With anticipation and excitement and the temperature still well above 20 degrees, the flag dropped on the fifth meeting at the Robertson Prestige International Speedway to decide the Manawatu Saloon Champion and the AFC Motorcycles Sidecar Best Pairs.
The Manawatu Saloon Champs saw sixteen V8 growling Mustangs, Corvettes and Camaros in qualifying heat one, all pulled into formation for 10 laps of ducking and diving. 23p Shane Laking proved to be too good, ahead of 34w Amy Eckersley in second and 86s Bradley Korff in third. Heat two saw a trio of Palmy cars cross the finish line first - 7p Clayton Moore, 81p Jonathan Mason and 8p Mike Denham. The 15-lap final race which decided the Manawatu Champion was won by 86s Korff who crossed the line to take the flag in a very convincing style, 34w Eckersley followed closely in second and 7p More was 3rd. 4p Stu Sowry who was on double duties, not only in a Saloon but a Superstock, had the fastest lap time of the final with 14.072 seconds.
Next on the event was the Sidecars, the annual AFC Motorcycles Best Pairs championship. The teams were named earlier in the week with a live stream draw done by Bruce Robertson. Heat one saw the combination of 8p Rob Miller & Jaxon Hannan end up being fourth out of the gate, looking like and old mallard duck with nowhere to go on date night, with 3 very fast bikes ahead of him. But somewhere between turn three and four he transformed from an old duck to a hawk, a bird of prey methodically passing and hunting down each bike ahead to take the chequered flag. What a start to the night - if that race didn’t have you on the edge of the seat, I’m not sure what would. Heat two 32p Sam Carter & Martijn Domper took the win followed by 33b Lance Beets & Harley Simmons and 21p Glen Murray & Josh Henderson. Heat three sadly saw a pair of DNF's - 17b Nick & Caleb Holland pulled to the infield and 17p Tony Hislop & Aidan Foothead as well with a suspected blown head gasket, leaving 34v Aaron Rose & Nigel Sturgeon took the win. The next five heats saw no dramas, just great exciting racing with wins to 8p Miller & Hannan, 89p Wayne & Max Lett, 7p Matt Stewart & Nick Dunne, 89p Lett & Lett and 34v Rose & Sturgeon. If you’ve never really watched this class, take the opportunity to sit down and watch them. It’s always one hell of a ride.
The AFC Motorcycles Sidecars Best Pairs champions were crowed with the pairing of 89p Wayne & Max Lett & 7p Matt Stewart & Nick Dunne taking the honours. Second on the podium 27b Craig Boaler & Kayla Meehan paired with 33b Lance Beets & Harley Simmons. Third place 8p Rob Miller & Jaxon Hannan paired with 13p Willy Jensen & Robert Jensen. Congratulations everyone.
Sadly, it’s not something we see a lot of at the Robertson Prestige International Speedway, but the V8 Super Modifieds were fantastic and let’s hope they come back soon. The field of 11 certainly entertained the crowd, with the first win going to 12s Jason Kalin followed closely by 68a Cody Hata. Heat two 121a Newton Gordge took the chequered flag followed by 9gm Braith Kalin and 22s Aiden Crawford. The feature was fast and furious, with 12s Jason Kalin taking the win over 9gm Kalin and 121a Gordge. A great class to watch, and interesting to see so many different letters on the side of the cars from A to GM. These Modified drivers are obviously committed and travel around the country to showcase their class, thank you for coming to Palmerston North.
Next up the Minisprints with two races plus the feature and it was all about 5s Regan Ogle who impressively took the chequered flag in all three races, and in the final was well over half a lap ahead of his next rival 18p Daniel Nickel who took third in the first race, second in race two and the feature. 2nzp Glen McCutcheon took a third in race two and third in the feature.
Two races plus a feature for the 29 Stockcars. 86p Beau McLeod took the first win with 14p Ikey Hautapu closely behind, 52v Mitchell Lockett in third. Great to see 14p Hautapu hasn’t forgotten how to put the big hits in, rolling 34p Rob Mason. Heat two 48p Josh Mulcahy out manoeuvred and outdrove 16p Wayne Vercoe and 1nzb Caleb Ireland. A name you quite often see on the podium in a feature race is 172p Daniel Burmeister, who was closely followed by 48p Mulcahy and 1nzb Ireland.
Every kiwi would have to remember the signs and the chants bring back buck, after last week’s performance I feel we should start our own chorus bring back the bomber a.k.a. 661p Bryn Liddell - boy did he entertain us last week in the Superstocks. His partner in crime last week 97p Byron Rowlands did manage to get a few sparks flying while riding the wall, but nothing could stop 127g Ethan Rees from taking out the feature in style, with 96g Brad McGee and 5g Josh Prentice in second and third respectively. The G cars just too good in the feature at the end of the night.
A big thanks to all the drivers and crew for coming out each week to put on a massive show for the crowds - we really appreciate what you do. Till next week, be kind.
Word on the Street
By Nicola
Full results - https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/3301202
