Cowling secures North Island super saloon title
Whenever Rotorua’s Mark Osborne is in the hunt for a supersaloon feature win a spectacular race is guaranteed.
It was no different on Saturday night at the Robertson Holden Speedway in Palmerston North as he and Chris Cowling slugged it out side by side for the final 14 laps of the North Island title before Cowling narrowly took the win.
Osborne began the 30-lap final on the outside of pole with Mt Maunganui’s Dan Corrin inside him. Cowling began on the third row, behind the Flynn brothers Steve and Grant, with national champion and Cowling’s brother Steve right behind.
While Osborne and others searched for drive on the slick track out wide, Chris Cowling’s set up allowed him to race a tighter pole line, picking off those ahead of him before he and Osborne began their duel, with the two drivers swapping the lead regularly. Just as it appeared Cowling had the upper hand, Wellington’s Matt Eckersley punctured, causing the race to be halted.
With five laps remaining after the restart Osborne again went out against the wall, often thumping the rear of his car against the wall in the corners, challenging for the lead. It was only on the last corner that Cowling got the better of Osborne as the crowd applauded a brilliant race.
Top qualifier Corrin held on for third ahead of Steve Cowling.
Glen Murray and swinger Ann Plummer were the big winners in the sidecar class, securing their first hat-trick of wins, including the feature. Other wins went to the Stu Sowry-dean Harding, Kieran Payne-mikey O’neill and Sam Carter-curt Shepherd combinations.
The stockcar racers were evenly shared between Bryce Jensen (Wellington), Luke Healey and Dion Mooney, with the only rollovers on the night happening in the feature, when both Neil Coley and Daniel Burmeister went over in the same incident.
The adult ministock races went to Steven Sowry and Malissa Alexander (Stratford), with Dylan Barclay taking the feature. The youth races went to Max Lowe, Louis Redshaw and Cody Hodge, with Stratford pair Brae Scott and Liam Whelan winning the other races.
The night began on a sombre note, with all the flags at half mast around the speedway and a minute’s silence, where you could hear a pin drop, as a mark of respect for the victims of the Christchurch shooting. There was another break an hour later when all the race vehicles were silent while the minute’s silence was being held in The Square during the Festival of Cultures lantern festival.