The big guns rode into town to contest the JUST COMMERCIAL PARTSWORLD NZ STREETSTOCK GP and just like the shootout at the OK Corral this event would leave few standing.
37 cars made up the 2 qualifying groups and straight out of the traps it was the new 1NZ of David Hampton who took honors in heat 1 and then backed it up with a solid 3rd to top the group. On the other side of the draw another HB car was busting moves to see 72B Darren Melling emerge victorious. With the 2 qualifying heats done and two HB cars showing form { yes we still consider David to be a HB boy } could the 12 year hoodoo be broken since Richard Houston last won the title back in 99/2000.

THE FINALS and it would only take a few laps to answer some of those questions as both Melling and Hampton suffered punctures along with about 4 others.
The track was proving to be hard on equipment and Hampton as early as heat 1 would not do the double while the battle raged on around him. This race was full on Streetstock racing at the highest level and carnage is the best way to describe the unfolding action. At the flag 3NZ Brendon Gooch had propelled himself to first from 19C James Robinson, 79I Graeme McKernan, 11R Stephen DeMalmanche,16B Ben Yeoman and 35C Keith Anderson.

Heat 2 had Darren Melling on pole, but he was dealt to by beening spun out of contention making it two lowly finishes after dominating qualifying early in the night. Gooch was buried in the pack trying to force a way through  and once the dirt had settled the 28G of Trevor McArthur bagged the win from 27B Wayne Melling, 19C James Robinson, 16B Ben Yeoman, 5B Richard Houston and 65B ”the Sheriff” David Brand.

With a second and a third Robinson had emerged from the pack as the points leader from suprise packet Yeoman who had finished with two solid fourths. Brendan Gooch’s challenge had faded slightly as he dropped out of the top six and would need a blinder in the third race to make the podium.

In the commentary box for heat 3 and there was a lap scoring issue on the race monitor. The long time leader and eventual heat winner 56R of Trevor DeMalmanche was only showing in 9th position. As the cars battled through the back markers our focus was on McArthur 28G who we all thought was the leader. 27B Melling was making good moves to claw his way into the top three for the heat race while again behind him Robinson was driving smart to avoid as much trouble as possible while still going forward. As the chequers fell DeMalmanche had the heat victory from McArthur, W Melling, Robinson, B Gooch, Brand and S deMalmanche grabbing 7th on the line…Due to the lap scoring issue it was some time before the results were declared official as the manual system had to be checked.

In 3rd place for the JUST COMMERCIAL PARTSWORLD STREETSTOCK GP was 3NZ Brendan Gooch, 2nd place 11R Steven DeMalmanche and the new champion 19C James Robinson. It was a just reward for the CHCH driver who drove fast, hard and made great moves on track to stay out of the carnage.

Well done to all the entries for putting on an awesome display of racing on what surely must have been one of the busiest weekends streetstocks have ever had.

A massive 19 pairings fronted up for the STOCKCAR BEST PAIRS and were split into 2 groups for qualifying.

In the first group 11B Matt Gautrey did what he does so well and rolled 321V Hilton Parker with a metal crunching hit. As the cars crossed the line 971P Ward had the win from 581P Dare, 510P Knight, 95B Penn, 86B Cooke and 3NZ O’Brien top 6. Penn and Dare paired together had just made a near perfect start in pursuit of the title by bagging 2nd and 4th.

Group 2 and the racing seemed harder and faster on the drying track. The wall was getting a great workout and the extra height it now has adds to the hit factor. 18G Hughes took the win from 94 PHumphries, 17B Iremonger, 97P Ward, 898S Flett and 68P Lamb. With 3rd and 5th both Ward and Humphries had grabbed a bagfull of points.

Heat 2 for group 1 was a classic. O’Brien and Dare were having the Mother of all races out front by swapping the lead over and over. Hollyman was menacing behind and waiting for his chance to upset the leaders. Coming off the final turn it looked like O’Brien had found the line on the inside only to be tagged by Hollyman on the run to the flag. The win went to 581P Jordan Dare from 115P Hollyman, 510P Knight, 3NZ O’brien skidding backwards to register 4th, 66B R Tarrant and 95B Penn 6th.

Group 2 heat 2 was a tame affair with 97P Ward totally dominating the race. 17B Iremonger worked his way through to 2nd, 33P Powell 3rd, 98P Taniwha 4th, 509P Knight 5th and 68P Lamb top 6.
Jason Penn and Jordan Dare had a narrow 5 point buffer going into the final heat but with the points battle tight behind were not in a position to back off. As soon as the lights went green the action started. Hits, misses, punctures this one had it all. 3NZ O’brien suffered a punture which destroyed his teams chances of a podium and then 17B Iremonger was walled on the back straight bringing on the reds. This eliminated another contender then we saw both the 86B of Cooke and 971P Ward lock together given Marty the wild ride along the top of the fence for almost a complete lap. Cars were dropping like fly’s in the heat of battle and at the line the 68P car Lamb had propelled his car to first over Penn, Dare, Knight, Palmer, Parker and Hollyman stealing away a very important 7th as he crossed the finish.

Once the points had been totalled up 6th overall went to the pairing of Troy Battison/Randal Tarrant, 5th Jason Lovell/Jay Knight, 4th Jayden Ward/Regan O’Brien a hugely popular 3rd to both Jemma Palmer/Grant Hollyman, 2nd Jared Lamb/Brian Taniwha and a dominant display in the final race making them out and out deserved winners Jason Penn/Jordan Dare.

It had been another action packed meeting from both championships and I would like to congratulate the winners and competitors for turning it on for us.

We have a break now at ZM Meeanee when the next event is 18th Feb. The Maulers will be contesting a Stockcar teams match.

A VERY BIG THANKS TO DARRIN WILSON FOR ORGANISING THIS EVENT.

See you trackside
Mike Wilson

Meeting 7 lap data.zip

HB SALOON TITLE FOR STEVE MARTIN.
Stevie boy was pumped up ready for this event and as early as heat 1 totally dominated proceedings. Behind him visitor 38w Vic Abbott was fighting his way from the rear grids to steal away 2nd from 11b bruce Edwards who made him work hard for it. 4th place went to rookie 92b Kevin Martin.

Heat 2. Young Kevins chance of a podium evaporated with a flat tyre on lap 2 while 11b Edwards was driving a blinder up front. 277b Mudgway spun to drop him back through the field and 29b Steve Martin sliced through the pack to challange for the lead. At the flag Edwards held on from S Martin with Abbott again charging through to bag 3rd. After 2 heats it was tight at the top in points S Martin 13pts, Edwards 12 and Abbott on 11.

Heat 3 saw Steve storm into the lead early and open up a commanding gap, Mudgway was again suffering handling issues which certainly upped the entertainment value but at the line Steve Martin was a deserved HB Champion from Bruce Edwards in 2nd place overall and Wellingtons Vic Abbott on the last step on the podium.

MINISTOCKS were having a shakedown before next weeks Invasion. 98b Max Bayley is on top form taking a heat win and the feature. 4b Jarrod Lindsay { the new West Coast Champion } drove a strong race to take the other heat from 34b Caleb Waerea and 15b Cameron McKay..Other names worth a mention was the pace of 5b Regan Penn and some solid driving from 21b Shanae Johnston who’s turning 17 in a few weeks { there’s a good car for sale if you need one }. The Ministock top 60 Invasion is going to be no holds barred racing from these young superstars.

On an immaculate surface prepared by Track Magician Paul Tollison , the SIDECARS turned it on again. Heat 1 saw the vastly experienced pairing of Dave Millar/ Lewis Cox storm off for a victory with the little 900cc  revving it’s n#*s off. Heats 2 and 3 went to the faster than lightning from the start 51b bike of Kim Johnston and Hayden Hanson. Chris Lane on the 22b bike had lost the starting touch but it was his spectacular dives from the back that thrilled the crowd and kept his passenger Pete Steigenburger busy on the back. 26b Justin Lincoln is starting to show some of his old form and once again the Sidecars were true entertainers.

The action was full gas in STREETSTOCKS and 27b Wayne Melling continues to be the standout driver bagging 2 wins and a 2nd in the feature. The hits were hard and fast and 7b James Churchwood provided a huge slice of the action. Churchwood would get his reward by taking out a great drive in the feature event.

A big field of SUPERSTOCKS were ready for battle. The tri rails again taking up the challenge. 37b Garry Foley led from pole with 7p Penn making his way through the pack, Tony Meechan 66b was fast and probing around in the top 3. 95b Jason Penn on the final laps came flying off the centre green and got into the side of 7p shane Penn turning him around on the back straight. Meechan suddenly found himself with fresh air and a heat victory from 31p McCabe and Foley third….Heat 2 was an epic dual between Steve Jude and Penn. Both drivers not giving an inch until Penn suffered problems and was forced out moving McCabe up to 2nd and Meechan another top 3.

The feature was 2 in a row for Jude from Meechan and 28b Jason Palamountain driving well for 3rd. In 8th place was young Quinn Ryan debuting in the McCabe 31p car and straight away he looked comfortable in the cockpit.
It was a great night of action under a brilliant HB sky with the large crowd entertained through out. Well done to Bryce Strawbridge for winning one of the best JUST COMMERCIAL PARTSWORLD ramp derby’s I have ever seen and also to Tony Meechan our PRO PARTS DRIVER OF THE NIGHT for grabbing 3 podiums in a quality Superstock field.

Jan 2nd is going to be huge with the HB Minisprint title, Ministock Invasion and the big boys and girls are coming to town in the Super Saloon Car series.

SEE YOU THERE.
Mike Wilson.

Meeting 5 lap Data.zip

More Photos Here

TRIPLE CROWN FOR 1NZ TODD at the DAVID JONES MOTORS NORTH ISLAND TQ CHAMPIONSHIP.

1st 1NZ Craig Todd
2nd 3NZ Dylan MacGregor
3rd 2NZ Duane Todd

With 7 quick Auckland cars in town the locals knew they were in for a gun fight.
HEAT 1 was a marble draw and had 41A Jared Taylor starting from pole of which he took full advantage. Behind 24B James Tollison was on fire as he screamed from grid 5 up to 2nd in a matter of 2 or 3 laps then suffered the worst possible luck as the cam chain snapped forcing him not just out of the heat but from the meeting also.
1NZ Craig Todd was showing his liking for the fast track surface and had stormed through the field from grid 12 right into 2nd at the flag. It was a stunning drive that would set the scene for later.
3NZ Dylan McGregor started off with a solid run from grid 6 to 3rd while 2NZ Duane Todd was carving them up from grid 15 to eventually snatch 5th on the line.

HEAT 2 was a reverse grid and Duane was in the zone from pole, no one was going to go by the 2NZ in this race and try as he did in the early laps 1NZ Todd settled in behind his team mate to bank the points.
McGregor was the one with work to do and he started from grid 10 but ducked and dived his way through the traffic for 3rd place.
Heat 1 winner Taylor came from grid 15 up to 7th at the chequers.

The top 6 on points after the two heats read 1NZ Todd 28, 2NZ Todd 26, 3NZ McGregor 26, 41A Taylor 24, 4A Smith 21 and 74G McGregor 18. After the coin toss McGregor would start from grid 2 with Duane Todd off 3. Before the winner takes the title 20 lap final I asked Craig Todd who he would have prefered on his outside and Craigs reply was “nobody they are all going to be hard off the start” and so it proved as we witnessed one of the most exciting opening laps of the season.
Todd was slightly slower from grid 1 and McGreor ran him deep into turn 1 and stayed on the outside through 2 and down the back straight.
1NZ Todd kept his foot hard on it as they hurtled into the pit bend. McGregor had to concede and that would turn out to be his only chance as Craig ran away with it to take his 3rd Nth Isl crown and make it 15 times for HB drivers. McGregor kept charging as he does to finish runner up from 2NZ Duane Todd 3rd with 4A Steven Smith making a late pass to snatch 4th from 41A Taylor in 5th.
The final ran full distance without the need for caution flags and was a full throttle spectacle of Open Wheel racing. 1NZ Craig Todd has thrown down the gauntlet to those who have ambitions of taking his no 1 plate next year and I for one cannot wait for the Nationals to come round.

THE SIDECARS need a mention for the flat out banging bars racing they put on last night and 22B Chris Lane’s pass on pit bend over 51B Kim Johnston was about as quick as you will see anyone entering a turn.

So the PRO PARTS RIDER OF THE NIGHT AWARD goes to the 22 Crew of Chris Lane and Pete Steigenburger for thrilling the crowd with their 2 heat victories.

Last week 4B Ministock Jarrod Lindsay smashed the track record which now sits at 19.6072. Proof that those kids can hammer the pedal also.

It was a great night of racing and I want to wish you all a very merry xmas and see you again on Boxing night 26th Dec.
Mike Wilson

Meeting 4 Lap Data.zip