Smeats On Tour–1st stop, Palmerston North

 

With some long overdue annual leave booked, the first point of business was deciding on the destination. After checking the calendar, it was an easy choice in picking the Total Sheetmetals Manawatu Superstock Champs at Robertson Holden International Speedway, Palmerston North. After yet again missing the Teams earlier in the month, I was keen to visit the current mecca of Superstock racing for what is always a hotly contested championship. After a worryingly damp drive down the middle of the North Island on Friday, I was happy to see a fine sunny day greet me as I arrived in Palmy on Saturday morning.

I must of had a preminition of what was to come, as before the meeting I took two photos of which camps I thought the action would come from.

Firstly of course was the dramatic rollover by Wayne Hemi in 591p The Red Waka II after collecting a piece of bumper that had come off another car and acted as the launch ramp. Luckily for Wayne there was no significant injury sustained, unfortunately the crew were unable to get the car back out for any further racing. A real pity because it was showing some stunning pace. There are some pics of the tumble further down.

Next is a shot of the 19c Malcom Ngatai camp. It seems that any major Superstock field is not complete without the 19c war machine on the grid, which is a testament to the amount of travel this team undertakes in a season. Malcom and his crew also bring an extra level of fun and involvement to the pits for the families and kids with what I deem the Ngatai Fun Park. He must be sooooooooooo stoked to be the 1st driver outside of Manawatu / Wanganui to win the Manawatu Championship in 40 odd years.

Also of interest to me was Nelson Hartley having a run in the Rees Spaceframe (complete with the super shocks) while doing double duty in the Sprintcar, which was sporting a rather radical double wing configuration until reverting back to a more conventional wing. Always good to see a new face testing the waters in Superstocks.

The Appetiser – Stockcars from heat 1

Main Course – Superstocks from heat 1

Dessert – Sidecars / Sprincars

So there ends the first part to the tour, a great night of racing at arguably the best facilities in the country. Thanks to the Drivers, Crews and Track Staff.

Stay tuned for part two of the tour which takes in The Greenkeeper West Coast Stockcar Champs at Oceanview Speedway, Wanganui.

Palmy here I come........holidays at last!

While work commitments have curtailed any recent updates, I am looking forward to this weekend as I will be on holiday and heading to Palmerston North to catch the Manawatu Superstock Champs. Stay tuned as I plan to do a big update following this meeting, then I will be heading back to Auckland for the Superstock GP.

H.O.T. and Cold in Paradise

I have been following the ‘House of Travel’ series for Stockcars and Superstocks for the last three years so I had been counting down the days for the first round last Saturday, 26th November. I enjoy any excuse for a stay in Rotovegas plus it gave me an excuse to try out the new tent and visit some of the family in Edgecumbe.

This was my first visit to SG Equipment Paradise Valley Raceway for the new season and I was keen to see what improvements the Rotorua club had achieved over the off-season. The first thing to attract my attention was the new hand-out, as you enter, advertising the various food outlets. I am a big fan of the catering options at Paradise and as usual the bar has been raised again. Next was the new safety fence and retaining wall around the outside of the track. No small under-taking for an off-season and a significant addition to the facility. Further improvements also made to both the Pit and Public areas have the place looking really Competitor and Fan friendly.

After a good look over the impressive display of machinery in the pits, I wrapped up and headed to the terraces to watch a great nights racing. Hot food and drinks were the order of the night as there was a predictably chilly breeze trying to freeze my nads off. Check here if for a write up on the action. On the whole a really enjoyable night and a great follow up from Huntly the previous weekend.

As an aside, this was the view from the front door of the tent at one of my favourite camp grounds, Willowhaven (in Ngongotaha). Another reason I look forward to getting down to Rotorua.

Now down to business – here’s the low down from the pits…….

Superstocks

Stockcars

Minisprints

Apologies to the Saloons, Streetstocks and Ministocks, who also added brilliantly to the programme, as I didn’t get time to take any decent pics of everyone.