Despite the title, most of the major meetings this weekend were down country so it would be interesting to see how much 'woop' Waikaraka had to offer. A Demo Derby, the Auckland Stockcar title and some Sidecar teams racing seemed like a fairly ordinary meeting to me, but if crowd size is anything to go by this was a major championship! Perhaps I'm out of step with what the public wants these days but I would not be surprised if the gate takings matched or bettered one of the nights of the recent NZ Stockcar meeting, the place was bursting at the seams.
I really does make you wonder, some weeks the programme of events is awesome and the place isn't even close to half full, and yet nights like last night and you can barely move... obviously the Demo Derby's have got something that still works for Joe Average, I can't explain it but I bet the WP Promotion know they are on to a good thing.
The Auckland Stockcar title drew 25 entries which was pretty good considering a few top drivers were away in Rotorua at the World Of Stocks meeting and after the first two heats, 168a Billy Neill and 741a Craig Chatfield were tied on points with a few of the other regular stars sitting pretty close behind. The third heat was fantastic and I'm sure it will be overshadowed by talk of other meetings around the country this weekend, but shouldn't go unmentioned. The Stockie boys turned it on big time and through the carnage 66a Peter Church deftly managed to take the title from 89a Tony Gavin in the ex Graham Ward machine and third to 741a Chatfield. The fact the Chatfield finished was a credit to the guy as he was most definitely the major target being set upon by all and sundry although the biggest hit of the race and indeed the night was dealt out by 117a Rose Halfpenny in a hit on 24a that Pete Rees would be proud off! It was a great end to the nights racing with the Derby to follow and hopefully some of that massive crowd appreciated what they had just seen, it was worth the price of admission alone.
The rest of the programme included Superstocks (8) with an entertaining 48k Trevor Mason who turned things up a bit in their third heat tipping 73a Bryce Marx over and denying 78a Clarkson a win metres from the flag and some good driving from the 94a (who may have been piloted by Rick Campbell) who sure had the car moving. Wins to 16a, 73a and 94a. The Sidecar challenge was again a bit one sided but entertaining with a win to Hawkes Bay 26pts over Auckland 19pts, also Ministocks, a huge field of Streetstocks and 10 Saloons rounded out the fields.
In the past WP have been guilty of missing the opportunity to entertain masses of punters at these Derby nights with substandard racing, poor organisation and almost a feeling of sitting through the boring stuff to get to the Derby, but not tonight. A well run meeting with some good crash and bash and exactly the right mix for the crowd that was in. A few more Superstocks and I think it would have been a pearler!
Meeting rating : 6/10
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