Spectator: World 240's

I've seen minimal Superstock action this season so a meeting in Rotorua that had the cream of NZ Superstock racers plus five overseas drivers thrown in for good measure was not to be missed and the effort to get down there was well worth it.

Friday Nights qualifying was supported with Stockcar racing, the NZ MiniSprint title and the BOP Streetstock title, a fairly packed programme and apart from some delays with the MiniSprints, ran smoothly and was entertaining. My only two small gripes were with the food stands that were a bit overwhelmed and the sound system directly opposite the control tower where the speaker faces the infield and not the crowd. That wouldn't be a major problem at most tracks but the team here at Rotorua go to great lengths to let you know what's going on so that was a pity that you couldn't hear much. As I said those were the only problems, the rest of the evening was first class.

From the practice runs for the Overseas competitors it was clear to see that Frankie Wainman Jnr was going to be a contender as always but also 391uk Andy Smith was definitely on the pace. For the record the Overseas drivers were: 55r Frankie Wainman Jnr in his self built car, 391uk Andy Smith in Clinton Thickpenny's 73r, 218uk Derek Fairhurst in the 59b Wally True car, 231uk Mark Peters in the 33r Robbie Mabey car and 138uk Dave Willis in the 138r Russell Hunter car.

The qualifying races for the Kiwi drivers fairly much ran to plan, 5v Darryl Taylor looked awesome, also 53p Keven Roberts had his tank flying. A few of the South Island drivers and 515r Stan Hickey would have to hope for more luck in the repercharge Saturday night for their chance to qualify.

A full report of the racing is on the Rotorua site so check it out, I'll only mention a few thoughts about the title which was one of the best in ages, everything you hope for in a big SuperStock meeting but somehow never quite get. Heats one and two were great and were your usual mix of flag racing but as always with the tight Rotorua track there was plenty of contact but nothing compared to heat three which was the best single race I've seen in years. It turned into an enormous teams race from the very first corner and continued on for the entire race which included two red lights for rollovers of 74r Mohi and 16a Headington (although I did think the delay for Headington was way too long) and for quite a while I thought 55r Wainman was going to take the title as the Huntly and Palmerston drivers waged war on each other. Both sides had tanks that were doing the business (85h and 8p) they alone were worth the price of admission, and although Wainman had been hampered plenty, it was bad luck that seemed to get him in the end when 62r Stanaway lunged at race leader 58p Bengston and blocked Wainman at the same time, then a hit from 7r Wright finished Wainmans run and although he was battered still managed to cross the line for third overall.

3nz Shane Penn was the outright winner from 14n Dale Ewers who seemed to avoid alot of the carnage that was happening all round him, in fact he was almost invisible for most of the weekend and probably profited from the Palmy v Rotorua v Huntly v UK battle! When the dust settled after the race everyone around us was hyped and knew they'd just seen an awesome SuperStock race and and a spectacular finish to a memorable World 240's meeting.

I also want to mention 99r Shannon Orr in the teams race between the Rotorua Rascals and the Bay Park Invitation team which he stepped in to fill a gap for the Bay team. What a performance, one of the drives of the weekend and now surely a future Rotorua team member! The Stockcar class had some great performers out there this weekend particularly 33r Jason Gray in the ugly and noisy old black tank and I was keeping an eye out for contenders for the upcoming NZ Title in Auckland and you can add 16r, 16m, 58m and 68r to a growing list of hot favourites...

Once again another satisfying visit to Paradise Valley and a meeting that reminds you why we love SuperStock racing.