By Daniel Neville

It’s hard to believe that the racing for the 2022/23 season at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway is almost over with pesky rain outs meaning it was a bit of a stop start affair. There were no such problems on Easter weekend though and as always the Hickey Contractors Easter Extravaganza over 2 nights delivered to send drivers, crews and race fans out on a high. 

Night 1 featured Superstocks, Stockcars, Modifieds and Production Saloons all competing for their Bay of Plenty champs with the Ministocks running their Rotorua championship and also having their final meeting of the season and respective senior and junior championships. 

The SJ Hampton Engineering Ltd Rotorua Junior Ministock champs started the weekend with heat 1 going the way of 972r Jimmy Crawford after a reasonably tidy race. Heat 2 was closely contested with 64r Riley McKeown getting the win. The third and final heat saw drivers close on points and an exciting finish took place with 972r Crawford edging past 98r Reeve Transom to take the win and the championship with Transom second overall from 64r McKeown.

SJ Hampton Engineering Ltd Rotorua Ministock Champ Jnr  Points

The Toolshed Senior Rotorua Ministock champs boasted a bigger field and some good clean racing. Heat 1 went to 21r Jack Wilson with 555r Josh Holland a close second. Heat 2 went to 46r Louis Taylor and he also took the points lead in the process. Heat 3 was won by 88r Cohen Wright with the championship ultimately being decided via run offs. 46r Taylor edged out 555r Holland for third overall while 971r Crawford kept himself in front of 47r Kam Castleton for first overall leaving Castleton the runner up.

The Toolshed Rotorua Ministock Champ Snr  Points  

There was a good field for the Hynds Rotorua BOP Superstock Champs. The 4 race, 3 start format was used and the traditional turn 1 pile up ensued in heat 1 with 26k Mitch Vickery almost going over. From the restart it was 351r who caused the next stoppage by getting tangled and losing a wheel. Next to go was 24r Kyle Ashton who spun in front of 9r Brent Stewart and 638r Robbie Morris with Ashton rolling over. The remainder of the race went smoothly with 198r Mark Costello taking the win from 118r Bryce Steiner who came from grid 22 to second. Heat 2 saw 638r Robbie Morris sit on the pole line and have a crack at eventual winner 26k Mitch Vickery as well as a few others. Heat 3 was full on with plenty of contact 307k Matthew Picard taking the win but the most notable part was when 14r AJ Axtens latched onto Costello on the home strait and tipped the 198r over just past the checkered flag. Heat 4 was good value too with 9r Brent Stewart and the 14r of Axtens blocking effectively to help 10r Alan McRobbie to the race win and BOP championship overall. 26k Mitch Vickery finished second with the 198r of Costello third.

Hynds Rotorua BOP Superstock Points

The BOP Production Saloon champs which was sponsored by Stihl Shop Lakeland saw 14 cars up for heat 1. There were dramas for pole sitter 14r Wayne Warrender who was sent to the infield for excessive smoke who paved the way for 48g Seth McKay to take the win. Heat 2 was bad luck for race leader 95r Craig Jones who was spun then collected by another car as he tried to recover. Luckily he was able to continue and from the restart heat 1 winner 48g McKay was similarly spun and tagged but unfortunately damage ruled him out of the rest of the race. Jones went on to take the win from Blenheim visitor 14e Sam Martin. Heat 3 was going to be interesting with 4 drivers tied on top points for the championship. A tight race played out with 14e Martin driving superbly and winning and getting the championship from 6h Vaughan Glidden in second and 27h Dylan Shearman third overall.

Stihl Shop Lakelands BOP Production Saloon  Points

It was awesome to see the Modifieds back for their Aramax Couriers BOP championships. A dozen cars were on hand for the 3 heat event. Heat 1 saw former multiple national champion 11a Jamie Fox dash away from the front row for the win from current NZ champion Brad Lane in 1nz. Heat 2 saw 46h Cody Hata storm into the lead and survived a couple of red lights to hold the lead until 11a Fox found a way past for his second win of the night. Heat 3 saw a great drive from former 1nz and current 3nz Luke Brown who passed early leader 12s Jason Kalin for the win. 11a Fox come home 5th but ended up tied with Kalin for the championship with Brown’s heat 3 win earning him third overall. The run off was won by Fox who got the jump and stayed in front for 4 laps to take the BOP championship leaving Kalin in second overall.

Aramex Couriers BOP Modified  Points

The final Modified race was a one off 15 lapper for the Ginge Hayward Memorial. It was an absorbing race that changed dramatically towards the end as early leader 9s Braith Kalin was run down after a yellow light and 1nz Lane took the win from 11a Fox with 3nz Brown third. 

The Driftkartz BOP Stockcar champs drew a massive field with 2 groups racing for a spot in the 28 car, one race final. Group 1 heat 1 was pretty tame with 26k Mitch Vickery taking the with from 45r Sean Wepa. Heat 2 was much the same with 45r Wepa getting home first.

Driftkartz BOP Stockcar Group One Points

Group 2 was hotly contested with a 3 way fight for the win ensuing between 5k Dion Henderson, 91r Tony Coxhead and 735r Keegan Orr with Henderson sneaking ahead to get the flag from Orr and Coxhead in an exciting finish. Heat 2 saw heat 1 winner 5k Henderson spun on lap 1 and a few others chances of making the final perhaps ruined. At the end it was 99v Cody Lockett who took the win.

Driftkartz BOP Stockcar Group Two Points

The Stockcar consolation for the non qualifiers was fun to watch with some good hits and 94a Sam Wright getting tipped over courtesy of 55r Robert Murray as 28r Alex Jones took the win. 

The 15 lap Stockcar final for the championship was bound to deliver on the action and it didn’t disappoint. A frantic start saw 27r Douglas Stanaway almost go over with 45r Wepa underneath him. One contender bowed out next with 33s Tyler Walker puncturing an outside tyre. Early front runners 26k Vickery and 5k Henderson were both still in contention but couldn’t reel in the top 3 with 735r of Keegan Orr taking the win and BOP championship from 98r Jonny Morley with 94r Samuel Murray third overall.

The final meeting of the season takes place tomorrow (Easter Sunday) from 5pm featuring the Easter champs for Superstocks & Stockcars while the Saloons, TQ’s and Streetstocks will run their respective Bay of Plenty championships. The meeting and season will conclude with a car crunching demolition derby.

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