Hurricane Warning!

Michelin New Zealand Superstock Title, Kihikihi Speedway

As meetings go, this one had more twists and turns than a soap opera. With the original 26 qualifiers null and void after a finals night rain out and subsequent failure to complete the meeting within 14 days, the NZ Superstock Championship version 2.0 was finally completed last night at Kihikihi speedway. It was going to take something pretty special to take the focus off the troubled build up, and I think the third heat in front of a modest crowd on a warm and clear night may have done the trick. It was very reminiscent of the third heat I saw in Gisborne a few years ago when Wayne Hemi and the Wellington hit squad aided by one Kelvin Gray gave us one of the best NZ finals I had ever seen.

Leading into the final race, three South Islanders were head of the points table. Reigning champion 1nz Malcolm Ngatai on 49pts, 3nz Brendan Higgins on 44pts, 7n Craig Boote on 43pts followed by a trio of Palmerston North cars; 10p Peter Rees 42pts, 58p Peter Bengston 40pts and 54p Bevan Humphrey on 38pts. What followed was proof that Superstocks do in fact hit, and that there are few types of motorsport that can match 26 Superstocks going mongrel! Five rollovers including 32p Barr, defending champ 1nz Ngatai, 10p Rees and points leader with only two laps remaining 58p Bengsten by 7n Boote who also rolled in the hit. Add into that one of the best performances I have ever seen from 31p Andy McCabe, plenty of stirring also coming from both Joblin boys attacking anything without a P, and 22r Steiner in the mix also. Through all the carnage 96b Murray Long kept circulating almost untouched, while 3nz Higgins managed to repel attack after attack with a punctured front left and rookie 54p Humphrey came oh so close to taking the title. A run off for first place was required, with Higgins using all his years of teams racing knowledge to fend off the young pretender.

What a great race. Compensation no matter how late, for what must have been a difficult and trying time for the host club. Plenty of action then and no doubt some major paybacks brewing if the infield comments were anything to go by. One of my favourites was Craig Boote "...they started it, I finished it!" when asked about the massive hit on Bengsten. Considering his limited racing build-up to this event, imagine what he will be like next season. I really do think he will be the first to reach four 1nz titles... Also worthy of a mention, 492i Campbell MacManaway who really lifted his game and came home in 4th overall.

There will be a lot said about this meeting but I hope that old chestnut (not Carlos) that gets wheeled out right about now that small clubs shouldnt hold big meetings gets well and truly buried. Look at the actual Kihikihi venue that was presented to the public over the weekend. It is light years ahead of what was there last season and this event was the catalyst for all that work. The lighting, sound system, commentary team were all first class and the infield is pretty cool looking and actually works. If big meetings only ever go to big clubs then there will only be big clubs left. This terrible juggernaut called "professionalism" is destroying sports and leaving carnage in its wake. Yes raise standards, yes aim for the best we can be but don't lose what is important and that is all tracks getting the opportunity to host meetings like this.

I left the stadium on a high last night, absolutely loving Superstocks. I was still buzzing this morning with the thought of Brendan Higgins as 1nz. I doubt it counts for much but I hope someone at Kihikihi knows that this punter had a great night and I appreciate all the work that went into this event. Forget the tsunami, there was a Hurricane in town!

Related links:
Check out the Kihikihi website for the full analysis of what happened or view the third heat on YouTube with Petrolfumes great coverage here. And for opinion on Macgors here.

Meeting rating : (Sunday only) 8.5/10

Mixed Bag

Modified Super Dirt Cup / Auckland City of Sails Stockcars

A quality field of 28 of the best Modified drivers in the country had been promised for this years version of the Super Dirt Cup and with the promotion Jamo had been giving it on Macgors I did the unthinkable and decided to miss the qualifying for the NZ Superstocks at Kihikihi and go to my local. Also on the menu was the City of Sails Auckland championship for Stockcars which sealed the deal for me.

26 Mods turned up to play and 24 Stockcars including 3 visitors, 5h, 81h and 72s were all good chances as it turned out. The support classes for the night were looking a little thin and by nights end had most definitely worn out their welcome. In fact I'll go as far as saying the Streetstocks (particularly 51r) tried hard to entertain but with 5 cars it all looked a bit tired and sad. Minisprints and Ministocks were just plain boring. There were gaps in the programme and the night just wore on too long finishing at 11.40pm I think. Enough on that for now.

The Mods were split into two groups for two heats each, then the top 18 would go through and have a top 6 pole shuffle (I love these) and then all the non-qualifiers would go into a last chance repercharge for the final two places. Now somewhere along the way things must have gone awry, there was no repercharge, the programme was running late and Minisprints just kept coming out the gate and torturing us. Heat 1 for group 1 was a Foxy benefit, he looked awesome and my pre-meeting thoughts of who would win were being confirmed. I think he came from the rear of the field to take second behind 871c Luke Keegan who lead from the front for the whole race. Group 2's first heat was similar with 3nz (29c) Glen Leech doing the business followed home by 55s Ward and 78h Chatfield. In heat two for both groups, Group 1 featured a battle between 4s Dixon and 1nz Fox which the national champ won but I dont know if something was wrong with the car or the track conditions (dusty and breaking up in the corners) but the Fox of heat 1 was looking a little less dominant. Result: 1nz, 4s, 6a, 4c, 8s. Group 2 had problems with the track surface too and I noted "spins galore" on my scrap of paper. 56a Blakely looked very ominous and took a great win. Result: 56a, 55s, 3nz, 78h, 13c.

Now remember with this website I just put down what I hear from the commentary team, I dont go searching through the pits for results or whatever so that was how I saw it after the qualifying. I deserve a medal by the way because if you've been to WP recently, getting results is a mission. Anyway, I thought the racing had been top notch. The pole shuffle involved 49c v 6a, 6a v 4s, 6a v 871c, 871c v 8s, 871c v 3nz and finally 871c v 1nz, win going to Keegan for the pick of front row position.

The final 30 lapper had a field of 23 cars. The repercharge had gone west and going by some postings on Macgors something had gone pear shaped down in the pits. Ignoring all that, the actual racing (that's what we're there for) was great, a typical hard fought Dirt Cup. Now since I didn't write this review until today (and I'm still buzzing from the NZ Superstocks last night) I'll just put some of my manic scribblings on my trusty notepad down. Here goes "...871c, 1nz, 3nz leading... 56a + 67s into wall turn 2... 8s hits 49c on yellow light... 13c off, 78h off, 64a off... Fox passes 46c backmarker, 3nz went to pass and 4s all hit wall... 11 laps to go 3nz off... 871c keeping traffic between him and 1nz... 871, 1nz, 4s, 6a, 4c, 8s, 29a, 2nz, 21a, 77s at that stage... 6a flys past 4s, 2nz huge roll in turn 3... 55s off, 11 cars left... Keegan clears out... 1nz v 4s 3 laps to go and 4s passes Fox... Fox holds on to 3rd.." Final placings: 871c Keegan, 4s Dixon, 1nz Fox, 4c Gourley, 6a Jessen. Hope that makes some sort of sense. I'm sure a much better write up will appear on the 1nz Foxy website and it will no doubt give an insight into what was going on behind the scenes too.

The Stockcars were the other feature and like the Modifieds, turned on a great display resulting in a run-off for first place between 69a Dave Seymour and 81h Rodney Smythe, two careers at either end of the spectrum. Unlike the Mods, their championship was over three heats for points. Heat 1 finished with 81h, 34a, 69a, 72s, 441a, 14a and 96a. 24 cars came out for heat two and 34a Wearing was looking great for a win until the last lap went something broke and he coasted over the line well down the field, night over. An unfortunate spin for 69a Seymour when a fellow Auckland car went for 81h cost him dearly finishing well down. 72s won, followed home by 81h, 741a, and 14a. Heat 3 turned the action up a bit and 81h Smythe was held up by a very brave 24a, 72s had his run cut short and brought on the red lights, 84a took a huge hit into the wall and 69a Seymour came home for the win from 741a, 81h, 5h, 9a I'm guessing. Remember all results are usually read in a monotone as the cars cross the line so it's almost impossible to hear. This resulted in a tie and run-off won by 81h Smythe. Not sure who came third as we were heading for the gates!

So there you have it, a really mixed bag. The two feature classes rocked, the rest was dismal. Considering how many meetings were on, the crowd was very big so there was a good atmosphere when there was good racing. This is another rollcoaster season for WP but I hope all those people sticking the knife in realise that they got two great championships with possibly the best field of Modifieds we have seen in years but its hard to ignore there were also some problems. 'Tis a hard job being in charge at Waikaraka Park!

Meeting rating : 5.5/10

WP Fan Appreciation Night

You don't get a lot for five bucks these days and that's just what I expected last night at Waikaraka Park. I was pleasantly surprised then with a fairly decent meeting and a pretty big crowd. The idea of a cheap night drew enough people through the gates to have a good atmosphere but the only real downer of the night for me was the feeble number of stockcars in attendance - three! Obviously with Huntly having the Waikato title and 13 or so cars travelling down there, it just killed the class at home. The Auckland Stockcar title is in two weeks, do you think the Huntly cars will reciprocate and turn up in big numbers... wont hold my breath. The stockcars that did turn up raced with the five superstocks which basically was a Marx (53a, 63a, 73a) vs Masons (7a, 99a) teams race. Wins to 99a, 73a and 73a again. Good to see Trevor Mason with the ex Tony Whittaker 66p. Must be quite a few superstocks in sheds in Auckland at the moment, hope they start getting back to the track soon.

The standouts for the night were easily the Modifieds (11 cars) and the Saloons (17 cars) with four Supers tagging off the back. Good close racing that resulted in both feature races providing great duels. 59a Bryan Skelton v 48a Phil Towgood and in the Modifieds 64a Grant Harris holding off 1nz Foxy in an incident filled race with many stoppages and some uncharacteristic problems for the 1nz who twice had to come from the back of the quickly diminishing field. Sidecars (6 with visitors from Gisborne and Kihikihi) and Streetstocks (9 with 51r Gerrand from Rotorua) rounded out the programme.

Summary
The programme ran so smoothly that most classes got a 4th heat in, and I was home by 10pm. The rain held off until the last race. There was no printed programme but for $5 entry that's what you would expect. They now have pizza and a carvery in the food area by the end of the grandstand and the bouncy castle was getting a good thrashing by the kids in turn two. A few more cars in the pits and this would have been a simple but great meeting. Big ups to the Saloon and Modified reps or whoever manages to get such good fields each week for these classes, they were the backbone of the meeting. I'm surprised more out-of-town competitors don't show up, the track surface is good, the fields are big and as Saloon 18b said "what else would you do on Saturday night" when asked why he was at WP. This fan appreciated the effort, this meeting could be a winner in future.

Next meeting for me is going to be a big call but the Super Dirt Cup with Auckland Stockcar title on Sat Feb 27th might be just that bit better than the NZ Superstock Qualifying (can't believe I just typed that...)

Meeting rating : 5/10 (Five bucks gets five points!)

Results:
Saloons: wins to 27a, 6a, 48a and 59a won the feature
Sidecars: 4k, 43a and 43a
Modifieds: 56a, 1nz, 64a and 64a won the feature
Superstocks: 99a, 73a and 73a won the feature
Streetstocks: 13a, 91a, 15a and 66a won the feature
Stockcars: 45a took all three

Year of the Tiger

Palmerston North Superstock Teams 2010

The heading for this posting was either going to be "Year of the Tiger" or "Oh, the Shame..!" depending on whether Nelson or Great Britain won the final last night. After 29 years of competition there are still a number of clubs that haven't ever won this title and for GB to come third last year and then claim a win in just two years would have been too much for this kiwi stockcar fan to take. This is taking nothing away from their performance or ability, they would have been worthy winners but the Nelson Tigers were just that bit better than every other team including a vulnerable looking Palmy Panthers who finally relinquished their crown as reigning champs these last four years.

For the first time in the years I've been going, the promotion failed to get 12 teams to front and of the 11 that did turn up, a couple required the services of ring-ins. This meant a rejig of the Friday night qualifying programme which worked well - unless you were an Auckland fan like us, drawn to face Great Britain and Palmerston North and sadly finishing Friday night with 35pts, a rollover and last place. It was a big ask but at least we had a team competing this year. Kihikihi Kings and surprisingly the Rotorua Rebels would be the other teams culled from Saturday nights final 8. Friday night was a little slow to start and the crowd and racing also a bit tamer by comparison to other years and I did wonder if the English style of teams racing (can you have a style after only one year competing?) of not going for the massive hits was being adopted by a few teams. Still it was a good night and for once not a hint of rain to spoil the weekend.

For me Saturday night stepped the action and atmosphere up a few notches and the two major semi finals - Great Britain v Waikato and Palmerston North v Nelson were easily the best teams races I've seen in ages. Edge of your seat action. A pivotal moment during the Nelson/Palmy race when 5p Peter Rees was rolled (right in front of us) essentially saw the most dominant team in Superstock racing history capitulate as one by one the Panthers were picked off, failing to get a single car over the finish line. The end of an era. I guess you couldn't sum it up better than Rees when he said "...I could hear the roar of the crowd even as the car was being rolled..." The British Lions managed to take the other semi when Waikato's runner 85h Jared Wade lost a wheel mid race. Valiant attempts by 95h Warwick Ansty to halt the GB runner failed and the buoyant Mooloo fans cowbells were silenced... well they are never completely silent but as close as it was gonna get.

The final lived up to expectation with 81n Brendan Higgins giving us the performance of the night in a team that were prepared to do anything for that elusive title they last held in 2000. 85h Dale Ewers problems that prevented him racing in the semi had well and truly been solved and he did the running duties taking the win. The British Lions gallant run was over with only 01gb Frankie Wainman jnr finishing. A spectacular night capped off with easily the most popular team rewarded for years of oh-so-close disappointments. As team manager Sandra Birdling said before the final "...it's the year of the tiger.." and as far as Superstock teams racing goes it certainly was.

1 Nelson Tigers
2 British Lions
3 Manawatu Mustangs
4 Waikato Wanderers
5 Palmerston North Panthers
6 Hawke's Bay Hawkeyes
7 Stratford Scrappers
8 Christchurch Glen Eagles
----------------------------
9 Rotorua Rebels
10 Kihikihi Kings
11 Auckland Allstars

Meeting rating : 9/10

Footnote: I have noticed on Macgors the familiar "Speedway and Alcohol" thread re-appear like it does every year. At last season's teams champs we sat next to some idiots who all but ruined our Friday night with their drunken antics and again this year we were next to some Huntly fans who were also drinking but major diffence though was they could hold their liquor and were great fun and in fact made our night even better with their comments and enthusiam. Just like the draw for the teams, sometimes you get a good night and other times you get the Panthers and the Lions!