Superstock World 240's

World 240's, January 25 + 26
Paradise Valley Raceway, Rotorua

Shane Penn's incredible season continued as he added the World 240 title to his list of impressive results. While the other two podium winners from Nelson had a quick initiation into what carrying a 1, 2 or 3nz can entail, Penn was all class grabbing yet another title for the Palmerston North club as they continue there complete domination of Superstock racing this year. Qualifying night was better than your average with quite a bit of contact and plenty of turn one push and shove that Rotorua's circuit is famous for. Split into three groups, a number of potential winners failed to qualify resulting in a top class repercharge to start night two.

Red group was dominated by19c Malcolm Ngatai with top points ahead of other qualifiers 48n Nicholls, 591p Hemi, 23r Ashton, 32p Barr and 10p Rees. 27b Shane Warner unlucky not to qualify, spun in heat 3 by 25r Scott McEwen dropping him five places and Rees benefitting and taking his place in the finals. Green group had a similar finish with 8p Scott Miers making sure of his finals berth by beating 99s Callan Hose in heat 3 to grab the last qualifying spot. 52p Scott Joblin looked all class topping the group ahead of Penn, 18n Harwood, 282s Ogle, surprise qualifier 46b Quinn Ryan and Miers. 87r David Elsworth effectively eliminated himself with a late challenge on Penn in heat 2 resulting in a flat tyre and despite a win in heat 3 failed to make the cut. Blue group featured two Rotorua and four Palmy qualifiers, 135r Scott Hewson impressive in winning the group ahead of 79p Humphrey, 72p Joblin, 88p Miers, 38r Ashby and 58p Bengston. 39s Michel Willemsen was the hard luck story of this group, his night started well but turned to custard with each subsequent heat. A massive battle between 4p Chad Ace and 98b one of the highlights of the night.

Repercharge
A 12 lap race to find one more finalist, 112p Shaun Pearson took the lead from grid one and held it for the whole race while chaos erupted behind him. Despite attempts from 21r Nick Beazley and 151r Mike Raynel, Pearson drove a controlled race and never looked like failing to secure the last spot up for grabs. 126p Asher Rees and 14n Dale Ewers were the next best chances but Rees was spun by Raynel while Ewers never got close enough to Pearson to have a go.

Finals Heat 1
With 10p Rees off pole it was always going to be a case of who dares wins if you wanted to take the race win off him. A huge turn two crush caught 79p Kerry Humphrey, 8p Miers, 135r Hewson and 58p Bengston while a damaged 515gb Wainman cruised to a halt in turn 4 bringing on the red lights. By lap 2 Rees was leading 48n Nicholls from Ogle and Penn. Most of the British challenge of 5 cars were also on the infield including 97gb Murray Harrison and 1gb Lee Fairhurst. 79p Humphrey retired mid race while a spin for 46b Ryan in turn 1 ended his hopes of a good finish. From this point on everyone pretty much settled and it became a flag race between 282s Phil Ogle and 10p Rees. Ogle managing a great passing move on the last lap to pip Rees winning from a grid 13 start. The only Brit to shine was 197gb Ryan Harrison coming home 5th and looking the goods. Both Miers cars sustained a lot of damage. Reigning champ Andy McCabe came home in a creditable 10th.
Top 10: 282s, 10p, 72p, 1nz, 197gb, 48n, 58p, 118r, 52p, 31p

Finals Heat 2
8p Miers the only car not to show for heat two. This heat would be local driver 118r Bryce Steiner's chance to shine taking a convincing start to finish victory from grid 1. Once again though, turn 1 would claim a few cars, 23r Ashton being spun and 31p McCabe unfortunate enough to spin in front of the whole pack from his grid 3 start, his title reign pretty much over at this point. A red light stoppage had Steiner leading 212gb Daniel Wainman, 18n Harwood and 591p Hemi. 79p Humphrey retired and 19c Ngatai managed to muscle two brits aside (1gb and 212gb) with one great passing move. 135r Hewson was spun in turn 2 stuck facing the wrong way while heat 1 winner Rees retired with a flat right rear. 38r Ashby and 197uk Harrison didn't do themselves any favours with a coming together in turn 2 leaving them both stuck backwards for 2 laps. 48n Nicholls was slowly lapping with damage while 72p retired with a flat. 197uk held up Hemi for a lap before the Waka pushed him aside only for Harrison to repay the favour punting 591p into the wall just before the finish line, Hemi crossing the line backwards only to be king hit by McCabe.
Top 10: 118r, 18n, 1nz, 52p, 88p, 19c, 591p, 58p, 23r, 112p

Finals Heat 3
Going into heat three, Shane Penn had a narrow 2 point lead over Steiner, with Scott Joblin a further 4 points back and then Harwood, Ogle and Bengston all on 39pts. Ogle had a grid 2 start while Penn was on grid 8. Both Harrison cars and Hemi failed to front for heat 3, which was a pity as Hemi was handily placed on 35pts despite his awkward finish in heat 2. 52p Scott Joblin looked to have retired quickly on lap 1 but did make a re-entry into the race while 72p Simon Joblin held up 118r Steiner on the start line and then took to him on the first corner. 88p Miers race was over by lap two with the front wheel coming loose while 48n Nicholls dealt out some punishment to 1gb Fairhurst in turn 4. On the red light to remove Fairhurst, 46b lead from 32p Barr, 282s Ogle, 18n Harwood and 23r Ashton. Penn was in 9th. Miers was next to have a go at Steiner who seemed to be a lone soldier waving the Rotorua flag before a massive hit from 79p Humphrey straight into the turn one wall ended his race and brought the red lights on to remove Steiner. As this stage the commentary team (who also had an excellent weekend!) informed us that Penn was a single point ahead of Ogle and one more point back to Harwood with 5 laps to go. 135r retired to the infield and then 8p Miers decided to take a swipe at Ogle on the last lap. An impressive cut inside to avoid Miers clinched Ogle's runner up spot ahead of Harwood who was held up by Miers and caught up with Ashton before crossing the line for a third place ovearll finish. 32p Graeme Barr taking the race win but Penn had pretty much sailed through avoiding trouble and finishing with a decent 6 point margin over Ogle.

Long time coming

Superstock World 240's
Paradise Valley Raceway, Rotorua








In recent times the domination of Palmerston North cars at major titles, heck any title, has made them rather unpopular to say the least. First there was the "Smash the P" campaign and now the "Plastic P" reference to describe imported drivers who register to the Palmy track. So it comes as no surprise that at this title, those familiar 'P' cars were once again at the pointy end of the field going into the final race. What was a refreshing change though was that one of the real journeymen of the Superstock class, 31p Andy McCabe picked up that elusive BIG title, 240 World Champion, sounds grand doesn't it, and I don't think a single person at the stadium would have denied him a title that has been a long time coming.

Friday nights qualifying had been cut short with you guessed it, rain, a meeting I couldn't make it to, so Saturday nights programme included an entree sized starter beginning at 5.30pm to finish the last two group heats and a stockcar race - a great bonus for the big crowd who turned up. As 7pm rolled around, the finals night proper began with the always spectacular repercharge to find the last qualifiers for the 26 car World 240 championship. 89w Dale Robertson looked the likely winner but a flat tyre ended his hopes gifting the lead to local 10r Alan McRobbie, 72p Simon Joblin grabbed the second spot while the real battle was for the last spot between 48n Brett Nicholls, 87n Thomas Stanaway and 38r Scott Redfern. A last corner lunge by the two Nelson drivers ended up costing them both as Redfern darted through.

Heat 1
As expected the turn one push claimed yet more victims and 4b Joe Faram must wonder what he has to do to get safety round this track on the first lap! The chaos was caused by 4p Chad Ace spinning 2nz Scott Joblin in front of the whole pack. The result left defending champ 3nz Peter Rees, 88p Jack Miers, 97r Pat Westbury, 4b Faram and 2nz Scott Joblin either on the infield or right at the back of the field. Then began a massive flag race from the rest of the field turning the track surface black after only a few laps. 2nz Joblin had a flat left front but was still managing good speed, 515gb Frankie Wainman Jnr punctured mid race dropping well back. 8uk Mick Harris in the Rees Superstock tank was spun in turn 1 and was stranded for a few laps. 32p Graeme Barr was making a charge for the front and pushed both 8p Scott Miers and 2nz Joblin out of his way in his drive to win, the 2nz left facing the wall in turn 1. 19c Malcolm Ngatai whose good fortune to make the finals came at the cost of 135r Scott Hewson who had withdrawn with a damaged car, looked out of sorts in this race perhaps getting the setup wrong. Big chunks of track from turns 3 + 4 were flying up into the crowd and it was going to be a battle all night to keep on top of the track conditions. 7p Shane Penn made huge moves up to 5th place ahead of 31p Andy McCabe. 38r Scott Redfern was left stuck in the wall on turn 1 unable to refire the tank. There were a few poleline indescretions and post race 18n Shane Harwood was dropped two places for passing 58p Peter Bengston on the grass. Six of the top seven drivers were from Palmerston North, only 282s Phil Ogle managing to get a look in.
Top 10: 32p, 282s, 72p, 4p, 7p, 31p, 58p, 1gb, 18n, 87r

Heat 2
Rees was on pole for this one but after a dnf in heat one, would he run or play? 87r David Elsworth spun 4p Chad Ace and 282s Phil Ogle was an early casualty. This heat again was a big flag race with the field separating in to two distinct groups at either end of the track for a number of laps. Whatever was wrong with the 19c Ngatai car in heat one, was fixed for this one as he diced with Rees for the lead eventually winning the race after Rees ran foul of the refs and was relegated one spot for a pass on Ngatai. A mid race red light for the muffler off 515gb saw 7p Penn retire to the infield along with 1nz Ewers and 10r McRobbie. After an early hit into the wall, 32p Graeme Barr moved from grid 24 up to a finish of 11th.
Top 10: 19c, 3nz, 18n, 31p, 58p, 87r, 1gb, 4b, 72p, 16r

Heat 3:
Going in to the final heat 31p Andy McCabe was leading on 44pts ahead of four cars on 42pts, Peter Bengsten, Simon Joblin, Shane Harwood and Graeme Barr. Barr had the best starting position on grid 6 while most of the major players were in a tight group mid pack. It took until lap 1, turn 2 for things to turn ugly with 16r Mark Osborne taking a wild ride on top of 32p Graeme Barr's bonnet. Barr's throttle stuck open and he ended up backwards into the wall on turn 3, adding to his impressive resumé of spectacular heat three demises! On the red light, 18n Harwood retired along with 16r Osborne. 10r Alan McRobbie was the chief stirrer having pot shots at most Palmy players but with both 87r Elsworth and 31p McCabe battling side by side McRobbie was unable to get McCabe. Elsworth managed to pass McRobbie and put some distance between himself and McCabe but with the 10r eventually being despatched bringing on the red lights, Elsworth would not get the necessary points to beat the Palmy battler. A late semi-spin attempt on the 31p by Joe Faram would cost McCabe a spot but finishing third the title was his. Only 14 cars crossed the finish line.
Top 10: 87, 4b, 31p, 97r, 38r, 58p, 282s, 8p, 1gb, 8uk

31p Andy McCabe 68pts
87r David Elsworth 64pts
58p Peter Bengston 63pts
1gb Paul Harrison 57pts
72p Simon Joblin 56pts
4b Joe Faram 55pts

So then, two weeks out from the NZ Superstock title in Huntly and a number of drivers will be fairly pleased with their progress, 32p Graeme Barr, 19c Malcolm Ngatai and 58p Peter Bengston to name a few, but one or two will have concerns. Reigning national champ Dale Ewers had a night to forget, with a 15th and two dnfs, hopefully this was just an off night. 89w Dale Robertson, 37r Ken Hunter and 7p Shane Penn also must have wondered what they had to do to get a break. Well done once again to the Rotorua Club for what was a superb "effortless" show, in reality a lot of work must go into it of course. The bobcat driver in turns three and four deserves a medal for the work he did all night on the track surface! The support racing was first class, saloons were hotdog time for me though. For the record, winner of the Superstocks in Paradise was 118r Bryce Steiner, gaining his automatic entry into next seasons 240's final.

Meeting rating : 8/10
Programme : $10 collectable, excellent
Driver of the night : 32p Graeme Barr
Parking : Free
Meetings Best Moment : 31p McCabe winning and his speech at the finish of the race with Barry Brown, "Awesome, Bloody Awesome!"