By Daniel Neville

The 38th running of the TWS World Invitation Superstock Championship at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway was meant underway on Friday January 19th but instead the ridiculous New Zealand summer intervened on another major Superstock event with wet weather forcing the Rotorua Stockcar Club Inc. to make the difficult decision to run both the qualifying and finals in one day on the Saturday. 

This made for a massive day for all involved and a slighty modified programme. The 120 plus Superstock entry list divided in to 5 groups and only 2 heats for each (reduced from 3) with just the top 3 on points making the finals and the next 4 top points scorers overall also qualifying. There was no repercharge as per previous years with a tier 2 & 3 based on qualifying points.

Once again the overseas contingent were back and leading the charge as always was 3 time winner of the event 515gb Frankie Wainman Jnr, he was joined by 555gb Frankie Wainman Jnr Jnr, crowd favourite from last year 5gb Charlie Sworder, 526gb Finn Sargent and 587gb Sam Brigg. These 5 were automatic pre-qualifiers while the 3 other overseas drivers, 175gb Karl Hawkins, H14p Rick Wobbes and 211gb Phoebe Wainman-Hawkins, all had to participate in the qualifying heats. Also directly through to the finals were defending champion 127g Ethan Rees and Superstocks in Paradise winner from 2023, 56v Trent James.

Also on the programme was next installment of the newly sponsored Rees Race Cars Aotearoa Ladies Stockcar Crown with a booming entry list including a healthy showing from the South Island. Their championship was run over just 5 heats across the 2 meetings and accumulated points overall becoming the winner. Among the entries was back to back winner 14b Jemma Holloway who was gunning for the 3 peat along with 25 other ladies possibly out to stop that happening.

The final attraction for weekend was a pair of Stockcar teams races between the Rotorua Rascals and the visiting Palmerston North Pumas. This has now become an annual fixture at the 240’s and as per previous years it didn’t fail to deliver. 

The Red group got the meeting underway with 144g Tim Ross on pole who took the lead but was run down by 5w Keegan Levien with the Wellington driver and previous winner of the event going on to win from 46b Quinn Ryan with Ross home third. Orr third. Onto heat 2 and it was all over for 72a Cody Mckee when he was slid up the wall by 81v Max Holloway on the opening lap with both being directed to the infield. About mid race 557c Darrell Wallace smoked 68r Jeremy Fleming into the wall with 57v Dylan Marshall taking the win from 193r Dan Hunter with 5w Levien third. 

Red Group Qualifiers: 5w Keegan Levien, 46b Quinn Ryan and 57v Dylan Marshall.

TWS World 240s Red Group Points

The Green group were next and a hectic opening lap saw 33h Robbie Mabey stuck up the wall while newly crowned 2nz Blair Uhlenberg was out with a flat tyre from the same incident. A good battle for the lead emerged with 581p Jordan Dare edging out 10 g Peter Rees for the win with 81r Damian Orr. Heat 2 was a fast and dusty affair with 2nz Uhlenberg the winner from 52p Scott Joblin with the 10g of Rees third.

Green Group Qualifiers: 10g Peter Rees, 581p Jordan Dare & 46w Ethan Levien.

TWS World 240s Green Group Points

Blue group greeted the starter next and afterba smooth first few laps 7r Michael Rumney came within a nudge of being the first rollover victim of the meeting following a tangle with 971c Jayden Ward. A few more joined Rumney on the infield including 19m Kerry Remnant with a collapsed rear end and 94p William Humphries with a wounded left rear tyre. 9g Jamie Hamilton slipped past 3nz Zane Dykstra for the win with 147k Matt Nielson third. Heat 2 saw a big pile up in turn 1 with all getting away okay apart from 19m Remnant and 61s Zane Riddick meanwhile 166v hitched a ride with club mate 3nz Dykstra and 94p Humphries took 73a Bryce Marx to the wall. At the end 971c Ward took the win from 97a Aidan Eustace with 175gb Karl Hawkins third.

Blue Group Qualifiers: 9g Jamie Hamilton, 97a Aiden Eustace & 3nz Zane Dykstra.

TWS World 240s Blue Group Points

The Yellow group fronted next and reasonably smooth heat 1 went the way of former 2nz now 5g Josh Prentice with 198r Mark Costello not far behind with an excellent drive by 9b Adam Groome earning him third. Heat 2 was full on from the start numerous bangs and crashes which effected so,e qualifying chances. A brutal hit on 52a David Hunter by 16b Brett Loveridge raised a few eyebrows. At the flag 88p Jack Miers was the winner from 26v Kaelin Mooney with 13w Brad Mcgee third

Yellow Group Qualifiers: 88p Jack Miers, 5g Josh Prentice & 26v Kaelin Mooney.

TWS World 240s Yellow Group Points

The fifth and final group was coloured purple and got off to a wild start with 89g Tyler James rolling after a lap 1 meelee and because he landed the right way up was able to continue and to his credit did finish the race. The heat win went to current Superstock GP champion 235g Regan Penn with 95n Alex Hill second with 23r Caleb Ashton third. Heat 2 saw tactics come I to play with 99m Todd Hemingway blocking and got a good shot on 62p Adam Joblin before suffering a puncture. 235g Penn took another win from 4k Chad Ace with 34p Rebecca Barr third. 

Purple Group Qualifiers: 235g Regan Penn, 4k Chad Ace & 23r Caleb Ashton.

TWS World 240s Purple Group Points

The next top 4 points scorers and posted the fastest lap times were 118r Bryce Steiner, 14h Rick Wobbes, 95n Alex Hill & 34p Rebecca Barr who all joined the rest for the finals.

Qualifying Details:

Media Results
Fastest Lap

The traditional parade lap for the finalists and park up on the back straight featuring driver interviews and introductions was up first before the first heat gridded up. Track announcer and former Stockcar driver Tony Gallagher had the privilege of calling “Lady and gentlemen, start your engines!” then the cars all moved around to the start line.

It was sole South Islander 95n Alex Hill on pole for heat one of 3 and it was on from the first green light. Hill led them away ans had the lead for had the lead for half the race until 9g Hamilton pushed past. Only a couple of retirements notably 581p Jordan Dare as Hamilton took the win from 56v Trent James with Hill home third. Some big movers in the first heat were 46b Quinn Ryan, 34p Rebecca Barr and 515gb Frankie Wainman Jnr. Heat 2 saw all 26 cars back on track for another 15 laps of madness. Tuen 1 saw 46w Ethan Levien pounded into the wall while 95n Hill was almost tipped over. Wainman had the lead for a while but then took a trip up the wall courtesy of 5w Keegan Levien which damaged Wainman’s steering forcimg him to pull off near the end. Defending champion 127g Ethan Rees took the win from 9g Hamilton with 555gb Frankie Wainman Jnr Jnr third. The points leader after 2 heats was 9g Hamilton who was 4 points clear of 56v James with 127g Rees 5 points back but still in with a shot at going back to back, running in third. 24 of the original 26 fronted for heat 3 and in a change to previous years it was a full on drag race as opposed to fullon carnage. The 15 laps passed quickly with 57v Dylan Marshall the winner but a 6th place from Jamie Hamilton earned him his first major Superstock championship. Second overall was 56v Trent James after 3 great races with another Whanganui car in third in the form of 57v Dylan Marshall who got there via his heat 3 win.

TWS World 240s Finals Points

The Phil Shepherd Engineering Superstocks in Paradise championship for the next 26 is always hotly contested with the overall winner automatically qualifying for next year’s 240’s finals. Heat 1 was action packed with 24r Kyle Ashton having an ill advised poke at 1nz Asher Rees who immediately responded by sending Ashton into wall. Half a lap later it was 89g Tyler James who rolled for a second time at this event after a big shot from 81r Damian Orr with 175gb Karl Hawkins also involved and ended up parked on top of the inverted James car. The win went to 971c who led from pole. Heat 2 was often frantic with 81r Orr well invested in his battle with 87g Brodie James which went on all race long. Up front 198r Mark Costello took the win with one heat remaining. A depleted looking field for heat 3 saw a great drive bt 94r Dale Stewart who chased down 1nz Asher Rees and made the pass late to get the win. Overall Stewart had done enough to win the championship and a ticket to the 2025 world 240’s finals. Second overall was 971c Jayden Ward with 198r Mark Costello third.

Phil Sheperd Engineering Tier Two Points

The Legacy Accountants tier 3 championship was run over heats with each driver eligible partaking in 3 of those races. The first heat went to 96m Dylan Towler after a fast and dusty race. Heat 2 was much the same with 10r Alan McRobbie collecting the win. Heat 3 was a 2nz Uhlenberg benefit with a heat to run. The last heat was won by 26k Mitch Vickery with the overall tier 3 championship going to 81v Max Holloway. Second was 2nz Blair Uhlenberg with 5m Elias Dykstar third.

Legacy Accountants Tier Three Points

The Rees Race Cars Aotearoa Ladies Stockcar Crown heat 1 was next with 28 of the best female drivers going into battle. A torrid race first up with bumpers being put to use frequently but it was 17a Kristin Vermeulen who escaped all that getting the win with 2 locals cars next with 681r Kirsten Keijzer and 189r Milla Theobald second and third respectively. Heat 2 was damaging for some but none more than 252c Payton Wilson who was taken to the wall by 46c Brook McPherson which snapped part of her front bumper off. 121T Shinnae McNally had a rough race too being flung into the wall a couple of times. Former event winner 69s Carol Podjursky took the flag from 18v Hailey James with 189r Theobald third again. Heat 3 saw another win for 69s Podjursky from Defending champion 14b Holloway with overseas driver 262gb Camey Dorrell third as the rest put the bumpers into each other. Heat 4 was interesting with close points between 14b Holloway and 189r Theobald. Also in the mix was 28r Alex Jones who was hell bent on ruining other drivers chances and did so to good effect. The win went to Theobald giving her a good leg up on points over Holloway who finished 10th with Holloway still in with a chance along with Podjursky with the fifth and final heat remaining. It was on for overall honours in the last heat. Theobald got away all good as Podjursky and Keijzer clashed. A big 3 way collision came next involving 471c Amber Brooks, 29b Katie Prescott and 4w Lexi Levien with Brooks coming off worst of all. Theobald was spun late in the piece but recovered and carried on finishing fifth in the race to clinch the ladies title for the first time after being on the podium previously. Holloway come home third in the heat to finish second overall with Kendyll Ashton’s heat 5 win promoting her to third overall.

Rees Race Cars Aotearoa Ladies Overall Points

The Barclay Engravers sponsored Stockcar teams races rounded out the programme nicely with 2 fairly evenly matched teams. 1nz Kyle Rowe took pole for the Pumas and got away cleanly but some clever blocking by 513r Callum Flavell saw Rowe balked enough for 735r Keegan Orr to get past for lead and survived a brutal shot from 772p Kyle Lampp to get the win first up for the Rascals. The second teams race saw 772p Lampp go to the front first with the Pumas in control but some superb blocking from 735r Orr saw Lampp and 667p Hamish McLeod blocked and 513r Flavell sneaking through for another win for the Rascals. 

Overall it was a great 2 meetings crammed into one day with full credit to all the track staff and especially the track preparation team who did so well after Friday’s rain. Roll on the 2025 World 240’s!

Finals:

Media Results
Fastest Laps

Lap Data - http://www.sport.net.nz/data/20-01-24_data.zip
Photos On: www.speedwaynz.com