By Dan Neville

Rain is never ideal for outdoor events, especially when it comes to speedway, but like most of the major Superstock meetings this season, the Hamilton Asphalts North Island Championship at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway was no exception. 

The qualifying went ahead with no issues but a wet Saturday in Rotorua forced the club to postpone the finals until early Sunday afternoon and even then it did rain for a period but thankfully not as much as the previous day the meeting was successful completed. 24 of the 26 qualifiers had been found on the Friday night with 2 more to come from the last chance repercharge which was first up on the race programme. 

On pole for the 12 lap dash was 96m Dylan Towler with 82s Hamish Booker alongside him. The regular turn one push happened with 15v Ryan  Marshall getting hung on the wall and 98v Gerry Linklater also finding the concrete. The tacky track saw many others run wide but as the race run it’s course Towler kept it clean through lap traffic and went on to win and make the finals. The 26th and final place wasn’t decided until the last corner of the last lap when 272a Seth McConchie pushed the second and third place cars of 82s Booker and 5m Blake Dykstra wide and snuck down the inside to steal second place and his ticket to the finals, despite running a left front flat tyre for much of the race.

Heat 1 for main event saw 99m Todd Hemingway on pole with Scrapman Racing team mate 77m Luke Alderdice next to him. The turn 1 wall was not kind to many, especially 19m Kerry Remnant and 52p Scott Joblin both riding the wall. They were okay but 4k Chad Ace along with 2nz Blair Uhlenberg and 3nz Zane Dykstra were all off before the first lap. Many others suffered outside punctures and were out too and the race went on. Out front it was Hemingway in control for most the way until 127g Ethan Rees got past him late for the race win. Hemingway hung on for second with 777h Elias Dykstra driving well for third. The big mover was 10g Peter Rees who came from well back to finish 6th and 52p Joblin coming home in 15th despite suspension damage on the first lap. Heat 2 had Towler on pole alongside local hope 14r AJ Axtens. A better start this time with turn 1 only claiming 96w Brad McGhee who was spun and hit while stationary. Just as the reds were activated 87g Brodie James pummeled 99m Hemingway in the turn 4 wall and didn’t let up also spinning 72p Simon Joblin soon after. At the end of it all 1nz Asher Rees took the win just as 56v Trent James rode over the front of 10g Peter Rees and rolled violently with the checkered flag in sight. James was checked and was allowed to continue, reversing across the finish line in a zig zag fashion. Second was 3nz Dykstra with 14r Axtens third. The points leader was 777h Elias Dykstra with 94r Dale Stewart running second. 26v Kaelin Mooney was third equal on points with 198r Mark Costello with a heat to run. 

Some protests delayed the start of the deciding heat but after they were sorted it was on with the action. It was all on for the championship with 94r Dale Stewart tipped over early by 3nz Dykstra, one contender gone. From the restart 10g Peter Rees led with son Asher in 1nz riding shotgun. All sorts unfolded after that with Peter Rees losing the race lead and as 10r McRobbie blocked him. Costello was walled by 26v Mooney hard as the pair battled for placings. McRobbie was then taken hard into the wall by Asher Rees which wrecked the front of the 10r and Rees was removed from the track for the move and Mc Robbie limped to the infield. As the race wound down race leader Ethan Rees had a major mechanical failure and lost a heap of places on the last lap and his car expired in a cloud of smoke soon after passing under the flag. 14r Axtens won the race but with Peter Rees being held up again it gave 777h Elias Dykstra some breathing space and the overall win in the North Island Championship. As mentioned above, Ethan Rees still finished the race and ended up 2nd equal with Mooney and Peter Rees. It was just a just a 2 car run off for the podium with Ethan’s car unable to make it back out on track, having to settle for fourth overall. Peter Rees had pole for the 4 lap dash and was guided to the pole line by Mooney with the 26v sprinting off as Rees chased for a lap then opted to wait for Mooney but made the mistake of stopping and predictably the red lights thrown on and Rees excluded. Mooney then completed the remaining laps to claim the runner up in the North Island Championship. leaving the veteran Peter Rees third on the podium.

Hamilton Asphalts North Island Superstock champs Points
 

The TWS tier 2 championship was competed for over three 15 lap races. A reasonably tidy heat 1 went the way of 23r Caleb Ashton from 118r Bryce Steiner with 5m Blake Dykstra in third. Heat 2 saw multiple driver pick up flat tyres costing them valuable points meanwhile 599p Ron Tye smeared 88h Ethan Whittaker all over the wall that ended the Huntly driver’s race. Towards the end 94v Matt Buckley almost went over with 5h Logan Nicholson Mabey underneath. At the flag it was 82s Booker with the win from points leader 23a Jordan Baldwin with 669p Brendon Tye in third. The third and final heat got off to a dramatic start with 29m Ryan Hunt rolling track mate 49m Regan McKenzie in big tangle coming out of turn 2. 38m Ross Ashby had the lead at this point but unfortunately popped a right rear tyre and was out with points leader 23a Baldwin inheriting the lead as the dust came up and the track started going black. Baldwin took the win and the championship. 73a Bryce Marx was second in the race from the 82s of Booker. Runner up in tier 2 was Booker with 118r Steiner rewarded for consistency with third overall.

TWS Tier Two Points

Another feature on the afternoon was the New Zealand vs Australia Ministock Challenge over 3 heats. Lap 1 was not good for 95nz Greer Magon who hit was wall and was on the infield not having completed a lap. From then on the locals took control with 93nz Blake Fraser, 23nz Flynn Ashton and 971nz George Crawford heading a 1-2-3 finish and a bunch of points to go with it. A pesky rain shower made an appearance just prior to the second heat with the Ministocks directed back to the pits after a couple of laps with the meeting on old until the bad weather passed. The race was a complete rerun under much better conditions with another win for NZ team with 23nz Flynn Ashton winning from Crawford with 52nz Boston Joblin third and Fraser fourth. The best of the Australian contingent was 10au Mitch Binning in 5th place. The third and final heat was more of the same with Crawford leading home the pack from Magon and Ashton with 61au Syarra Parry the best of the visitors home in 5th place.

Ministock NZ vs AUST Points

The Stockcars came out for a Sunday afternoon skid with good field of 21 fronting which featured all 6 car of the Makita Rotorua Rascals team who won the national title in Auckland recently. It was a clinical race from 5r Dion Henderson saw him drive from pole to the with 94a Sam Wright close behind in second after busy 12 lapper. Race 2 was running smoothly until the dying laps when 45h Matthew Shaw put the bumper into race 1 winner Henderson and left him parked up the wall. On the restart it was 46r Richard Willis who found the wall courtesy of 87r Chris Shingleton with 144r benefitting from there move getting the race win. Race 3 had an unusual start with Henderson out for revenge on Shaw after the race 2 incident but it was all over after the first lap with Shaw not given a chance by a few local cars and ending up on the infield. 94a Wright looked comfortable in the lead mid race until 98r Jonny Morley said no a slid the HSP car up the wall and over. After a few more bumps and bangs it was 513r Callum Flavell who took the final win of the day for the class.

Vazey Engineering & Supplies Stockcars

It was a definitely a busy Sunday afternoon on the track with plenty to keep the moderate crowd that showed up entertained and there is just 2 more meetings remaining for the 2023/24 season. The 2 day Hickey Contracting Easter Extravaganza on Saturday March 30th and Sunday March 31st with multiple classes racing over various championship events. Keep an eye on this website and the Rotorua Stockcar Club Facebook page for all details.

Lap Data - http://www.sport.net.nz/data/23-03-24_data.zip

Photos On: www.speedwaynz.com