Smashfest!

Well finally I think you could say without any argument WP pulled off a winner last night with the running of the NZ Stockcar finals. It had everything including a fairytale win for a lone Wanganui finalist, a well run meeting and action aplenty in almost every race with run-offs needed for both finals and points updates for Africa!

The RamIt Grand Slam for the cars just outside the top 30 certainly provided the most action and going into the final heat 46w Alan Levien was the points leader. He was rolled early on by 174r Mike Hohneck along with 32p George Frear who was rolled by a menacing 84b Mike McLachlan and as each lap passed one by one the top five cars seemed to be picked off leaving a three way tie for first between 74b Tony Palmer, 14a CJ Chestnutt and 42r Ivan King. King took the runoff in a perfectly executed hit on Palmer on the last corner which Chestnutt couldn't quite capitalise on settling for the 2nd position. An outstanding display by every driver in this group considering their hopes had already finished the night before.

The NZ title was also action from start to finish and Peter Rees title hopes were gone almost immediately with yet another puncture which was great news for us meaning he would now go into stirring mode and that he did. 2nz Gaskin took the first heat and stand out performances from some of the lone entries meant that a possible outsider might go unnoticed through all the mayhem of P v W v R v A.

Heat 1
1st 2nz Richard Gaskin
2nd 31p Gary Davis
3rd 161r Clive Pritchard
4th 98v Gerry Linklater
5th 44c Peter Ross

Heat two was even better with Rees focussing on Auckland cars but playing more of a blocker role than the executioner we hear so much about. If I remember rightly it was in this heat that 98v got tangled up in traffic and without a push start and helping hand from Rees could have been an easy target. With Church and Wearing both out Aucklands hopes lay with 168a Billy Neill who moved up into the top 6 with his finish and making himself a real chance. Tied on top points though were Linklater and 31p Gary Davis who would now face a fierce Rotorua challenge with Pritchard, Axtens and Spanhake all in the top five.

Heat 2
1st 98v Gerry Linklater
2nd 31p Gary Davis
3rd 168 Billy Neill
4th 114r Steve Axtens
5th 68r Keith Spanhake

The anticipation for the final was amazing and it delivered big time. The Auckland challenge was faltering with 66a, 81a and 64a all unable to start the final race. Total carnage ensued and through the latter parts of the race 98v Linklater basically sat in between 68r Spanhake and 114r Axtens as chaos reigned around them. Rees spun 168a Neill and his chance was gone. The small Wellington contingent ended with 2nz dnf and a massive hit on 211w Gray leaving him sitting on top of the wall for a few laps (hope someone got a photo of that), 83w Robertson's poor finish in heat 1 cost him dearly as he managed to survive this heat and score good points. Meanwhile 44c Peter Ross finally became a target and although hampered often, still managed to finish. 31p Davis retired to the infield and so then it looked like a Rotorua 1-2-3 if someone could get to 98v but he managed to bring it home for a most unlikely win. 1nz from Wanganui!

Final Placings
98v Gerry Linklater 83pts
68r Keith Spanhake 81pts
114r Steve Axtens 80pts
161r Clive Pritchard 80pts
44c Peter Ross 63pts
711m Graham McRobbie 61pts

Summary

How consistent is Steve Axtens! Three times picking up the 3nz, in fact the talent coming out of Rotorua is awesome with R cars picking up 2nd, 3rd and 4th placings, so close to a clean sweep. 96a Jamie Fergusson taking on the mighty 1nz Rees was great to see in the third heat. Gerry Linklater 98v a very late entry in a car that may have already sold, he qualified as the only V car and somehow managed to win! 44c Peter Ross is another who made a lasting impression as the only South Island entrant and right in the hunt to the bitter end, how different could it have been with a bit of mainland support. A few cars that came so close to qualifying but went out in spectacular style 116m O'Reilly and 59w Marshall. Also one for the conspiracy theorists was the non-qualification of 191w Kyle Lane who failed to cross the start finish line twice in his heats on the Friday night. Whether or not it happened you do wonder what impact one more car of this class in the finals might have meant for the Wellington challenge and it would have come at the expense of either 96a or 711m from the same group as eventual winner 98v... a NZ title always has to have a little drama but this will be a hard meeting to top this season in my humble opinion.

I loved the 20 lap races for the finals, there is absolutely nowhere to hide during a race of this length and that extra five laps just added to the overall excitement. Also having 30 cars in the final was a winner. The commentary team gave out points updates and results all night befitting a championship in one of their better performances in recent years. There was no doubt who was coming where in any of the finals races and it was much appreciated by this spectator. The meeting ran smoothly and overall the whole weekend was an excellent showcase for the Stockcar class. As always these guys know what a Stockcar is for and deliver time after time. If you didn't enjoy this meeting I think you need to check for a pulse!

Meeting rating 9.5/10