Stratford Stormers retain trophy
After being unbeaten all day, the Stratford Stormers stockcar team retained possession of the New Zealand Teams Champs trophy they won for the first time last season in Auckland.
The team, consisting of Mark Duthie, Haydin Barker, Bevan Phillips, Tyler Walker, Damien Hiestand, Andrew Dodunski and team manager John Booker competed in the event at Stratford Speedway on Saturday with 12 other teams throughout New Zealand.
Originally scheduled to be run on Friday and Saturday nights, club organisers had to quickly reshuffle the meeting to run in one day after consistent rain on Friday.
The reshuffled day saw qualifying take place in the afternoon and then a three hour gap to allow teams to repair their cars before the finals started at 3pm.
Eight teams from the qualifying session progressed to the along from finals and the Stormers were at the top of the list after winning both their races against the Wanganui Vulcans and the Baypark Bulldogs.
The Stormers then went on to beat the Kihikihi Crusaders in the quarterfinals, the Gisborne Gladiators in the semifinals and then faced the Palmerston North Pumas in the final.
The final race was a brutal affair with three red light stoppages during the race.
The Pumas lost a car before even one lap was completed when Kyle Lampp was fired up the wall and the Stormers lost Haydin Barker soon after when he was smashed in turn four with his car bursting into flames. Tyler Walker was in the lead at this point and with superb blocking from Phillips and Duthie throughout the race, he stayed in front and crossed the line to win.
Team manager John Booker was very happy with the team’s performance: ‘‘To defend that title at home was just awesome.’’