...and we're back!

WP Opening Meeting
October 26th, 2013

I haven't been so excited about a new season in a long time. To say I've had a rough year is putting it mildly, but I guess it's all relative, there are plenty of people doing it tough out there. So the simple pleasure of turning up to speedway, meeting up with good mates and enjoying a few hours of entertainment in the brilliant sunshine that blessed Auckland yesterday put all those trials of the past few months on the back burner, and its part of the reason this sport of ours continues to thrive I guess. Its just great to be a part of it all. Anyway, unlike many opening night meetings which can be a bit thin on the ground in the competitor count, WP had a pretty full pit area and lots of new machinery and drivers raring to go. Since I'm in a good mood, I'm going to gloss over the opening race which was 4 Minisprints that dropped to 3 Minisprints mid race, and perhaps point out that this isn't the way to start your brand new season! So let's imagine it didn't happen, and that the Stockcars were first out, 27 of them which must be some sort of record for opening night.

Gary Lonergan in the beautifully presented 95a did what he does so often and took out the first race of the season after 741a Craig Chatfield and 15a Mike Harris eliminated each other early in the race while leading. 14r Matt Nilsson started to stir things up but was rear ended by 27a Trent English after putting the 28a car into the wall, bringing on the reds and ending his race. Not to worry the 14r tank was back out for heat 2 and ran riot putting 69a Dave Seymour up the turn 4 wall, putting a huge hit on 441h Andy Weir before 169h Phil Mortenson (one of the standouts of the night) ended Nilsson's run with a shunt into the wall on the pit end of the track. 29a Scott Tennant held out Lonergan for the win. The feature was the race of the night with 2 rollovers,  7a Laurie Maber and 94a Brendon Ashton the unlucky drivers one courtesy of 169h and I didn't see the instigator of the Ashton roll. 29a Tennant looked good for a win until a front right tyre popped and that man Lonergan just holding out 741a Chatfield for the win. Only sour note of the night was the decision to put 23a Tony Baldwin on to the infield after putting the 25a Jason Rowe car up the wall in turns 3 & 4. Apparently this is a new rule that when the reds are activated both cars are removed. Hopefully common sense will prevail, the crowd reaction was unanimous with plenty of booing!

Superstocks numbered 9 and featured a few of the Baypark boys. Karl Ross in the 73m made his intentions very clear during the first heat while battling with 351a Paul Vasey and 5a Brad Ridland for the lead deciding to put Ridland into the wall and finish the Aucklander's night right there and then. Heat two it was Vasey pushing Ross out of the way on lap two and running away with the win from 99m Mark Decke and Ross recovering for third. The feature and Ross sat on the brakes to hold up Vasey on the start line and club mate Ross Ashby in the immaculate 38m tank powered away for the win again followed home by Decke and rookie 4a Sean McKenzie in third. 65r Mark Flower and Paul Vasey had a good race long tussle and it was great to see a fairly evenly matched field not afraid to mix things up a bit. Best of all for local fans was the sight of 7a Jamie Fergusson stepping up from the Stockcar class and the prospect that perhaps we will be seeing more of him in the Allstars lineup?

Saloons (9) mixed in with Supersaloons (4), Ministocks (24) and Modifieds (7) made up the balance of the programme, and the standout for me was the 9a Modified of Bryce McCall. What a great addition to the class this guy will be if that showing was anything to go by. The night was rounded out with a brief fireworks display. With Streetstocks and Six Shooters yet to have a run, the question has to be asked whether one of these classes or the Minisprints, have done their dash at WP? I think if you can't guarantee a good field you miss out. Streetstocks and Minisprints have failed to bring numbers to the track for some time, and Six Shooters are the new game in town - its going to be a tough call but it should be made at some stage. The food caravans took a pounding every time the Minisprints came onto the track so maybe its not all bad!

Like father, like son

Auckland Stockcar Title, January 21
Waikaraka Park, Auckland






Stone the flamin' crows as Alf would say, not only did the Auckland Stockcar drivers work together to get one of their own home for the local stockcar title, they annihilated all the visitors and made it a 1-2-3 Auckland podium! Im lovin' it. It could have something to do with the fierce warning I saw Marissa Gough shouting out in the pits before the meeting "if any Auckland car takes out another Auckland car they are gonna get the bash from me!" A field of 37 cars turned up to contest the Auckland Stockcar title, including a decent amount of Huntly cars and four Rotorua drivers. Split into two groups, the top 10 from each group would go through and then a repercharge for the remaining cars to get the final 10 for a 30 car field, then 3 x heats to find the champion.

Group 1, heat 1
91a Paul Chatfield was spun in front of the whole field and had a massive effort to claw his way back to 5th place to qualify. Biggest disappointment was 14r Matt Nilsson who was actually leading for a couple of laps (flag racer) being spun late in the race and slipping to 11th place. 2nz Bernie Fox managed to finish 4th even with a puncture. Biggest casualties, 15a Carl Campbell and 81r Damian Orr dnf. 69h Callum Whiter took an impressive win from grid 15.
Top 10 qualifiers : 69h, 12a, 57a, 2nz, 91a, 7a, 34h, 8a, 85a, 137a

Group 2, heat 1
Defending champ 88h Justin Hutchby was in this group but a race long battle with 51a Mark McNabb meant neither would get through. Hutch almost had McNabb over on his side on lap 1 and a flat right front tyre ended his chances. 8r Scott Fredrickson took the lead early and was a convincing winner. 55h Neville Hazeltons hit on the 981r tank of Steve Gray cost him his place finishing 11th. 61a Leroy Neill took two huge hits, one from Hazelton and one from 59a Mason who was letting nothing get in his way.
Top 10 qualifiers : 8r, 95a, 59a, 29a, 5h, 981r, 78h, 67a, 10a, 22a

Repercharge
Last chance to dance and there were a few cars you wouldn't expect in this race. From the green flag 42h Lance Gribble was on the brakes holding up the inside row and when both 51a McNabb and 88h Hutchby were leading with neither wanting to go ahead of the other, the race turned into slow motion! 13h Jamie Symon was spun in front of the pack and then it was a mad scramble for those remaining spots to qualify. Both Hutchby and 81r Orr made slow progress but did enough to get through, 15a Campbell and 51a McNabb both dnf. 14r Matt Nilssons night ended here in a huge cloud of smoke. Eleven cars qualified from the repercharge for a 31 car field.
Top 11 qualifiers : 55h, 69a, 11h, 65a, 88h, 81r, 77a, 38a, 51h, 28a, 13h

Finals Heat 1
It only took until turn 3 of lap 1 before the first pile up and rollover. 10a Chanelle Gordon spun in front of a group of cars including 28a, 11h, 5h and 13h with 38a Ryan Smith left with nowhere to go except over onto his side. 95a Gary Lonergan was just able to sneak round the outside. Both 38a Ryan and 5h Stenson removed to the infield. On the red light 59a Trevor Mason had taken the lead and would eventually take the chequered flag. 88h Hutchby would retire soon after spinning 95a Lonergan who was able to hook reverse and take Hutch to the wall, they had been running in 2nd and 3rd place. 8r Scott Fredrickson was taken to the infield losing valuable places, while 69h Callum White would smash into a spinning 28h. 67a Krizo was slowed by a puncture but biggest stirrer of this heat was 85a Shannon Savage, spinning 34h Anton Leek and landing a huge hit on 51h Alistair Van Amsterdam. Biggest movers were 81r Damian Orr from grid 24 and 12a Mike Stanaway from grid 30 up to 4th.
Top 10 : 59a, 81r, 29a, 12a, 77a, 95a, 137a, 55h, 2nz, 8a

Finals Heat 2
This heat had plenty of action with Anton Leek and 22a Leigh Cossey having a great race long battle. 29a Scott Tennant had the early lead until 8r Fredrikson took over but a spinning 67a couldnt be avoided, then a massive hit from 85a Savage sent Fredrikson into the wall taking a while to refire the car. 69a Dave Seymore's promising start ended in turn 2, stuck in the wall for a number of laps before rejoining the race. 88h Hutchy served 137a Jamie Fergusson into the wall in turn 1 almost tipping him over before once again retiring. Tennant held on for the win from 81r Orr, Lonergan, Mason and Fox.
Top 10 : 29a, 81r, 59a, 95a, 2nz, 57a, 65a, 91a, 12a, 69h

Finals Heat 3
Going into the final heat there was a three way tie for first between 81r Orr, 29a Tennant and 59a Mason with 95a Lonergan 6pts adrift in 4th. There were about 5 empty spaces on the starting grid. 12a Mike Stanaway sitting 6th on points was on pole postion with Lonergan handily placed on grid 4 while Tennant was starting well back on grid 26, Orr (13) Fox (18) and Mason on grid 24. On the green 85a Shannon Savage, easily the best stirrer of the night put 34h Leek up the wall, 95a Lonergan had smoke emitting from the engine bay and when 8a Laurie Maber went hard backwards into turn 4 bringing on the red lights, the 95a was also pushed from the track, not sure what the story was but a certain podium positon was gone, one contender down. On the restart 81r and 8r lead 12a Stanaway and 65a Adam Mills. Next it was Scott Tennants turn to be attacked and first it was 69h Whiter taking him to the grass, only for 8r Fredrikson then to have a go. It was good to see Tennant one of the few drivers who would turn back on to the grass and re-enter back where he was taken off unlike many others who took the fastest way back to the track. 81r Orr had driven a blinder up to this stage and pushed both 137a Fergusson and then 85a Savage out of the way but next lap (or should I say Nek Minnit) Fergusson got him good and while Orr reversed to get out of the way 12a Stanaway ploughed into him. 59a Mason had a flat right front wheel but was still able to circulate gaining points. 2nz Bernie Fox took over the lead and held it to the finish. Time though for one more big hit and Mason managed to roll 34h Leek on the back straight just for good measure. The Auckland stockies had managed to eliminate every visiting car except Scott Fredrickson, awesome stuff.
Top 10 : 2nz, 65a, 12a, 77a, 29a, 59a, 85a, 8r, 137a, no other finishers.

On paper this meeting looked okay, the quality of the show was definitely going to be how good the Stockcars performed and boy did they perform. Scott Tennant had an outstanding night and proved he's not only fast around the WP track in the Marx chassis but also he can now take the hits and work his way out of trouble. If he's anything like his Dad we are in for a long and successful career and its great to see it really blooming in this, his second season of racing. The new Auckland champion and finalist at the NZ Stockcar title, a pretty good month for Team Tennant! Trevor Mason taking second in the very fast 59a and Bernie Fox rounding out the top three, another driver having a golden run at the moment.

Meeting rating : 7/10
Programme : $2, good quality
Driver of the night : 29a Scott Tennant
Parking : Free
Meetings Best Moment : 85a Shannon Savage, the terminator absolutely took to the visiting cars helping give the locals their best result in ages.