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Auckland Saloon & Sidecar Champs
Waikaraka Park

Usually this meeting is abandoned rather than taking on the 'Christmas in the Park' celebrations, not this year though. The pits were full of cars including a few new ones but as expected the crowd was on the lighter side. Was a pity too as WP started the meeting with a hiss and a roar, Superstocks, Stockcars and then Modifieds as the first three races was pretty impressive with big fields for all. The meeting raced along at a good pace and I thought this is such a pity that more people aren't witnessing a decent meeting at WP. In fact there wasn't a single disappointing class, big numbers and great racing in the featured two classes (Saloons and Sidecars) with the eventual winners being 48a Phil Towgood and the 49p Sidecar from Palmerston North.

The only downer of the whole night unfortunately was the 'Girl Power' stockcar racing as some sort of tie-in to a TV show, it took up alot of time and was boring to say the least. It happened right after the completion of the first round of racing and after the girls had their painfully slow race the track was watered (too heavily) which caused the cancellation of the Ministock race just as they were about to line up only to be sent back to the pits. The saloons were then brought out to circulate then have their second heat. Suddenly 30 odd minutes have passed with no racing and a meeting that was humming went pear shaped. Thankfully things were brought back on track (excuse the pun) and the night finished well. Good signs though as far as competitor numbers go and any club running Superstocks, Stockcars, Modifieds, and Saloons on the same night are on to a winner in my opinion, basic speedway done well, just leave the TV stuff for another night...

Meeting rating : 6.5/10