Auckland Teams Night 2

This meeting started much the same as the night before (although we did manage to get through the National Anthem!) with Stockcar 17a of Murray Kitt being fed up the wall and into the fence before rolling back down on to his roof. There was a long delay to fix the fence before the dose was repeated for 9k Richard Pearce who was fed into the fence on the backstraight and left hanging off the wall. This repair would take longer and so the race was declared after about 2 laps. It was a good sign for the rest of the night and the meeting lived up to expectation with some big hits and great teams racing.

The support classes for Saturday night included 23 Stockcars, 12 Modifieds contesting the Auckland Modified championship and a decent field of 13 SuperSaloons. The crowd was huge and space was at a premium, so it was important for the club to put on a good show and I think they did. First a quick look at the teams races and results:

Race for 7th & 8th Place
Auckland Allstars v Rotorua Rebels

7a Wayne Whittaker missing and 138r Barry Hunter jnr sits this one out. Right from the first corner Auckland take control with a well timed hit by 5a Ansty on 22r Stove, damaging his steering and effectively ending his race but this was soon evened up by the retirement of 4a Vazey on the second lap. Runners for this race were 52r Herbert and both 6a Headington and 8a Marx. Auckland have the upper hand until a red light for 5a losing his bonnet while hindering the 52r. Also 551r is removed on the next red light for a damaged wheelguard and the rest of the race is fairly plain sailing for 6a and 8a. Auckland win, 6a, 8a, 52r, 44r

Race for 5th & 6th
Waikato Wanderers v Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes

8h Roigard and 35b Foley are the reserves for this one. This was a great action packed race and my notes are incredibly hard to read but here goes... Wade takes out 32b Mason on first corner, 96h Redfern badly damaged also. 23h Ashton takes up the running as does 31b Jude for Hawkes Bay. 34b O'Dwyer is on the infield, while blocking for 31b Murray Long is rolled by 114h Steiner. This leaves two Hawkeyes up against the four Waikato cars but never say die from 31b Jude who almost lifts the Tank up and over on the start finish line, Mason finally stops leaving a solid victory for Waikato. Waikato win, 23h, 31b, 85h, 114h, 96h

Race for 3rd & 4th
Stratford Scrappers v Kihikihi Kings

Only four available cars for both teams with 28k Mytton and 686s Coxhead missing. An enormous hit by 29k Remnant in turn two on 82s Johnson brings on the red lights and ambulance and basically ended Stratford's chances. Remnant took up the running and even with the loss of 24k Taylor who's car caught fire bringing on the red lights again, Stratford had nothing left. 818s Chris Flett did the running for the Scrappers, 841s Bolton retired and left 29k and 27k Ridland free to run and a bit of an anti-climax. Kihikihi win and take third place, 29k, 27k, 818s

Final, Race for 1st & 2nd
Nelson Tigers v Palmerston North Panthers

Reserves for this race were 6p Hemi and 82n. A first corner hit on 83n Bolton had Nelson on the back foot immediately and when he retired about a lap later the writing was on the wall (or the trophy in this case) you cant beat the Panthers with three cars. 9p Penn and 85n Ewers were the runners, 86n had first hard shot at 5p Rees which stopped him for an instant but at the same time 8p Miers dealt the killer blow to 85n Ewers and the victory was as good as won. With Ewers damaged no one took up the running for Nelson and then it was 8p + 9p reeling off the laps while Nelsons challenge faltered. A galant effort by 85n who along with 86n were the only finishers for Nelson. Panthers just too good in a clinical but entertaining final, Champions for the third year running. Palmerston North win, 8p, 9p, 86n

All In Final Race

Once again this was one of the better races of the whole weekend and it was great to see it back on the programme. Only 16 cars fronted and it turned into a big northern tracks, A, H versus P, with N and B hoping to pick up the spoils which were $2000 for the win and $500 for a roll over. Hemi was the early target leaving 85h Wade running as the leader for some time until picked off by the Panthers blockers. This then handed the lead to 6a Aaron Headington who with excellent teamwork by 5a Ansty and specially 8a Marx lead right up until the 3rd corner of the last lap when a rampaging 6p Hemi who had been slowly gaining on 6a lunged and pushed him wide enough to sneak under and take the win. Gutwrenching stuff for the Allstars who had worked so well for 99% of the race but the cherry on top of a most successful weekend for the Palmerston North Panthers.

Summary

19r Scott Lane took out the Auckland Modified championship with a convincing performance, 11a Fox and 6a Jesen filling the other podium positions. SuperSaloons had wins to 68s, 96a and 38h Hemi taking the feature race. The SuperStock consolation races were won by 1nz Kyle Fraser. The Stockcars were action packed as usual and a couple of new cars in the pits including the new Chestnutt chassis of 51a Steve Murphy and the immaculate 27a of Jackie Phipps. Wins went to 29a and 168a and Rose Halfpenny picked up the $500 for rolling 272a McConchie.

Because of the last meetings rain out, this had been my first taste of speedway since the Teams Meeting at Palmerston North, so it was a much needed fix for a speedway junkie like me. I could pick holes in the meeting for various reasons but I came away from WP feeling good about what I'd seen whether you agree with the format or not. There is a good explanation on Macgors by Graeme Howe revealing why the club have chosen that format and it would be interesting to hear from any of the drivers in the two finalist teams to see if they agree. One thing I agree with is that in recent years there haven't been enough cars for the 'all in final' race, which is always the highlight of the meeting but this time 16 were able to front for a great spectacle to end the night. It also gave the reserves a chance to race. Its been a difficult few weeks for WP but the lead up to this meeting and the feeling at the track for the weekend seemed positive, lets hope this meeting just gets bigger and better as its the best meeting they put on each season.

Meeting rating : 8.5/10