Spectator: December 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

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

Friday, December 17, 2010

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.

Monday, December 13, 2010

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

Sunday, December 12, 2010

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.

Monday, December 06, 2010

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