Make or break

Superstock Teams Nationals
Waikaraka Park, Auckland






Last season this meeting got the chop leaving Palmerston North with the only viable Superstock teams meeting, a sad indictment on the class. This year, the new promotion team at Auckland's Waikaraka Park decided to give the Teams Nats a lease of life, and over the last few weeks it has been a massive effort by those involved, to not only stage the meeting but getting enough teams to front and make some money. Then came news of the price increase and all sorts of negative feedback about unrealistic charges and threats of no shows from spectators. The good news is the meeting did in fact proceed with six decent teams and most importantly the reigning champs fielding a full strength Panthers team giving the meeting some credibility.

So how was it? Personally I thought it was as good as any recent teams meeting at WP, had some great action, a very strong support programme and although Friday nights crowd was light, the Saturday crowd was large and the atmosphere pretty good. The big question will be whether costs were covered, if the price increase was a good move and more importantly, if it is possible to get at least 8 teams back for next season, if WP do in fact run the meeting again. I hope they do, it has a great history and who in their right mind would turn up the opportunity to see Superstock teams racing in Auckland for $15 more than a club night? How much would you spend in gas to travel to some other track to see a similar meeting - quite absurd the fuss that was generated over the increase in entry.

Friday Night
Palmerston North Panthers v Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
When your team can leave someone like Peter Bengsten on the infield as reserve it really does make the opposition wonder what they have to do to beat this squad! 6p Wayne Hemi took 31p Murray Long straight into the wall from the green flag, Shane Penn and Peter Rees did the running for Palmy and 33b Foley for HB. Apart from a big shot by 32b Palamountain on 8p Scott Joblin, it was a fairly easy win for the Panthers. Panthers 165 v Hawkeyes 30

Rotorua Rebels v Waikato Wanderers
Rotorua won the toss and after a false start 95r Scott Hewson took up the running duties for the Rebels. This race would be noted for the incident involving Ross Ashby and Tony Wootten resulting in Wootten rolling over on the infield. 97h was out and on the red light Rotorua were holding positions 1, 2 and 3 with the tank still able to continue in the blocking role. As many cars would over the weekend, 95h Ansty went over the bonnet of the tank and rolled to a halt on the infield. By the end of the race only 96h Headington was still mobile for the Wanderers and Rotorua took a convincing win. Rebels 185 v Wanderers 10

Auckland Allstars v Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
The long awaited return for Allstars fans took a bit hit with 9a Daryl Hammond being tipped over just feet from the start line by Murray Long and Mike MacLaughlin. 8a Bryce Marx took the lead early on, great blocking from 7a Ricky Mitchell kept the Allstars in with a show until 34b spun Marx and 35b Steve Jude took over the lead and held it. A good even race but a vital win for HB.

Kihikihi Kings v Waikato Wanderers
Wootten sat this one out along with 29k. 93h Karl Ross took the lead early, Ansty held 25k in the wall. 94h Remnant took 27k Ridland up the wall leaving him perched there but damaged his own front end. On the restart after the red, 95h Ansty dealt a massive hit to Ian Barron. This left 3 Waikato cars against 2 Kings. Ansty and Remnant finished off 25k Guilford and only 28k Mytton was left running. Win to 93h Ross.

Auckland Allstars v Palmerston North Panthers
Talk about daunting! 5a Vasey was out with damage from their first race and Joblin sat out for the Panthers. Penn immediately tried to take 4a Phil Marx up the wall but he was able to ride it out. Hemi and Bryce Marx both ground to a halt early. Rees put a big hit in on 7a Mitchell but the veteran withstood it and at one point had 3 Panther cars attempting to take him out. It was an awesome sight to see Mitchell's blocking skills back on show. A couple of red light incidents saw the removal of both 8a and 7a for infringements and ended any hopes the Aucks had although a great drive from Phil Marx got him home in second behind Penn and ahead of the only two other finishers, Bengston and Rees.

Rotorua Rebels v Kihikihi Kings
This would turn out to be the race of the night with the biggest crash too. From my scribbled notes I had 27k puts 98r up wall, Decke leading but has problem and slows, 29k goes up and over the bonnet of Ashby's tank and 95h Ansty puts him up the wall. Decke retires and 28k Mytton is leading but makes the fatal mistake of running around the tank on the front straight. The tank clips him and Steiny finishes him off send him flying into the wall and up into the fencing in a spectacular crash. On the red light, there was still 7 laps to go and with 25k Guilford still leading it was looking like an upset was on the cards. 97r Ashby managed to spin Guilford and 95r Hewson took over the lead and held out for the win. Guilford coming home in second from 27k. A great race to end the night and a taste of things to come on finals night.

Support racing for Friday night included the Stocky boys who really turned on some great action. Race one and the sight of 65a Adam Mills sitting on top of the wall between turns 3 & 4 was the standout moment. I missed the incident but I believe Grant Littlewood was the culprit. I spent most of the race watching 137a Jamie Fergusson making life difficult for visitor 162p Adam Joblin and anyone else he felt like attacking, great skills. 22 starters and only 10 finishing summed this race up, a great start to the night. 95a, 741a, 21a, 168a

Heat two featured a great duel between 95a Gary Lonergan and 59a Grant Littlewood that had quite a few lead changes and also 162p Joblin got a fairly clear run in this race managing to pip Lonergan for second place once Grunter had cleared out for the win. Again a lot of action featured in this heat setting up a good third heat. With 59a winning, the points after two heats were: 95a Lonergan on 48pts and starting on grid 16, 741a Craig Chatfield on 46pts but way back on grid 21, 162p Adam Joblin, 29a Scott Tennant, 91a Paul Chatfield and 57a Ryan Eustace all on 39pts off grids 9, 19, 1 and 17.

Heat 3 suffered a few casualties with most of the front few rows empty. Visitor Joblins run ended early with tyre problems and 95a Lonergan was able to take advantage and win the race and title. Craig Chatfield took second and second overall and 29a Tennant continued his great debut season with a third in heat three managing third overall. 95a, 741a, 29a, 9a, 45a, 13a, 168a, 77a. Overall points 95a 73pts, 741a 70pts and 29a 62pts.

A great first night, the two obvious contenders being Rotorua and Palmerston North. The four teams that got through to the semis on points being Hawkes Bay, Rotorua, Palmerston North and Waikato. Auckland and Kihikihi would fight it out for 5th and 6th.

Night two review coming...

Teams Update IX

The Palmerston North Pumas continue to keep their unbeaten record and stretch their lead with Auckland faultering at the Peter Barry Memorial teams meeting at Meeanee. Weather stopped the final rounds being completed but the Meeanee Maulers, Palmy Pumas, North Island Select and Waikato Raiders made the semi finals and have a chance to add to their points for the season.



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

World 240's Meeting, Rotorua
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators

At Gisborne Speedway
Foreign Legion def Gisborne Gladiators

South Island Teams, Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Reece's Rebels
Southern Sharks def Eastern States Titans
Eastern States Titans def Reece's Rebels
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

At Stratford, 12-02-11
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers

At Wanganui, 13-02-11
Palmerston North Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans

Peter Barry Teams, Meeanee Speedway
Meeanee Maulers 165 def Stratford Stormers 20
Waikato Raiders 155 def Gisborne Gladiators 35
Te Marua Terminators 155 def Auckland Alleycats 30
Palmerston North Pumas def Kihikihi Crusaders
North Island Select 140 vs Orange Roughies 20
Meeanee Maulers 170 def Kihikihi Crusaders 15
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Waikato Raiders def Orange Roughies
North Island Select def Te Marua Terminators
Stratford Stormers def Auckland Alleycats

At Riverside Speedway, Invercargill
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

Waikato Stocks and Saloons

Waikato Stockcar Champs
Huntly Speedway





One thing you can be assured of when traveling to Huntly Speedway is good stockcar action. Following on two weeks after a decent turnout of Waikato cars for Auckland's local title won in extraordinary circumstances by 88h Justin Hutchby, it was good to see a decent field including quite a few Auckland cars in attendance. Unfortunately the entire Alleycats team was a no show but with the Peter Barry Teams meeting this week leading into a heavy few weeks for this class, it was understandable. Two groups had two races for qualifying spots in a 20 lap winner takes all final. A repecharge featuring about six cars provided some great action but by the time the final arrived I think it had been decided that if your car was still mobile you were in, meaning a field of around 33 cars. Just quietly I had hoped that my dream team of trouble makers (4h, 83h and 84b) would get through qualifying but things were looking grim until the change of plans to include everyone.

The other feature for the night was the Waikato Saloon title raced over the three heats for points. It came down to how many cars 48a Phil Towgood could pass in the final race to beat 46m Terry Corin who started on pole. Corin could do nothing more than hold on to first place and hope Towgood had trouble moving up through the field, but as we witnessed he picked off each car and claimed the overall points win with a masterclass in driving. 18m Chris Taylor took out third place. The race was excellent and really set the bar high for the highlight of the night. Would the Stockcars be able to top it? Fear not! The 20 lap feature had action from the very first corner as 54h Larissa Van Houtte was sent spectacularly up the wall and hooked up on top of 28k Ivan Lammas bringing on the reds. The early stages of the race had every Rotorua car take a turn at leading as one by one they were removed by the locals. When 141h Rhody Game mis-timed a hit and fired into the wall on turn 1 the leader was 218h Aaron Alderton but he pulled off on to the grass gifting the lead to 72r Rumney. Next big incident was a red light for 32h Nigel Beer who had had a fairly tough night of it up to this point already carrying an injury from heat one, but was unlucky enough to hit the stranded 71h Wootten car in turn two ending with big damage to both cars. At this point 55h Neville Hazelton who had looked strong in the qualifying heats inherited the lead and looked good for the win until a puncture two laps from the end slowed him enough for 88h Justin Hutchby to grab the lead and win, repeating the feat of 81h Rod Smythe from last year taking both Auckland and Waikato titles in the same season. Rinso managed to come home in second and Hazelton limped home in third place in a hugely depleted field by races end.

Also I just want to mention the Golden Oldies racing that I thought would be a bit of WWE tappy tappy slow stuff... well these guys aint mucking round! Awesome racing and the more cars they get out there the better. They are great to look at in the pits, sound even better heading out to the track and are becoming a class well worth watching. There must be heaps of these cars lying round, in fact there is a perfect one just up the road from where I live. Get them back out there and relive the past! Anyway enough from me, sorry for the fairly basic updates lately, work has been like... well, work actually. Hard work, and so stockcars have taken a back seat. I almost didn't go to Huntly on Saturday night because I was a bit knackered but Im glad I did, it was good speedway with no weak racing. The programme ran smoothly, with the usual good commentary from Malcolm and Mintie and bloody good value for $15, just how speedway should be.

City of Sails Stockcars / Streetstock 290's

Auckland City of Sails Stockcars and Streetstock 290's
Waikaraka Park

Just a few photos from the meeting at WP last weekend. 59a Grant Littlewood took out the Auckland City of Sails Stockcar title from 95a Gary Lonergan and 242a Bernie Fox rounding out the top three. The stirrers trophy won by 137a Jamie Fergusson. The Streetstocks contested their delayed World 290's title, won by 11r Stephen DeMalmanche, 7g Travis Gooch second and 12k Daniel Curran taking third to keep the locals off the podium.