Robertson Prestige International Speedway on Saturday 21st of March saw the Peter Barry Memorial Derby Teams Champs winner crowned alongside the Manawatu Adult Ministock Champion.
Peter Barry was a hard-hitting Stockcar driver who was born in Otorohanga and farmed in Central Hawkes Bay. Peter sadly passed away in 2009 shortly after the ENZED Superstock Teams Champs where he was racing for the Kihikihi Kings. His humble beginnings in derby car teams racing are honoured each year by the Peter Barry Memorial Derby Teams Champs. This year's event had eight teams, all with their own individual unique names and cars painted to represent them. Qualifying had two rounds of four races to determine who would face off in final races for third and fourth place and first and second overall.
First round winners Kemp Electrical, Naki-Bits, Team Geronimo (whose very pink cars really stood out) and Dirty Rottens Inc. were all favorites going into the second round of qualifying. Second round of qualifying winners Shake N Bake, Kemp Electrical, Team Geronimo, and in the last heat race we got to see our first rollover - Dirty Rottens Inc. driver #5 Leighton Gleeson rolled in turn two and the race was won by Team Kaos.
The race for third and fourth was between Naki-Bits and Shake “n” Bake. #83 Jason Pointon was rolled, leaving the Shake N Bake team with only four cars, so it was Naki-Bits that took the win. The final for first and second came down to Kemp Electrical, who had raced solidly all night, and Team Geronimo who I thought had the best presented cars all in bright pink with black numbers - very smart. Team Geronimo driver Leigh Ellwood managed to roll from the fence to the grass in a graceful dying swan type of ballet maneuver. So, it was the one electrician and four farmers from Kemp Electrical who took the win and the prestigious title for this year, well done to all the drivers who put in the effort to get the derby cars out on the track. They’re not so easy to find these days but still very enjoyable racing.
Also on the program was the Manawatu Adult Ministock Champs, and it was fabulous to see a huge turnout of drivers of around 30 cars. They were split into two groups for a pair of reverse-grid qualifying races before a 15-lap final. Group one, heat one saw 127w Cody Hodge have a fabulous race, showing he wasn’t here to muck around taking the flag ahead of 22w Miller Andrews and 7v Devon Wilson. It was great to see so many out-of-town cars, and all racing extremely well. 11w Amy Eckersley wasn’t letting anyone pass her for the flag in the second group, taking a tight victory over 98v Ethan Linklater and 94p Jack Beynon. The second round for group one featured a great battle between 7v Wilson and 141p Harrison Cheetham, and it was Wilson who held out Cheetham for victory with 127w Hodge rounding out the top trio. Group two's second heat saw 53p Seth Hodge take a great win over 22w Blake Gaskin and 17v Hayden Wilson.
The racing leading up to the final to decide the Manawatu Champion had been close, and the final race saw a steady even pace around 15 laps with 7v Devon Wilson, who had been racing superbly all night, take the title and the flag very proudly. Second place was 53p Seth Hodge ahead of his twin brother 127w Cody Hodge. Congratulations to the podium finishers and everyone else for putting in such an effort in fabulous racing.
Something we don’t see at Palmerston North a lot, but certainly entertaining are the Streetstocks. These boys and girls aren’t afraid of a little bit of hard racing and the odd hit. Thirteen cars lined up for the first race, and 4p Dean Dingwall wasted no time in putting 72b Darren Melling into the wall. But it was 75b Adam O’Sullivan who managed to cross the line first, 64b Dontage Irfan was second and third went to Dingwall. Melling recovered to drive a hard, fast race to take the win over 4p Dean Dingwall 3rd place to 64b Dontage Irfan. The final of the night saw the ever-present 4p Dean Dingwall, take the checkered flag over 72b Darren Melling and round up the podium 66b James Dixon we really appreciate these guys travelling here to Palmerston North to put on a great show for us.
Even though Meeanee were running their Peter Barry Memorial Stockcar Teams meeting, we still had a great lineup of 20 cars ready to put on a great show. Right from the beginning 175p Sam Prescott was on the gas and giving the cars in front of him a little hello, and he didn’t let off throughout the whole opening race to take the flag over 54p Bevan Humphrey and 66p Shelby Whittaker. Not settling for third place next time around, Whittaker took the checkered flag in the second race with 86p Beau McLeod right behind, and rounding out the pack always hunting the flag 172p Daniel Burmeister. Whittaker definitely got a taste for the flag, crossing the line in the feature once again in first place. Prescott didn’t have quite enough gas in this race to take the flag, but second on the podium is pretty good. Only managing to be the bridesmaid not the bride tonight, third place on the podium goes to Burmeister.
It wouldn’t be Peter Barry derby teams racing without a good old-fashioned all-in Demolition Derby to finish off the night with mayhem and rolls, leaving car bodies and debris all over the track. What another fantastic night of racing, and boy haven’t we been lucky with the weather? Let’s hope that the Easter bunny not only brings us eggs but sunshine, for two nights racing on Good Friday and Easter Saturday.
Thank you to everyone who puts in a huge effort week after week.
Word on the Street
By Nicola
Full results - https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/3433249
