Quality, not quantity!

For the first time in years I'm going to both the New Zealand Stockcar and Superstock titles this season. Usually its quite hard to narrow down who you are going to support but this year it should be easy with Auckland fielding only one entry in both titles! In Rotorua, it will be 351a Paul Vasey and in Blenheim it will be 95a Gary Lonergan. Both are capable of snatching a victory and are having great seasons so far, so although it will be tough... bring it home lads!





New Zealand Superstock Title Rotorua HERE
New Zealand Stockcar Title Blenheim HERE

Book Offer

I just got 10 copies of my book in from the USA today, which means by buying bulk I can sell them a bit cheaper than usual and will courier them out to you from Auckland to anywhere in NZ for $90. As I said there are only 10 of them until I get another good deal from the printers next year so first in gets them! You can check out the contents HERE and I will let the preview show you the whole book rather than just 15 pages. If you want one, email me at gregobro@xtra.co.nz and I will give you my bank details to deposit the $90 also give me your address to post the book to you.

Nearly 200 pages, full colour of the 2009/10 Speedway season with contributions from Drew Hamblin, Mikey B, Gavin 'Pallmall' Evitt, Warren 'Wal86' Joines, Yaz 'NZ Stockcar Crazy' Dolbel, Hadleigh 'The Observer' Smith, Alan 'Godfather' Hoult, Steven Brown, Aaza01, Roger Morrison and all the photos and reviews from this website last season. Remember if these sell out you can always order this or the two previous season reviews from the blurb website, click on the advert top right hand side of this website.

Latest Teams Update

With the Steelers not appearing at the Teams meeting in Wellington, they drop down the table to 4th place. Auckland have taken over the top of the table again with the Palmerston North Pumas moving up to second and remaining the only unbeaten team after their victory. The Wanganui Vulcans climb up to third position.



Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd


Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns

A damp night in Vegas

House of Travel Stockcars & Superstocks
Paradise Valley, Rotorua

A spur of the moment decision on Saturday morning to go down to Rotorua looked like a bad one with the weather looking more cloudy the further south I went, but fortunately the meeting was run and although drizzle did its best to make it uncomfortable, big fields of Stockcars (30) and Superstocks (25) made the trip worthwhile. This meeting was round two of the House of Travel series and had attracted a few out-of-town cars in the Supers but from memory I think only two Huntly cars in the stocks. Although Rotorua has some of the largest fields in those two classes, with Baypark and Huntly both running, the support programme of Streetstocks, Productions and Saloons was mighty thin on the ground and decidedly average. Add into that two fields of Ministocks and there was room for improvement.

The good news is that as a taster of the NZ Superstock title in a fortnight, the thought of up to 100 of these beasts flying round the tight Paradise Valley circuit really got the blood pumping. 48n Brett Nicholls made the long trek up from Nelson and I'm guessing he was well pleased with his performance, taking out the first heat and looking extremely strong in heats 2 & 3. 351a Paul Vasey took heat two and 135r Scott Hewson winning from a depleted field in the final heat. The driver though that really impressed me was 87r David Elsworth. I haven't seen him before and he was carving through the pack like a seasoned pro, a real prospect for the big title if this performance was any indication of his ability. It would seem the Rotorua club have a number of contenders and if they work together it will be very hard for any outsider to leave with the title.

That is of course if they work together, which leads me to the Stockcars. Heat one for them was fairly tame I thought except for lap one, when Huntly visitor 83h Tony Whyte was prepared to have a go right from the green flag, sadly, the only other car that seemed out to cause trouble, 99r Shannon Orr was his first target and his race ended there. Heat two though and Whyte basically was free to attack anyone he liked with little or no retribution. 48r Ivan King was responsible for the only rollover of the night on 24r Shane Newland and remember that there were extra points available for rolling other cars. Fortunately the locals woke up in heat three and the action was far better. 48r King gave the tank a good beating and the Orr-Stanaway battle was great. Rotorua really have the makings of a great team here, lets hope the Rascals re-appear in the near future. Perhaps the reason why the action was down on what I expected and the Rascals team being in hibernation is that there are so many unbelievably cool looking cars at this track that they dont want to scratch them!

Finally, I had the chance to talk to Wayne and Mike Francis about the 21r Superstock and whether it will be out for the big title. It's looking shakey at this stage, so here's hoping with a bit of luck the boys get the green machine together and are able to compete. The track is looking amazing and going by some of the comments Paul Hickey made about the programme, merchandise and planned events its going to be an unmissable title.

Meeting rating : 6/10

Visit the webpage for the New Zealand Superstock title HERE for everything you will need to know.

North Island Super Saloon Title, Waikaraka Park

It was a toss up whether to go to Huntly for the Superstocks and a huge field of Stockcars or WP for this meeting, in the end the time factor came in to play and off to Waikaraka Park I went. Little did I know that there was probably going to be more action, rollovers and big hits than any normal Superstock meeting would produce. Three heats and a twenty lap final for the title was a bit ambitious I thought, and after heat one I guessed we were going to be in for a long night but considering the many stoppages and red lights, the meeting didn't run much past 10.30pm. Wins in the three heats to 6m Garry Edwards, 24m Ben Harding and the very impressive 17 year old 46m Matt Smith. There were a couple of rollovers, 99a Macca and 55a Geoff Gentry and quite a bit of argy bargy but one of the main problems occurred whenever the back markers came into play. Also the moment anyone strayed onto the infield a huge cloud of dust would cover the track and I believe this caused one of the rollovers as drivers hesitated leading into turn one.

The twenty lap final had 24m Ben Harding off pole and he never looked like relinquishing the lead at any stage, a completely dominant performance leaving a class field in his wake. Even with a yellow light at the half way stage, he just repeated the dose and cleared out for an emphatic victory. Of the original 18 starters, I think only 9 managed to finish this bruising affair. As far as entertainment goes, the Supersaloons can always be relied upon for a great nights entertainment. Its just a pity we don't see this class and this calibre of field more often at WP. The other podium positions went to 2nz Shane McIntyre, and lone HB entry 46b Graham Strong who was one of the few drivers to avoid most of the carnage throughout the night.

Stockcars managed a healthy field in the mid twenties with another three new cars hitting the track including Ken Tyson in the 7a machine. Going by the numbers that have turned up so far this season, the Auckland title in two weeks should be a ripper. I was also impressed with ex Stocky driver 66a Peter Church in the Saloons, from rear grid starting positions he was picking his way nicely through the field with really great clean driving. I think it wont be long before he is challenging the established stars in this class, this "young" driver is one to watch!

Meeting rating : 7.5/10

Special offer!

I just got 10 copies of my book in from the USA today, which means by buying bulk I can sell them a bit cheaper than usual and will courier them out to you from Auckland to anywhere in NZ for $90. As I said there are only 10 of them until I get another good deal from the printers next year so first in gets them! You can check out the contents HERE and I will let the preview show you the whole book rather than just 15 pages. If you want one, email me at gregobro@xtra.co.nz and I will give you my bank details to deposit the $90 also give me your address to post the book to you.

Nearly 200 pages, full colour of the 2009/10 Speedway season with contributions from Drew Hamblin, Mikey B, Gavin 'Pallmall' Evitt, Warren 'Wal86' Joines, Yaz 'NZ Stockcar Crazy' Dolbel, Hadleigh 'The Observer' Smith, Alan 'Godfather' Hoult, Steven Brown, Aaza01, Roger Morrison and all the photos and reviews from this website last season. Remember if these sell out you can always order this or the two previous season reviews from the blurb website, click on the advert top right hand side of this website.

Pike River Story, 3 News

Sickie may have saved young Pike River miner's life - Story - National - 3 News




Click HERE for the video.

Update: teams points

Manawatu Steelers move to the top of the table while the Pumas and Young Guns finally kicked off their teams racing seasons. The Palmerston North team are now the only unbeaten side and are looking ominous. Stratford are the biggest movers up the table by the mere fact they have had the most teams races, seven so far. Here is the updated table:



Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd


gregobro@xtra.co.nz

TWS Huntly Stockcar Teams Night 2

I had planned to go to Waikaraka Park for the Modified racing on Saturday but with WP pulling the pin early, I headed down to Huntly for night two of the Stockcar teams action. Again the weather had looked threatening but fortunately Huntly avoided the hassle of a rainout and what followed was an awesome night of Stockcar teams action. I enjoyed the Golden Oldies but was not so keen on the 'legends' driving the Superstocks, seeing a decent field of Superstocks is pretty rare these days so lets have them raced by their current drivers. That said, Evan Mooney and Nellie Irvine would not have looked out of place in a normal race, both absolutely flying.

Auckland Alleycats vs Stratford Stormers
First up was the unlucky but unbeaten Aucklanders against a bruised looking Stormers team. Lonergan was spun early on and so Bernie Fox took over the running duties in the very fast 242a machine but the highlight of this race was the excellent blocking skills of 333a Fergusson, an absolute masterclass in how to stymie the opposition. Stratford lacked any firepower and with 12s retiring early the win was Aucklands and a place in the runoff for 5th and 6th.

Waikato Raiders vs Huntly Hawks
The two local teams were left to fight for 5th place at best, but you would have thought it was a final with all the action. Crowd favourite had to be 16h Ben Patrick who was given a massive ride up the wall but survived and managed to hold up race leader 94h Alderton. Steering problems ended his one man show and Alderton was untroubled to take the win from start to finish. Waikato through for a re-match with Auckland.

Meeanee Maulers vs Wanganui Vulcans
First of the two semi finals and a massive blow before the green flag for the Vulcans with 89v Allan Levien unable to make the Start. 83b Powell did the running duties for HB while the entire Wanganui side decided to run also. 96v had an opportunity to stop Powell but was unable to finish him off and although some big hits went in, this was a much stronger look Maulers side than what we saw on Friday and they became the first finalists.

Manawatu Steelers vs Gisborne Gladiators
510p, 65g and 97p took off from the flag and were flying for the first lap until coming up behind two slow moving back markers. Unfortunately for Gisborne 65g Jason Jones managed to be clipped by one of his own team members and sent flying into the turn one wall in a cloud of smoke and then fire which brought on the red lights. Gisbornes chances were basically gone as the race continued on with no G runner and when 62g retired it left 4 Steelers on to 2 Gladiators. 3 Steelers then took on running duties and 510p Knight blocked elimating another car leaving a valiant 64g Barron as the only Gisborne finisher. Strong win for a team that had cruised its way into the final.

The final round of racing for overall positions had Stratford defeating the Huntly Hawks for 7th and 8th, Auckland and Waikato facing off again for 5th and 6th with a great win to 95h Caldwell from 383a and 98h. Gisborne and Wanganui contesting the minor final for 3rd which looked as though Wanganui were cruising to a fairly easy win when 63g Bruce Harding took out 89v Levien the race leader, suddenly Ian Barron inherited the lead with only 3 tyres on the last lap! Great show by both these teams and a huge 'come-from-behind' win to Gisborne, one of the crowd favourites.

Final
Manawatu Steelers vs Meeanee Maulers
This race was a rematch of the very first race on Friday night but that was the only similarity. The Maulers were much more on their game tonight but from the flag fall were facing an uphill battle against a team that had been almost untroubled in all their previous races. 75p Gavin Taniwha lead from start to finish with 97p Ward as his wingman and with only a couple of hiccups along the way, 34p taking out teammate 510p and 86b finishing off Ward in the later stages Taniwha managed to avoid most contact and took a deserved win for the Steelers who were clearly the best team all weekend.

1 Manawatu Steelers
2 Meeanee Maulers
3 Gisborne Gladiators
4 Wanganui Vulcans
5 Waikato Raiders
6 Auckland Alleycats
7 Stratford Stormers
8 Huntly Hawks

Meeting rating : 8/10