CONTENDER FOR BEST MEETING OF THE SEASON…YOU BET IT WAS.
Last night was full bore action and excitment starting off with the HB Trim & Canvas East Coast Sidecar title. Heat 1 had been run a few weeks ago before the rain put a dampner on racing. As the bikes hurtled out of the gate for heat 2 there was nothing in it as the charge for turn 3 picked up pace. The 45p bike of Philip/Simon Mcnabb drove hard down the inside but clipped the back of another bike sending them on an ugly cartwheeling mess into the safety fence. It was a huge impact which brought out the St Johns and we wish them both a speedy recovery for the near future. 51b Kim Johnston/Andrew McNamara flew out the start in the rerun only to be hunted down and passed by the Truuts brothers on bike 61b. That set the tone for the remaining rides as the Truuts totally dominated all 3 heats to take the title from 22b Lane/Steigenburger with Johnston/McNamara 3rd. 26b Justin Lincoln/Adrian Orchard are starting to come back to form and are probably wishing the season was just starting and not almost over.

Alexander Electric East Coast Streetstock title provided plenty of thrills and spills for the crowd. Heat 1 went to 72b Darren Melling from the menacing 2nz of Sean Gooch and 27b Wayne Melling lurking back in 3rd. heat 2 was like a war zone as the drivers battled for position. 3nz Brendan Gooch fought his way to the front over 5g Aaron Brown and 27b Wayne Melling again top 3.
The 3rd and final heat with Darren Melling on paper looking like the one to succeed and for a big part of the race he was. This race was a stunner with cars and parts flying, 66b John MacMillan tasted the dirt with a huge roll over on pit bend and then 72b Melling who was leading on points blew a left rear forcing him back down the order. It seems in Streetstocks when one driver drops out another family member takes over and that is what happened with 3nz Gooch and 27b Melling now both out front going for the win. At the race to the line Wayne Melling took the heat and the Title from 3nz Brendan Gooch with 99g Anton McKay 3rd overall.

This was the 5th staging of the L & R Kuru Cup for Stockcars. Aaron Iremonger had won it the last 2 years running so was it time for a new name on the impressive trophy. Heat 1 and the boys and girls were ready for battle. 5r Jeff Munro was on the gas hard in winning heat 1 from defending 2 time champ Iremonger 2nd, 64b Beadle Tarrant 3rd, 25b Butterbean Cross 4th. Heat 2 and the intensity level was rising. 11b Matt Gautrey was doing what he does so well and thats stop others from winning, the huge rut on turn 4 was also starting to sort a few out and several drivers lost valuble points when running through it. At the line it was 2 for 2 from the 5r Car of Munro, 3nz Regan O’Brien scored an important 2nd, 69w Connor 3rd,66b Randal Tarrant 4th and Iremonger still a danger in 5th.

Two times NZ TQ Champion Craig Todd had been in the hotseat driving a car loaned by Mark Jones. It was Hot Toddy’s first time in a Stockcar and he even got a few good serves to keep it real. At the end of racing Craig said it was a great experience and I take my hat off to him for giving it a go. Heat 3 and the 5r was a marked man. Too often we see the big titles head out of town but not tonight. 74b Tony Palmer stepped up to the challenge in this one and won possibly the most exciting finish to any race. As the cars hurtled off turn 4 27b Joshua Smith had O’Brien pinned high on the wall. Regan managed to climb down just as Palmer was making his run to the flag down the inside leaving Smith no where to go but get turned around in front of the 3nz who sent Smith barrell rolling over the finish line to be credited with 3rd. The final heat placings were 74b, 3nz, 27b, 66b, 86b, 68p. There was no sign of either Munro or Iremonger in the top 6 which meant a come from behind 1 point victory for the title 3nz Regan O’brien. 2nd was 5r Jeff Munro and former champ 17b Aaron Iremonger 3rd overall…Leeane Kuru’s pick for meeting stirrer $$$ was 83b Jeff Hart.
A quality field lined up for the Thirsty Whale Autumn Superstock Nationals. 97r Pat Westbury was firing on all pistons as he dominated heat 1 by a huge margin. Smokin Joe 1nz was making moves right to the run for the flag to bag 2nd over 3nz Bryce Penn the 2005 NZ Champ. 19c Malcolm Ngatai had been spun on turn 2 of the opening lap so was furiously trying to recover whatever points he could from the back. The pace was red hot in heat 2. Both 66b Tony Meechan and 31b Andy McCabe had a go at leading this one. Smokin Joe got in on the action also late in the race but the move of the night has to be when Ngatai went from 4th to 1st on pit bend and stormed home for the win over Meechan, McCabe, Faram, and 46b Quinn Ryan. This race put Ngatai right back in the shop window. Heat 3 and Faram was the points leader. Smokin Joe pushed his way to the front ensuring victory would be his, Bryce Penn was regaining the old magic in 2nd with Ngatai hounding his bumper in 3rd. Andy McCabe held out Westbury for 4th in a tight run to the flag so when the points were tallied Faram was the new Autumn Nats Champion from Pat Westbury 2nd and Malcolm Ngatai 3rd.

The rain had played havoc all season long but we now finally got to stage the finals of THE PETER BARRY MEMORIAL STOCKCAR TEAMS. Qualifying some weeks back saw the Manawatu Steelers emerge top qualifers with 300 points, P/Nth Puma’s 295, Wellington Young Guns 255, Wanganui Vulcan’s 240. Semi 1 pitted the Steelers up against the Vulcans with the Manawatu boys driving a smart race. There wasn’t a lot of hard hitting going on but the Steelers new what was required with the limitation of damage part of the game plan. Steelers came out winners 130-65 eliminating the Vulcans. Semi 2 and it was the defending champs Puma’s up against the Young Guns. This was more like it as the Guns took it to the Puma’s and looking like a turn up for the form book. but what makes the Puma’s so special is their ability to turn it around on track and they entually ran out winners also by 130-65. The Wellington Young Guns got a deserved rostrum place with 3rd overall after beating the Vulcans in the consolation play off.

THE FINAL was an all Manawatu field. The Steelers looking to put one over the NZ Champions who up to then had a 26 event unbeaten run going. The Puma’s had suffered damage in their semi and the crowd perhaps could sense a huge upset. At the green flag the Steelers took command with 10p Asher Rees flying out front. With the Puma’s busy containing a very lively Steelers outfit Rees was continuing on. 32P Peter Rees was the main focus for the opposition and the tank was being bombarded. Jayden Ward for the Steelers was about to feel the bullet as Peter launched his attack spectacularly rolling Ward bringing the cheers from an appreciative crowd. 557 Darrell Wallace was running block for the Steelers trying to get Asher Rees home for the race win but then the tide turned in an instant. Peter Rees was being dealt to on the start/finish when it looked like Asher decided to come in for the kill down the inside. Both Rees’s got caught up but more significantly Asher’s run was halted and this saw 33p Gary Davis drive by for a lead he would on to till the end. Up till then the momentum was for the Steelers but never again would it be as the Pumas’ experience got them through to successfully defend the title and go 27/0 unbeaten. One of the best teams races I have witnessed and a fitting end to the championship with the crowd in total agreement. Take a bow Josh Prentice, Gary Davis, Alec Wilson, Peter Rees, Ron Tye, Graeme ward 2 x PBMT champions.
A big thanks also to Greg Zachan and the crew for their tireless efforts in organising the event.

Young 4 year old Lincoln Roberts was a guest at the track, he is a very sick young boy who I think was seeing Speedway for perhaps the first and last time. He received gift packs, free t-shirts and goodies and also once the Peter Barry shirt was auctioned and a bucket whip round done a massive $1100 plus was raised to send Lincoln and the family to Rainbows end. It made me proud to see how the Speedway community responded so I would like to thank you all.

May 12th the last meeting of the season is the UNDER 25 SUPERSTOCK NATIONALS 6pm start. Be there or wait another 6 months for your next dirt flying fix.

Seeya, Mike Wilson

Lap Data & Results.zip

Sponsored by

Ph. 021 424 420 / 06 6504242
www.alexander-electric.co.nz
   

All hail ” THE RETURN OF THE KING ”.
29 cars fronted for the re-staging of the Alexander Electric 2012 NZ TQ Title. after the rain out two weeks prior the drivers were amped and ready to race. Qualifying group 1 heat 1 was convincingly won by a quick 41A of Jarred Taylor, Craig Todd came from grid 12 up to 2nd at the flag with 83C Ben Gilmore 3rd. Heat 2 was a runaway for Todd and this was perhaps when his opponents realised it could again be the 1NZ’s night. 5B Paul Ludeman drove a blinder for 2nd from the again hard charging Taylor. The 3rd Heat is always last chance saloon for some and it proved a bridge too far for the 78C of Lindsay Bailey who took a huge wild ride on the road bend to end any chance of qualifying. Todd would finish top on points from Taylor and Gilmore.

Qualifying group 2 heat 1 showed how things might have been if the 24B car had the rub of the green. Tollison stormed around the outside from grid 7 on what surely must have been the best track surface seen on any clay circuit for years. Drivers could throw the cars high on the cushion and be rewarded by moving forward through the pack. At the line Tollison had blown them away from 71A Danny Keene and 2NZ Duane Todd solid in 3rd. Heat 2 and it all started to unravel for the heat 1 winner. Tollison looking for the pass got caught up on road bend and ended up on his lid. 4A Steven Smith showed his cars pace by taking the victory from 3NZ Dylan McGregor and 42C Tom Lumsden back in third. The huge contingent of CHCH cars were starting to come to grips with the pace of the ZM Meeanee track. The third and last qualifying race was again last chance for some. Tollison needed some solid points after a DNF in heat 2. He came out with 6 guns blazing to take the lead and what we all thought was certain qualifying, but that is when his Tolly luck ran out. Possibly due to the earlier roll over the engine blew dumping one of the fastest cars of the night out of the title fight. McGregor showed he still had something to say in the battle by winning the heat from D Todd and Greymouths Steve Thomsen 3rd.

FINALS of THE ALEXANDER ELECTRIC NZ TQ Championship for 2012. Could Craig Todd be the first driver to do back to back titles since Bryce Townsend in 2000?
After only 2 laps of heat 1 he would go along way towards answering that question. The 1NZ was a ballistic missile as he stormed to the front from grid 6. His team mate 2NZ Duane Todd was experiencing the other end of the scale when he had a slow roll over mid heat. With Duane back in the restart it was 41A Taylor wowing the crowd ducking and diving up to 2nd from grid 12. 3rd place went to the solid effort of 98A Chris Qwilliam from the 2 time Canterbury champ 7C Rachel Melrose who fought hard for every point. 64A Gina Harris 5th and 16A Ryan Barry top 6…..Heat 2 saw the 75C of Blair Warren leading . Craig Todd was blasting away on the high groove to move up from grid 18 to 7th in the early laps. 5B Ludeman lost drive coming off the top turn and caused a huge tail back eventuating in both the Todds getting hooked together. Craig at this point thought his car had a major problem and was indeed a very relieved man to find it was just Duane cadging a lift. After his dnf in the opening finals race 3NZ McGregor came back with a vengeance to win the 2nd heat from 75C Blair Warren, 1NZ C Todd, 2NZ D Todd, 74G R McGregor, 83C Ben Gilmore, 42C Tom Lumsden and 84C Martyn Kennett 8th. For the defending champion the 2nd heat drive from 18 up to 3rd is what really sealed the deal and resigned everybody else to the scraps as he would go into the 3rd and final heat with a massive 10 point lead over the pack.

Heat 3 and all eyes were on who would or could join Craig on the podium. 7 cars were all within 6 points of each other as the green flag fell. The pace was red hot on a track that still had a high line and no sign of a blue groove, PURE MAGIC. 4A Steven Smith had already proved he had pace earlier and withstood literally the kitchen sink being thrown at him by both Taylor and D Todd. Craig Todd who just needed to finish 12th or higher had to also keep out of trouble and he had a tiger on his tail with 3NZ McGregor busting a gut to get by. Todd did the wise thing and moved over { a very rare sight indeed, don’t expect that to happen again Dylan } to let the 3NZ by while Duane was hammering the peddle to get by Taylor. Smith was awesome out front and the top 3 cars were on the limit diving to the pole then driving deep up on the cushion…At the line Smith took the win from a vital 2nd for Taylor, D Todd 3rd, 3NZ McGregor, 1NZ Todd, 6A Cooke and 76C Glover in 7th.

Craig Todd { 66pts } had achieved what no other HB driver had since the mid 1960′s and that was go back to back. The NZ champ was now a bonifide 2 time, I say 2 TIME NZ TITLE WINNER. After 6 gruelling races the fun wasn’t over for Taylor and Duane Todd who both found themselves on 58 pts and in a runoff for 2nd place. With Duane on the inside both cars touched coming off the start and Taylor actually pulled a wheelie down the straight. Todd was able to pull a gap the the 41A revving it’s head off chasing. Taylor made a mistake on town bend and spun up bringing on the caution with Todd driving round to get the chequers. As we all know a race must finish on the green so a restart was needed with Taylor back in? and slotting behind Todd. Duane made a fantastic start to pull away but Taylor hunted him down and touched wheels when trying the big outside run. Jarred again spun leaving Duane to go on and successfully defend his 2NZ plate….What a night, what a track and HB cars 1 and 2. Congratulations to the top 3 and a great effort from all with a big thanks to the huge CHCH contingent..

The HB Sidecar title was also to be decided and on a surface that was tailor made for the bikes these guys and gals wound the throttles off the stoppers. With a winner takes all final race it was going to be cut throat and so it proved. 42P King and Carter who had looked odds on for glory got bumped out of contention on the first turn and 22B Lane/Steigenburger took advantage to bust through from 5th to 2nd. At the line the winners were 2NZ Andrew Buchanan/Phillipa Burns from 22B Chris Lane/Pete Steigenburger and 78P Paul Humphrey/ Ben Franklin 3rd after withstanding the onslaught from the 51B bike. Great racing and good to see the Sidecars back on the gas.

SUPERSTOCKS were also duking it out for the HB TITLE and it proved and easy rout for 3NZ Shane Penn who took either his 9th or 10th title with 3 from 3 wins. 2nd after a runoff was the 66B of Tony Meechan { a driver who is improving rapidly } from 3rd 98P Craig Humphries. Smokin Joe was looking good early on with two 2nd places but a dnf in the 3rd race dropped him down the points.

It was a huge night with the TQ celebrations going into the early hours of the next morning and great racing in the support classes. NEXT EVENT IS THE SUPERSTOCK UNDER 25′s and HB Stockcar champs, one not too be missed and it’s another 6pm race start.

Phew!.. signing off MIKE WILSON

NZTQ-lapdata.zip

MAULERS BEATEN AND MELLING TRIUMPHS
By Whiplash
Unusally flat to be fair … this was the best summation of last night’s meeting at ZM Meeanee Speedway.
The Meeanee Maulers were beaten by the Gisborne Gladiators in their stockcar teams race and just 10 drivers, none from out of town, contested the Hawke’s Bay Streetstock Championship. Hopes earlier in the week some Gisborne drivers would travel south for this championship were dashed when they opted to race in Rotorua.
Sam Hughes secured the teams race win for the Gladiators after beating the Maulers Brett Loveridge across the line. Experienced Gladiator Ian Barron was third. The Bay drivers more than made up for this disappointment with the in-form Jason Penn winning the next two heats for the 21-strong class and Tony Palmer taking out the Grand Slam which ended the night’s racing.
Heat one in the streetstock championship saw Ben Yeoman grab the win and Wayne Melling and Ewen Powell finish second and third respectively. Yeoman was dealt to early in the second heat which saw Dave Brand take Darren Melling out of contention.
Daniel Melling pipped Brand for line honours and Powell remained in contention for the title with a third placing. Going into the third heat three drivers, Brand, Powell and Daniel Melling were equal on points in first place and Yeoman and Wayne Melling were a point behind them.
Margo Fairless rolled two-and-a-half times in the final heat which was won by Wayne Melling. Brand and Daniel Melling were second and third respectively.
These placings forced a four-lap run off for the title between “The Sheriff” (Brand) and Wayne Melling. Brand took the early lead but Melling chased him down and spun him around on lap two and then came out on top in an inside-outside passing move on lap three before going on to take the victory.
Daniel Melling finished third, Powell fourth and Richard Houston fifth.
Superstocks, ministocks and saloons provided the support class action. Hawke’s Bay’s 1NZ Joe Faram won all three heats in the superstocks from clubmate Tony Meechan.
Host club drivers Brandon Warner, Caleb Waerea and Max Bayley all had turns with the chequered flag in the 27-strong ministock class. Their clubmate Benjamin Prebble had a spectacular flip in the second heat.
The nine-strong saloon class included Super Saloon drivers and used a handicap start format. Hawke’s Bay saloon champion Steven Martin won the first and second heats and his clubmate and 1NZ for Supers took out the third.
Remember folks our next meeting is a doubleheader – March 2 and 3. Ten teams will battle in the annual Peter Barry Memorial Teams Championship for stockcars and we’re hosting the New Zealand Alexander Electric TQ Championship.
Can Hawke’s Bay cousins Craig and Duane Todd finish with 1NZ and 2NZ respectively for the second consecutive year in this championship and continue the Bay’s remarkable run in national events this summer?
One thing is for certain there will be nothing flat about the next two nights of racing here at ZM Meeanee Speedway, Catch ya then.

Meeting 8 Results & Lap Data.zip