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

Fish City Dash For Cash - Placemakers Huntly Nov 4th

 A great nights racing at Huntly and some drivers certainly put their talents on show to good effect. As I seem to have less time to wax the lyrical these days I have put together the following slide show that captures the essence of the early rounds of racing. Look out for the dancing midget going into Placemakers corner.
Remember, you can also find a whole heap more info and photos, etc on every body's favourite website - Macgors
http://www.macgors.has.it/

It's Been A While

The title says it all, on a number of fronts. It has been a while -

• since my last posting
  
• since the last speedway meeting I attended
  
• since I had been to Palmerston North

With the usual slow start to the new season in the north, I was starting to get itchy feet and wanting to shake off the winter hibernation and see some Superstock action. So the decision was made to brave the Labour Weekend traffic and make the pilgrimage back to Palmerston North to catch the 1st round of the Placemakers Series.

This would be my first visit to Palmy since leaving in 1986. Having never been able to make it to Palmy for the Teams Champs I was keen to see why Palmy is such a successful outfit and the stronghold of Stockcar racing. I was suitably impressed and was a happy little camper to see a full field of Superstocks supported by a huge number of Stockcars. The level of presentation of the cars was sensational and an absolute credit to all the owners, drivers, crews and sponsors. I will not go into detail of the racing as I attend speedway to enjoy the racing so tend not to keep track of all the details and results.

To see read more about the meeting use this link -

http://www.pnspeedway.co.nz/asp/news.asp?ID=467

Use this link to see the 26 starters for the series -

http://macgor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=photos&action=display&thread=17972

Harrisville

To top the weekend off there was the fund-raising meeting at Harrisville, Ohakea. Boy, I was blown away by this track and the vision, thought and work that has been put into this facility. it really is a great place to enjoy some light-hearted racing on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It must have the most picturesque dummy grid in the country.


As long as I don't dwell too much on how much the weekend cost, I am really glad I made the trip - great weather, great racing, great facilities, no traffic woes. Great start to the season.

Farewell Stan, 515R & Dolly II

As I unfortunately missed the Easter racing at Paradise Valley, I was hoping that Stan may have had a final run at Huntly for the Speedfest meeting - but not to be. Although several posts have been made covering Stan Hickey's retirement, I also wanted to pay tribute to a driver that I followed closely and always wanted to see on the podium at the end of the nights racing. I have always considered the Hickey racing team as on of the most professional and best presented outfits in Superstock racing and as everyone knows the family also play a big roll in the success of the Rotorua Stockcar Club. I was always impressed, when visiting Paradise Valley, how Stan could be in the water truck or on the grader right up to a few minutes before climbing into the race car, even at the high level meetings like the World 240s, etc.

As with a lot of stories - when one chapter closes, another begins. Hopefully it may not be too many years before we see another Hickey in the Superstock ranks.

So thanks Stan for the outstanding contribution you have made as a competitor at the many tracks around the country you have visited. I always got a kind of tingle up the spine when I spied the awesome Hickey bus in the pits. Maybe the kids may see some of that inheritance now !!