Waikato Superstocks

After a few weeks of rainouts for most of the North Island it was great to see a meeting go ahead as planned. This meant a bonus for the spectators with the Waikato Superstock title sharing the billing with the Midget 40 Lap Spectacular. 25 Superstocks made the grid for heat 1 of 3 in a night of slick racing, fast turnaround of programmed events and good fields in all classes on show.

Heat 1
Inside the first lap the beautifully presented 89r of Dale Robertson was sent into the wall in a tangle with 24h Warren Burkhart which would eventually bring on the red lights to remove the 24h. The infield was littered dnf's fairly early on: 5k Ridland, 9b Groome and 35h Fraser. 73h Karl Ross lead from 31p Andy McCabe for most of the race but it was a late charging 515r Stan Hickey who would take the lead and the points with a great three way battle for the heat 1 victory. Of note was the hard charging 62h Dayne Conder in the ex Redfern machine showing some good pace for a 6th place finish.

515r, 31p, 73h, 85h, 282s, 62h, 414a, 19r, 23h, 28h

Heat 2
A few cars were missing from the start for heat two. 15h Karl Pegg lead for the first few laps until 35h Dion Fraser took the lead which he would keep for the remainder for an impressive win. 15h Pegg lost a few places after a battle between 22r Steiner and 414h Ansty resulting in them spinning in front of the leading bunch. Heat 1 winner Hickey lost valuable places after being taken to the wall by 62h. Lance Ashton took second from the Wade tank who was looking very menacing for a podium finish.

35h, 23h, 85h, 15h, 91b, 19r, 62h, 282s, 31p, 515r

Heat 3
Going into heat three the points leader was Jared Wade on 45pts, 23h Lala Ashton on 41pts, 31p Andy McCabe and 515r Hickey on 41pts, and 62h Conder and the hardly seen at all 282s Ogle on 39pts. As expected the action really picked up for the final heat and the locals (particularly 414h) made sure Hickey would not be taking the title back to Rotorua. 91b SJ Cavell pulled off before the flag fell and it wasn't long before he was joined on the infield by a few local cars. 23h Lance Ashton lead from 282s Ogle meanwhile 515r survived attacks from 35h and 31p was hampered by 007h Wallbank who brought on the red lights. At this stage 85h was mid pack, 515r and 31p well down the field with Ashton leading Ogle, Remnant and Robertson. On the restart it didn't take long for 414h Ansty to remove 89r and then a final attack on Hickey before Ashton came home for the heat win. Overall points left 85h Jared Wade the victor from 23h Lance Ashton and 282s Phil Ogle taking 3rd place honours.

It was great to get some decent Superstock racing with a big field and a bit of biff and bash. Enough to make me decide to go to Kihikihi on Sunday for the BIG turnout for their King Country meeting.

Meeting rating : 7/10