December 29/30, Waikaraka Park
I had a premonition that there would be major damage and much sharing of fibreglass, hence the heading above but in the end it was a lot cleaner racing once the first heats for each group were out of the way. I had spent two days in Rotorua waiting for the rain to clear for the North Island Modified title before giving up and heading back to Auckland, so being in the pits pre-meeting in full sunshine was a great feeling. In fact the buzz in the pits was great and lets hope the beginning of a decent run of weather perhaps.
Group 1 Qualifying:
Three heats for each group with the top six qualifying for the finals. Race one had a complete restart after 78h Dave Fisher was out of place on the green flag and then much jockeying for position before a lap four incident where 69k Mike Wilson lost control on the front straight, spinning and then spearing into 75m Michelle Wymer sending her into the wall bringing on the yellows. Everybody pretty much hunkered down for the rest of the race, 16s Thomas Korff taking the heat win. Wymer was a no show for the second heat but the race was a huge highlights reel for 43h Aaron Tonks who despite being miles ahead of the pack was giving it death! 1nz Jeff Barron spent the whole race drifting backwards and out of contention. With about 2 laps to go 69k Wilson had his steering collapse just before turn one and hit the wall with 272m Chris Cowling lucky to avoid joining him. Tonks easily took the win ahead of 78h Fisher and 49h Abrahamson. Heat three and all eyes once again on Aaron Tonks who from a rear grid start spent the entire race on the outside line passing cars at will. Awesome to watch. 11a Lynn Yates holding him off long enough for Cowling to take the win. 1nz Barron, 75m Wymer and 24w Gary Marshall surprise non-qualifiers.
272m Chris Cowling 34pts
43h Aaron Tonks 32pts
16s Thomas Korff 28pts
49h Bodie Abrahamson 27pts
96s Nigel Perrett 24pts
11a Lynn Yates 24pts
Group 2 Qualifying:
Similar to Group 1, an incident or two in the opening laps where 46a Nigel Ross was slow to take off on the green flag and 51m Tony Heuvel rear ended him, 74a Scott Lansdowne also involved. 51m looked to be heading to the infield when the damaged spoiler fell off and then joined the complete restart field. Upon the restart, something went majorly wrong with title favourite 2nz Brent McClymont and the entire field had to avoid the grid 2 starter. Unfortunately for 77k Rossco Cresswell, a spin by 79m Mike Griffiths also involving 18m Chris Taylor damaged the 77k car, Cresswell having to retire. The rest of the heat was pretty straight forward except for a costly spin for 74a Lansdowne but 274m Dan Corrin made mincemeat of the field taking an easy win ahead of 46a Ross, 6a Torrey and 66a Church. Heat two had a great battle between 51m Heuvel and 74a Lansdowne with the Bay Park driver taking a well earned win. 25h Rhys Clements had some steering issues and cost 79m Griffiths a number of spots in a turn 2 incident. McClymont scored good points finishing 4th. Heat three was going to be interesting with McClymont needing a big finish from a rear grid start and some contact with 6a Doug Torrey early on didn't help but he would make a number of late passes finishing 6th but falling short of qualifying. 18m Chris Taylor taking a win ahead of 79m Griffiths and with 66a Peter Church finishing 4th all three would require a runoff for the last qualifying position, 79m Griffiths taking the win.
46a Nigel Ross 31pts
11m Kevin Moore 28pts
274m Dan Corrin 28pts
51m Tony Heuvel 26pts
74a Scott Lansdowne 25pts
79m Mike Griffiths 23pts
Group 3 Qualifying:
This group only had 12 cars but seemed to have the most action. 48a Phil Towgood has had an interesting past couple of meetings here at WP and it continued with the whole rear shell of his car coming off after hitting the turn 4 wall while taking the high line in heat 1. Yellows were brought on to remove the body panel but he was able to continue finishing 7th. 51s Russell Gorrie also had dramas hitting the 77g car on turn 2 early in the race but both finishing although well down the pack. 271m Steve Cowling continuing a great night for the ITM cars with a win. Heat two was devoid of dramas and featured a great battle between 21h Williams and 8s Craig Korff with the Stratford driver taking the honours. Heat three had a coming together for 51s and 3nz Paul Cressy, both continued, Cressy would end up finishing 4th not gathering enough points to qualify. 48a Towgood lead from start to finish collecting valuable points and qualification. Williams another strong showing and a 2nd place ahead of 77g Cook. Notable non-qualifiers were 3nz Cressy, 29b Steve Martin and 75a Craig Duthie.
21h Steve Williams 32pts
14m Brett Kaye 30pts
271m Steve Cowling 30pts
48a Phil Towgood 29pts
8s Craig Korff 28pts
77g Daniel Cook 26pts
Two more spots are up for grabs tonight with a last chance heat which usually means carnage! The support programme for last night included Mini Stocks and Stockcars with a few visitors from Huntly in the mix, the stockies put on a great display. 99a Brian Campbell's performance in the feature was a stunner. Emerging from the pits without a wing usually only means one thing and he was out to stir it up big time. He had a go at most cars and finished off a great night of viewing. Lets hope tonight isn't rained out and we can crown a new North Island Saloon champion. If last night was anything to go by, Tonks, Williams and the Cowling cars should figure in the podium positions.
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