Vulcans’ invasion grabs success
The Palmerston North stockcar team’s management need look no further than Jaden Hall to resurrect their national title aspirations later in the season.
Hall brilliantly led the Mid East Select team, made up of Hawke’s Bay drivers Roydon Hynd and Gibson Tout, as well as Gisborne drivers Bruce Harding and Jayden Jarvis, to a shock third place finish at the Stockcar Teams’ Invasion at Palmerston North on Saturday night.
Eight teams lined up for the teams’ invasion at the Robertson Prestige International Speedway. The format was two races each, then the top two battling it out for the title with the next two on points competing for the final podium position.
The much-vaunted Palmerston North Pumas were dumped twice by eventual finalist the Wellington Young Guns and then comfortably handled by the Stratford Stormers.
The second team, Manawatū Steelers, lost to the Whanganui Vulcans and then were dumped out by the Mid East Selection.
It wasn’t that both Palmerston North teams lost all four races that concerned but the nature of the losses; drivers failing to complete the 10 laps or failing to read a race when in a strong position.
Most of the Mid East Select team only met for the first time when they arrived at the track and were introduced to each other, but they immediately teamed together and surprisingly they read the three races well.
In the first, Hall got the jump then he craftily held the pole line while chasing Waikato driver James Marshall tried to spin him.
Unfortunately Marshall spectacularly rolled himself in the effort to get Hall.
The other Mid East Select drivers then protected Hall’s lead with classy blocking headed by Hynd and Harding.
Hall then showed his all-round skill in the next two races blocking for the impressive Hynd to take the chequered flag after Hall had expertly taken out Aaron Watson on the last lap.
The runoff for third was a team effort with Tout, who had been rolled in the second race, blocking strongly along with Hall and Harding.
The top two sides on points, the Wellington Young Guns and the Whanganui Vulcans, met in what was expected to be a titanic bash-fest. And so it proved to be with the lead swapping multiple times as the race leader was taken out.
The Vulcans clearly aimed their energy on taking out national champion Ben Ellis and, after Ellis led early, he was forced into blocking after being thumped into the wall.
The Vulcans’ Nathan Black took the lead before being stopped, allowing impressive team-mate Callum Sturzaker to take the win for the Vulcans.
The Manawatū Superstock title went down to a runoff between Palmerston North Panthers team-mates Jack Miers and Jordan Dare. In a classic four-lap battle, Miers got the jump, leading for the first two laps before Dare forced Miers into the grandstand straight wall.
Just when it appeared Dare would race away, Miers somehow managed to extricate himself from the fence and force his way past Dare and on to another Manawatū title. Another Panthers member, David Lowe, finished third. Dare, Brett Hyslop and Miers had earlier secured heat wins, while an interesting new Palmerston North contracted driver was former Hawke’s Bay Hawkeye and current Whanganui Warriors team member Maddie Wise.
The experienced Wise could help either the Panthers or the Manawatū Mustangs when the Teams’ Champs rolls around on Waitangi weekend in February.
The minisprint races were won by Glen McCutcheon and Daniel Nickel with the saloon races going to Dan Hole and Shane Laking.
Brayden Shaw and Conor Linklater won the Adult ministock races with Gary Adamson the top points scorer.