Waikaraka Park
Fortunately, after four attempts, I got to see a full meeting without any rain! Although the weather in the week leading up to the event no doubt had some effect on the track surface that gave many of the drivers a rough night and meant that some of the non-contact classes had the biggest hits and most action of the night. The 'support classes' were the ones that had the big numbers, Saloons 20 cars, MiniStox 20 cars and Stockcars 19. What let the show down a bit was the glamour classes unable to reach double figures with only 6 SuperSaloons, 7 Modifieds and 9 SuperStocks. Five Sidecars also turned up for a single race and a tribute to Liz Foote a competitor who had sadly passed away earlier in the week.
Good Stuff
The stand out class for me tonight was the Saloons. This used to be a class that bored me to tears (or eggburgers to be more honest) but with a big field and a number of drivers who are really stepping up and giving us great racing they are no longer a fill-in class on my programme. There were a few hairy moments for a couple of drivers and a night to forget for 63a Nigel Mouat and 48a Phil Towgood. Also a bizarre incident in the second heat when it appeared that the leading two cars had slowed for an orange light causing mayhem behind them as the lights were on green. Still very entertaining. Wins to 74a, 10h and 9a.
Stuffing
The Stockcars seemed a bit flat to me and once again had lost a lot of cars by the time the third heat rolled around but still entertaining and a couple of huge hits going in as always. Wins to 81a, 272a and 168a. The track for their first heat was a major factor in the lower amount of cars that came out later with cars heading in all directions and a huge number of them on the infield at some stage of the race.
The SuperStocks were boosted by visitors from Huntly and ran well but need more cars on the track. The 85h tank looked silky smooth and dished out a bit of punishment to 53a Marx. Can't wait to see him back in a big field next week for the Ollie Brown series and if the commentary is to be believed there will be 30 cars... 23h Lance Ashton took two wins in his immaculate looking car and 73a took out the first heat.
Odd Stuff
The Modifieds and SuperSaloons had low numbers but still showed promise and for something a bit different even raced together near the end of the night which I've never seen before. The second heat for SuperSaloons was also a bit unusual after being abandoned after 3 of the 6 cars had either plowed into the wall or each other before a lap had even been completed. Jamie Fox seemed to be having a few problems compared to his almost robotic perfection but had it all together by the last race to take out the feature. Wins to 86a, 6a and 3nz. The two SuperSaloon races won by 99a and 96a. I think the Mods beat the Saloons in the 'all-in' which ended abruptly when one of the saloons hit the wall.
The fireworks were great as usual and no doubt the reason the crowd was larger than normal. Some Fireworks nights in the past have had dire support racing and left the crowd bored and in no hurry to return but this meeting was pretty good. I would probably have rated it 6/10 but an extra point just for having sunshine.
Meeting rating : 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment