Panthers take title in front of home crowd
The Palmerston North Panthers took out their 18th Superstocks Teams Champs in front of a packed Palmerston North crowd on Sunday night, beating the powerful Gisborne Giants in a final as good as any of the previous 37.
Some cheered as the Panthers rolled out for the final, but a larger number of the 16,000 who crammed into the Robertson Holden Speedway wanted a Giants win.
But, once the Panthers’ Jordan Dare crossed the line, followed by William Humphries, the entire crowd applauded them on a lap of honour.
Dare, who took the chequered flag in three of the team’s four races, while the rest of the team protected his lead, was almost speechless in the pits afterwards.
‘‘This is a great team to be part of, from the managers [Scott Miers] and Shane [Penn], to our captain Peter [Bengston] and Wayne [Hemi],’’ Dare said. ‘‘They’ve all been there and done it before and stay calm all the time.’’
With Hemi having an outstanding season and Dare undoubted class, with three podium finishes at the New Zealand (Individual) Champs, it was easy for them both to come into the Panthers after racing for the Mustangs.
Hemi, who performed strongly in the semi-final, only for an error of judgment to see him excluded from a final he likely wouldn’t have raced, with Bengston sure to come back in, raced strongly, winning one race and blocking strongly in the semi-final.
‘‘Look, everyone knows Jordan [Dare] and I come as a combo,’’ said Hemi, who owns Dare’s superstock. ‘‘But, I have been keen to get back into the team on merit and see how Jordan race for the Panthers.
‘‘And along with Jack [Miers] and William [Humphries], didn’t they show just how good the future... for the Panthers is.’’
Hemi admitted after a powerful semifinal he made an error of judgment on the last corner, when he took a Great Britain Lions driver over the grass and into the wall.
‘‘I’d been so careful all weekend, so it was disappointing to do that, but it didn’t have any affect on our plans for the final.’’
The final didn’t start well for the Panthers, with Giants captain Peter Rees taking out the front wheel of Bengston, while Humphries was slammed up the wall.
Ethan Rees tore off to a big lead ahead of Dare until Bengston showed why he’s one of the great teams racers and now has a record 10 titles, along with his great mate Scott Miers, who he won eight ENZED/DEWTEC titles with.
As Ethan Rees came round the grandstand on the second lap, Bengston planted him into the wall and virtually out of the race. More was to follow when the young Miers then rolled Gary Davis, leaving the Giants with two cars running.
Despite his best efforts, Peter Rees couldn’t contain the Panthers’ drivers before Miers smashed him as he was sideways across the track.
The Panthers had earlier demolished top qualifier the Lions, while the Giants, who have added a lot to the country’s biggest motorsport meeting in the past two seasons, made the final after comfortably beating a wounded double reigning champion, the Hawke’s Bay Hawkeyes.
Baypark Busters must wonder what happened to them. They narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-final by just five points.
Then, on Sunday night, the Busters beat the Rotorua Rebels 130-65, but were left gutted when the Stratford Scrappers demolished the Wellington Wildcats to race for third.
The Busters capped an unbeaten weekend, beating the British Lions for fifth place, while the Scrappers lost the third-place runoff to the Hawkeyes.