Fireworks and close racing delight
The Fireworks Spectacular was the undisputed star of the show at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night, but the racing wasn’t too bad either.
There was some excellent racing on the track including a couple of roll overs to keep the crowd entertained, with four of the six classes racing contending their City of New Plymouth Classic titles.
Racing was very close with ties for at least one podium position in all four classes.
A 24-car field contested the stockcar title, with Tyler Walker making an excellent start to the event after winning race one from a grid six start. However his failure to finish the next two races ensured he didn’t feature in the top ten.
Bevan Phillips and Damien Hiestand were the two most consistent on the track, the pair ending tied for first place after Phillips recorded a seventh and two second-placed finishes while Hiestand recorded a fifth and two thirds.
The pair faced off in a four-lap run-off to decide the winner and after Hiestand stalled at the start, Phillips ran away with the win.
The minisprints had three different winners over their three races, with Shaun Dickie, Karl Uhlenberg and Cameron Hurley all carrying the chequered flag. Dickie added a second place in race two and a third in race three to claim the title for the class.
In the saloons, Richard Dreaver was in fine form and held a three point margin over his nearest rivals heading into race three for the class’ trophy.
However, disaster struck when his car wouldn’t start for race three and he missed out on the vital points he needed to secure the trophy win. After the three races, Mark Hinton and Jarrod MacBeth were both tied equal for first place, while Craig Korff and Daniel Hinton were tied for third, just one point behind.
Will Hart was the standout driver in the youth ministock class but didn’t quite have luck on his side.
He won the first two races to hold a commanding lead in the hunt for the Classic and was running a strong fourth in race three when he was caught in an incident on the last lap and forced to retire form the race, losing what would have been a first place.
Alana Buckthought, who drove consistently all night, won the trophy by just one point from Ryan Houghton and Brae Scott.
In the support class racing, Mitch Vickery was the dominant force in the superstocks and won all three races. The night wasn’t so good for Carl Shearer who was rolled over by Rotorua driver Tony Fabish in race two.
Modified wins were shared around with Stuart Rose, Farron Lowry and Blair Luscombe taking one each, while Carl Hinton rolled his car after breaking an axle heading into turn two.