Hermansen signs off with three in a row
Palmerston North’s Christian Hermansen has become just the second person to win three consecutive national minisprint titles in the class’s 26-year history after a brilliant performance on his home Robertson Holden Speedway track.
The only other occasion a driver has won three consecutive titles was when Auckland’s Richard Battersby dominated the class.
The win in a 23-car field on Thursday was anything but easy, though, with the title coming down to virtually a match race in the third and final heat with fellow Palmerston North driver Shane Dewar.
The two were level on points going into the final heat with Huntly’s Ben Vaughan, but while Hermansen and Dewar started near the front, Vaughan began at the rear of the field.
Hermansen, who has been the standout minisprint driver over the past four years, announced his third win would be his last in the class.
‘‘Actually, the car has been for sale all year and if it had been sold I wouldn’t have been here,’’ he said. ‘‘I want to try another class and I’m going to get into the super saloons.’’
Asked why he raced in a class that only competed three times in the season at Palmerston North, Hermansen said it had always appealed to him.
‘‘It’s a class Dad [Mike Hermansen] raced and although there aren’t many occasions they race at Palmerston North, there are quite a few drivers from the area and you can race 20 meetings in a season quite easily, while there’s the 12-round Burger King series as well. A massive attraction is getting to race at the teams champs in front of a packed-out Palmerston North venue.’’
Runner-up Shane Dewar tried all he could to put Hermansen under pressure, which he did in the first two heats, but after Hermansen hit the front after one lap it was always going to be tough to get close to him.
Dewar began the final in a vital four places on the grid behind Hermansen.
‘‘I got past him in the first heat and put my nose in a couple of times in the second heat but couldn’t quite pull it off,’’ Levin’s Dewar said.
Like Hermansen, Dewar has a family history in speedway, with his father Paul racing the supermodified class in the late 1980s.
‘‘Dad could never go to any speedway meeting without me tagging along.’’
It was no surprise to see Palmerston North’s national sidecar champions Russell Stuart and Andrew Parker win the onerace Manawatu¯ championship final.
With the heavy rain during Christmas causing the track to cut up, track manager Bryan Puklowski sent out the grader to flatten the surface for the bikes and after a 10-minute break the sidecars came out.
Sidecar organiser Tony Hislop said the first race was challenging but the track got better as the night went on.
Marshall Zachan won the Manawatu¯ youth ministock title ahead of Cody Hodge and Huntly visitor Ryan Marshall.