The third meeting of 2025/26 at the Robertson Prestige International Speedway was the Manawatu Standard Fireworks Spectacular. There was a huge crowd in attendance, and it was lovely to see so many families. When the lights went out, the Fireworks were definitely spectacular which was shown with appreciation from the crowd with lots of oohs, ahs and gasps. Truly a fabulous fireworks display from the Kairanga Lions. But of course, it wasn’t all about the Fireworks!
The Superstock Shownight cup was originally presented by the A & P Association over 50 years ago when they owned what was then known as the showgrounds. With 15 Superstocks all lined up ready to take the cup, 971c Jayden Ward left no doubt in anyone’s mind that trophy was going to end up on his shelf by the end of the night. With style and grace, he took out the first two races and without blinking an eye when it came to the finals, he was just too good and nobody could touch him. But if there was an award for the night for the biggest stirrer that would have to go to 37p Bryn Liddell, followed closely by his sidekick and friend 97p Byron Rowlands. It started in race two and continued into race three when Liddell decided to teach Rowlands what a Catherine Wheel is (old name for a firework - you nail to the fence and it spins) which is exactly what 97p Rowlands did landing back on his wheels continued on, giving Liddell a wave as he drove past. The pair ended up intertwined on the grass before bouncing back onto the track, where Rowlands turned in on 237w Thomas Davis and rolled him. It certainly made interesting watching, and a crowd favourite race to see bumpers can still be used. Congratulations to 29p Matt Demanser and 156p Trent James for also making the podium in second and third for the Shownight Cup.
The Ray Tarrant Sidecar Memorial is a sought-after title, and it’s the one all the Sidecar combinations want to win. Ray Tarrant was a passionate and enthusiastic announcer in Palmerston North back in the 1980s and 90s, and he had a huge love for Sidecar class. One of his sons Herb became part of the Sidecar family, while his other son Dave raced Superstocks - truly a family with a lot of passion for the sport. 15 combinations turned up for the night, and were broken into three groups of five, with the top five going into the final. After nine breathtaking, nerve-wrecking, sitting on the edge of your seat races, it came down to 5 bikes that lined up at the start. After a couple of wheel stands and a little bit of argy-bargy it was the combination of 27b Craig Boaler & Kayla Meehan that barrelled through to the front and won the Ray Tarrant Sidecar Memorial Championship, followed by 8p Rob Miller & Jaxon Hannan, 34v Aaron Rose & Nigel Sturgeon, 89p Wayne Lett & Max Lett and 17p Tony Hislop & Matt Stewart - nice to see the old combination of 17p swinging together again for this meeting. Other great rides for the night were 21p Glen Murray, 5p Wingnut who sadly had to pull off due to mechanical problems.
Next out on the track were the big boys - the Super Saloons. Race one saw the kids favourite lookalike of Lightning McQueen 95b Grahame Strong have a bit of time out in the wall. But it was one of the flying Flynn brothers 6b Grant who crossed the finish line in first. 27s Joe Ingram was next, followed closely by 1nzc Mark Osborne who had made the trek north. Race two saw a bit of excitement by the pit gate with 58p Peter Bengston coming off worse for wear. This wee bit of a pile up had no effect on 76c Ashton Osborne who took the win. 1nzc Mark Osborne had a good race to take second place, and third was 18b Jeremy Browne. The last race of the night for the Super Saloons saw 6b Grant Flynn take the flag head of 76c Ashton Osborne closely followed by 27s Joe Ingram.
With a lineup of over 30 Stockcars you knew the class was going to be entertaining. Race one saw 24p Jessica Powell ride the wall, a huge pile up in turn two and several cars taking tango lessons on the infield. Despite the carnage 135p Jaden Hall crossed the line in first, with second place 226p Liam Metcalfe and third going to 126g Asher Rees. In race two Rees took no prisoners to take the chequered flag, right behind him was 48p Josh Mulcahy and 85g Brittany Carpenter in third. 88p Hunter DeRidder decided to give the crowd something to cheer about in turn four as he did the big rollover. In the feature we had G, P and W cars take the podium - it’s always nice to see out of town cars mixing it up; 85g Ethan Rees, 133p Tyler Walker, 237w Thomas Davis.
Youth Ministocks rounded out a packed night with race one 52p Boston Joblin, a well-known name in the Speedway community with father Scott and Grandfather Russell, takes the win. Second place went to 294p Charlie Newman, third place saw the very smooth young driver 18p Aiden Waihi cross the line. But in Race two it was all about Waihi there was no catching him, in a very fast race he crossed the line in first. 21p Mason Taylor was second and third Newman. 92p Rhylee Grieve-Lowe decided in turn two to check out the track more closely, at different angles as she went up and over. The chequered flag in race three went to 23p Kobe Dorn in a very convincing win, second to cross the line was Taylor and third went to Joblin. The last race of the night saw 48p Keaton Hercoe take the win followed by Joblin and Newman.
It wouldn’t be a Shownight without a good old D.M.R Metal Recyclers Ramp Race, with over 25 cars lining up ready to take on the ramp. Fabulous to see the effort the drivers had taken to decorate the cars, the D.M.R Metal Recyclers Ramp Race was won by car #900 driven by Tommi Burr.
What a fantastic night! Thank you to all the workers, crew, drivers and staff that make it happen. Let’s bring on next week.
Word on the Street
By Nicola
Full results - https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/3289124
