After what seemed like a huge break from speedway (I've been down in Coromandel, or is that up in Coromandel?) arrived back in Auckland to grey skys but luckily no rain in time for the Mad Butcher Demolition Derby night meeting at WP. Usually a bit of a slow night but beggars can't be choosers so off I went for a much needed speedway fix. A good turn out of cars in each class including 14 Superstocks! Considering these weren't on the programme originally and were replacing the MiniSprints it was a win-win in my book. The other classes included 14 Saloons which was less than I thought would be there considering their first ever national title is here next week, 20+ MiniStox, 21 Stockcars and 8 Modifieds.
A fairly large crowd were then lucky enough to witness a smooth running meeting with both Stockcar classes stealing the show. A glitch with the sound system during the first race meant no sounds but was quickly rectified and then Mike Howe with offsider John (I assume) did a great job with the commentary. The three Stockcar heats were won by 168a, 17a and 67a but it was the amount of action that surprised me, including the 56a run by Tim Clark in place of Juanita Leveridge who was on a mission to cause mayhem and a great battle in heat 2 between 919a Shane Bessant who sent 168a Billy Neill flying into the wall near the pit gate only to get the favour returned with interest a lap or two later bringing on the red lights, awesome stuff. 91a, 67a and a new car 22a who's name I missed also dishing out plenty of biff. There have been an alarming number of Auck Stockcars on the For Sale pages recently but hopefully that means there are a few new cars ready to hit the track...
In the SuperStocks visitors from HB, R, H and K made a great field and the two Kihikihi drivers took the first two heats, 5k Brad Ridland in heat one edging out the awesome looking 78a of Darryl Clarkson. Heat two was 6k of Kerry Remnant from 51a Wayne Whittaker who looked far quicker than usual in this heat but foiled by a spinning 417a of Rose Halfpenny from notching up a win. The third heat had the most action with the 38r tank of Horse dealing out some punishment to the Auckland drivers although it was great to see 61a Tim Nicholls not afraid to have a go and probably winning the battle, for now... 81b Grant Littlewood taking out the feature. Considering 6 Auckland drivers were missing tonight, a field of 14 cars was impressive and just quietly I had hoped to see the Wade tank racing as 85a but obviously the rumours will keep flying for a little while yet! The two Kihikihi cars were impressive as was Littlewoods performance in the feature but its the 61a of Nicholls who is really beginning to shine in this class.
8 Modifieds were reduced to 4 within a couple of laps of the first heat but a welcome return for 36a Phil Crumpe and a not so good return for the beautifully presented 21a of Garry Parker in a fairly quiet night for the Mods. Wins to 6a, 56a and 6a in the 1 on 1 challenge that replaced the feature race. In the saloons 46a Nigel Ross and 61a Roy Walker appear to be peaking at just the right time for next weeks NZ title. Two wins to Ross and Walker winning heat one.
Overall a way better meeting than anticipated and proves the theory that good fields of Stockcars in both classes equals happy punters! Even the Demo Derby was good which I usually avoid like the plague. Biggest cheer of the night was easily for Frank Irvine's spectacular 'drifting' in the water truck before the Derby. Only downer of the night for me was the food which is very ordinary, the hotdog I had was redlining on the stodge factor scale needing two cans of Coke to erase the greasy fat taste... yuk.
Meeting rating : 6/10
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