NZ Welding School World Invitation Superstocks Finals

And so after a great nights racing to find the the qualifiers it was back to Paradise Valley for finals night. Some of the pre-match entertainment was the annual pit crew challenge where two crews go head to head at changing a front wheel. The McRobbie crew successfully defended their title over the Hickey crew.

 As 7.00pm rolled around, everyone was eagerly awaiting the repercharge for those who missed qualifying the previous night. This is one of my favourite races of the event and boy did it deliver this time around. Just when you thought things were pretty cut and dried something would happen and completely change the race. Brilliant.

Here is some of the action from the repercharge.

Now to the main event, the finals over three heats. As on night one I only shot the first round of racing so the following pics are from the first heat. As is the norm at Paradise Valley, a lot of the action takes place in turns one and two and so many driver's races were won or lost negotiating the carnage. It is really interesting to watch how different drivers approach turn one at the start of the race.

The line up for heat one of the finals.

Some of the ensuing action from heat one.

The final heat would turn out to be a Palmy benefit which was a reversal of the recently run NZ Champs at the same venue where the Nelson boys made the crucial plays. However this time around I think the sheer weight in numbers of P cars made the difference. I was more than happy with the outcome as the 1st and 2nd placegetters are currently two of my favourite drivers to watch and like a dose of dejavu these two drivers would meet in a run off after ending heat three equal on points. Who doesn't like a run off to decide a major title. It is unfortunate though how the run off ended with a wheel going astray over the fence, initially heading directly in my direction although I was well back and out of harms way. Glad the spectator that copped it was not seriously hurt. At this stage I made for the gate for the drive back to Auckland.

Congratulations to  the following drivers, you really earned your spots.

1st - Peter Rees 3NZ (what more can you say about him)

 

2nd - Scott Joblin 2NZ (damn wheel)

3rd - Graeme Barr 32P (oh so close)

1st Superstock in Paradise - Dale Ewers 1NZ (well deserved)

Well that's it for another year. Will be hoping that Peter, Scott and Dale can make the trip to the UK later in the year and crack the BRISCA World title.

To all the competitors, crews and the Rotorua club members, thanks again for a truely great event. Lastly thanks to all the sponsors of the event and namely the NZ Welding School for their continued support.

NZ Welding School World Invitation Superstocks Qualifying

This is part one of a double-header covering another great event run by the Rotorua club at SG Equipment Paradise Raceway. A sunny hot afternoon greeted everyone as Drivers, Crew and Spectators arrived for qualifying night. I must admit that I was not expecting too much drama given the low numbers in each group but was pleasantly surprised by the amount of aggressive driving a number of competitors displayed in their attempts to make the main game the following night.

It never amazes me how a drivers race can change in an instant. Some drivers made their own luck and some couldn't even buy any. I think this is one aspect that makes speedway so interesting to me.

As with other recent meetings I have attended, the plan was to take some photos of the first round of racing then sit back and enjoy. After all that is why I spend so much hard earned dosh travelling to these meetings.

For an in depth description of the racing, please visit the Rotorua Club website -

http://www.rotoruaspeedway.co.nz/cgi-bin/control.pl?Function=Results&pageid=1295416054&Item=20110116.txt

Here's some the action from round one of the three qualifying groups.

 

Speedy Signs NZ Superstocks



 I had been waiting for this meeting with great anticipation for sometime. The Rotorua club is held in high regard around the country so it was expected that the number of entries for this championship would be on the high side. The weather gods played their somewhat familiar cards as we all know but 80 competitors still fronted on the second attempt to kick the meeting off. After the shakedown meeting and rained out qualifying it was a long two days waiting for the action to explode at the impecably prepared Paradise Valley Raceway.
Qualifying night threw up some surprises in who did and did not make it. As mentioned by the commentary team, if drivers wanted to be up the pointy end they would have to drive aggressively around the tight Rotorua track. Nothing too drastic but plenty of bumper work was put in to clear a pathway to make those all too important passes to gain points.
Finals night was setup nicely with an amazing repercharge to find the final two spots. Boy I didn't know where to look sometimes but was very pleased with the results although my heart went out to the unlucky Paul Vazey dipping out in the last lap. The plan was to take some shots of the first round of racing then ditch the camera and sit back and enjoy the show. I was certainly not dissappointed, what a great two four nights, I was a contented little puppy when my head hit my pillow back in Auckland in the early hours of Friday morning.
Congratulations to Dale Ewers, Scott Joblin and Peter Rees for their podium finishes. Dale is a well deserved Champion who will carry the title with utmost honour and professionalism during his tenure. All three are some of if not the most prominent competitors in Superstocks at present and all deserve their places.
A few other mentions for those that caught my eye were Jack Miers and Dale McKenzie for utter raw young talent, watch these two. Next is Campbell MacManaway, he seemed to be in everything, was glad to see him make the final. Then there is Paul Vazey, one for his rotten luck and the other is for how tough the 351A battleship is. Lastly is Stan Hickey for giving it one more try, was influential in final heat. Glad he got to carry the chequered around Paradise one more time during qualifying. Must also mention the Top Gear motorsport cars built by Scott Hewson with all three making final and the boss nearly scoring a podium.
Not enough can be said about the Paradise Valley Raceway and the facilities provided by the Rotorua Club. All the immense amount of work over the years showed. Sure there were a few things you could grumble about but most of these things were acknowledged and addressed. I can't wait for the World 240s to get another fix of Superstocks in Paradise. Lastly before I post some pics of the action, thanks to Speedy Signs and all associated sponsors who help to make these big meetings possible