Spectator: Qualifying Night 1

NZ Stockcar Title, Dec 27 + 28
Paradise Valley Raceway, Rotorua

Night 1, Qualifying
What do you do with 167 Stockcars, some decent weather and New Zealand's best Stockcar track? Well, you put on a stunning meeting that propels one of our greatest drivers to the level of legend, that's what you do. Entries from as far afield as Christchurch and Invercargill were in town for the 12th official running of the NZ Stockcar title, unfortunately a few dramas at scrutineering meant a small number of cars were excluded from the meeting, one of them having hauled all the way from Christchurch. It left us with seven groups of around 24 cars each and no need for any support programme, Stockcars all night!

The qualifying racing was a lot more brutal than last years effort at Blenheim and on the tight Rotorua track there was nowhere to hide. The main stirrers of the night were all locals and deserve a special mention, they appear to be a dying breed at some tracks. 981r Steve Gray, 747r Ivan Lammas, 48r Ivan King and 45r Nick Vallance. From memory we got one rollover, 15a Carl Campbell and 32p George Frear was tipped on his side but there was plenty of action and as usual some incredible hard luck stories. 11w Michael Gray, 95a Gary Lonergan, 1nz Kyle Lane, 81r Damian Orr, 126p Asher Rees and 99c Dennis Andreassend are the main ones that come to mind with the first two Gray and Lonergan less than half a lap from qualifying in their final heats. Gray spectacularly halted by Lammas and a fuel problem for Lonergan leaving him stranded on the back straight. 1nz Lane was a target all night and came close to qualifying which once again in my mind re-ignites the argument about the reigning 1nz being seeded into the final. 81r Orr made an unnecessary hit in his final heat that punctured his tyre and saw him slip out of contention. 126p Rees is just at the beginning of what no doubt will be an impressive career, he had speed and skills, only luck was missing on the night. 99c Andreassend had all the speed and aggression but continually found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time or making wrong choices when perhaps he should have just collected points. There were plenty more hard luck tales but those were the ones that stood out to me.

Peter Rees spot in the finals was anything but assured after a puncture in heat two cost him valuable points, he was placed eighth in his group after two heats (top four qualify) but in his usual style he bullied his way through the traffic in heat three for an emphatic victory. A few problems with points meant a runoff would be required for the last of the 28 spots in the final between 124s Andrew Dodunski and 23m Karl Daniel on night two (Daniel won), also an engine issue would exclude 39r Douglas Stanaway promoting 74p Chevron Taniwha instead. Palmerston North cars as expected dominated qualifying with 9 getting through compared to the locals, Rotorua next best with 6 cars. There was a great mix of talented veterans, former champions, expected finalists, up and coming young guns and a few suprises.

Qualifiers:
2nz Peter Rees
6w Paul Gaskin
29a Scott Tennant
12w Simon Hendry
13r Grendon Beazley
17p Shane Simpson
18p Craig Healey
23m Karl Daniel
24m Ian Daniel
24w Scott McIntosh
29p Stewart Rackham
47c Chris Hall
52b Regan O’Brien
69s Tony Zehnder
72r Michael Rumney
73p Mitchell Hill
74p Chevron Taniwha
81h Rod Smythe
88h Justin Hutchby
89v Blair Lockett
93r Brent Stewart
97p Graeme Ward
98r Mark Costello
98p Brian Taniwha
122r Allan Corcoran
242a Bernie Fox
581p Jordan Dare
741a Craig Chatfield