.
Finishing Places: 1: 17v Steve Guilford :2: 16v Kerry Podjursky

Minor Semifinal 2: Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes (20) vs Great Britain Lions (165)
Hawkes Bay failed to deliver their usual standard on Saturday night, as a few of their cars had trouble starting, and those that did start couldn't sustain powere for the race. This left them weakened against a full strength Lions side. As a direct result, the international visitors put the Hawkes Bay boys to shame with a 1-2-3 clean sweep finish.
Finishing Places: 1: 03gb Stu Smith Jnr :2: 01gb Frankie Wainman Jnr :3: 04gb Mark Taylor

Semifinal 1: Rotorua Rebels (35) vs Nelson Tigers (160)
Dangerman 85n Dale Ewers had the sneaking suspicion that he was going to be the target for this semi and he was not wrong. The southern boys used their heads and switched to plan B, which involved 83n Brett Nicholls becoming the runner. Their efforts were rewarded, and Nicholls raced to the flag with E

Entry Made By 17p Driver Shane Simpson

Hay people
Im just back at work from 3 nights of racing and a few drama's.

1st night was good with Craig picking up a win in his 1st race which put the pressure on me as i couldnt let him get a win and me not. So i went hard and come out on top and showed my speed on the feild.

The 2nd race went good well aswell, i started mid pack and after a pile up I was inbehind 11w grey, I followed him around and picked up really good points for the final heat.

In the 3rd heat i got off to a good start and cruised around with 14m following me, I got good hit on me buy 78b? which sent me up and around the wall, as i came off I reverse spun him into the wall and I was happy that he was still parked there the next lap. I knew I just had to finish and followed peter barry around for 3 or 4 laps with 14m following me.

So after 3 hard fast heats and 1 walling I was into the top 30 for saturday night, and i was looking forward to it, It was a downer though with Craig, he would have qualified if his clutch didnt fuck out and he had no clutch all night. He only missed out by 2 points and he lost 1/2 lap on every redlight.

Heat 1 nz's
I got off to a bad start being out wide in the shit and it took me a lap to get into the inside and about 6 cars had passed me, Being down low I was much faster then most and after about 7 laps i had caught back up to 89w /2nz, we where in lapping traffic and 34r slowed a lot more then i thought and i just tagged him wich spun him in the middle of the corner, i went around him but had lost a couple of places, and just as I caught back up to them the race was over.

Heat 2
I again got off to a great start and was up into the top 5 only half a lap into the race, I was behind 11w Darren Gray and we were quickly catching the leading cars when 35a spun out and we just came together which spun me out and I got collected by a couple of people including Rees, I then went into block mode and was looking for Welly cars, I put 67w into the wall and held him there for a lap or so, after i got going again Rees and 89w Dale Robertson went passed, so I went after Dale remembering he took me out last year in Stratford.
I csught up to him and tried taking him off the end 3 times but the last 20m I was on reving her out which slowed me down just enough for me to slap him but didnt have the momentum to take him to the wall, it wasnt through lack of trying though.
He finally got away when as I went to him him I put a wheel across the pole line and pulled out of the hit as racing is done on the track and not on the grass.

Heat 3
I was starting behind Dale and was planning to take him out, but in the 1st corner myself and David Marshal 54w got tangled and I had lost my chance, it took me a while to get going again as my car just wouldnt fire into life. I got going and was cruising the poleline, I really enjoyed cruising around waiting watching the cars who didnt know who i was going to pull out on, After Rees went past I gassed it to see who was behind him but my car then died and 46v Allan Levine just managed to hit me going in full speed which spun me out and again and I was dead half on the track half on the poleline, after a lap or 2 it fired back up and just as I was rejoining the track the red lights came on.
I was once agian cruzing the pole line and got taken to the infield by 11w grey, as i rejoind the track iI saw 2 blue cars coming and took the 1st one 91w Kyle Lane to the infield where my car died again after trying to crash start it I had to luck and clutched and hit the starter, just as I was about to stop it went and I went back out on track, halfway down the straight and it fucked out agian and I tried 5 times to start it but no luck even when tried crash starting it on the tractor it wouldnt go, I get into the pits and Terry presses the go go button and it fires up straight away and looks at me like "whats the problem".
So we load it up and I was gutte

Well guys Im back with a brand new update for you, sorry about the delay in correspondence... Kinda got a bit mullocked at Wellington for New Years so my memory for the Stockcar Teams is a bit fuzzy. However, I do recall that it was a Palmerston North vs Wellington final... and Palmy were sadly not the victorious team. Well done to the Young Guns, four years running!

And so to the Manawatu Sprintcar Champs!
What a night! 18 Sprintcars fronted for the championship, and the supporting classes were Superstocks (whichever ones WEREN'T in Rotorua), Stockcars, Adult Ministocks and Sidecars.

Superstocks: A grand total of 6 Superstocks fronted, and so stockcar drivers were given the option to join in at the back of the field for a race. A few stockcar drivers did, including 51p Jamie Southee and 97p Graeme Ward. Visiting cars 96b Murray Long and 77w Jordan Keene were also among the field, with Long scraping up a win with only some competition on the track.

Stockcars: A regular number of cars appeared for this class, and racing was intense. 17p Shane Simpson and 18p Craig Healey proved to be dominant in the races, with 97p Graeme Ward sneaking around the track taking places left right and centre. 31p Gary Davis had a fair night too, but playing cat and mouse with Shane Simpson hindered his chances of clinching two wins for the night.

In the Superstock/ Stockcar all in... it proved an interesting race with the visiting superstocks taking the 1st and 2nd positions for the start of the race. Sadly for our only Welly visitor, it was not to be as he was nudged out of first by home cars but finished a respectable place nonetheless. 18p Craig Healey was the victor of the stockcar class, sharing the victory lap with Murray Long.

Adult Ministocks: This class is meant to generally be non-contact but that doesn't stop a little bit of tapping and nudging going on. 33p Justin Farrington, 9p Brett Whiting and 68p Mark Bayliss were the victorious on the night, with each driver clinching a top place.

Sprintcars: Well this was the crowd-pleasing event of the night, and the boys didn't fail to deliver. There was excitement on and off the track, with a few cars ending up parked on the infield by the end of the night. Heat one saw 21v Peter Huijs racing with his nephew, Brent Huijs in the 12v sprintcar. The night ended badly for Brent, who flew wide on turn one and came to a crashing halt midway through turn 2. The car was rather munted, and so as a result that put Brent out for the night. Another casualty was 4p Bryan Menefy, whose car was having problems throughout the night. He didn't race the first heat, but that didn't faze him as he came out for the 3rd heat. 1NZ Carl Wilson tried his hand at the championship, but sadly couldn't get his hands on the silverware as he was stuck behind 66m Skinny Colson for the duration of the feature. 10USA racer Ricky Logan and 11p racer Ian "JackJack" Easton failed to finish the night in their cars as they both learnt the art of spinning, as opposed to driving the straight line. 22v Donny Hopkinson finally made it back to the track, flashing around a lime-green car. He put it through its paces, but again couldn't capitalise as he also flew wide and lost placing. The final standings for the night were:
1st: 35a Hans Boere
2nd: 18a Greg Pickerill
3rd: 66m Graeme "Skinny" Colson
4th: 1NZ Carl Wilson
5th: 6p Nelson Hartley
6th: 57m Ricky Logan

The fastest recorded laps for the night:
Superstock: 9p Brett Hislop 18.40
Stockcar: 18p Craig Healey 19.41
Adult Ministock: 102p Dion Parkes 20.31
Sprintcar: 18a Greg Pickerill 13.66

Thats everything that happened at the Palmerston North Track for the Sprintcar Championships.

Check Back Next meeting for results of the 248 Superstock Global Challenge.

Until then, race hard, race safe.

Melza