Heron wins Grand Prix title from big minisprint field
Elliot Heron may have lost his New Zealand minisprint title recently, but he showed he is still the driver to beat nationally as he took out the New Zealand Grand Prix title at the weekend.
A big field of competitors turned up to decide the last national minisprint title of the season on a cold Saturday night at the Robertson Prestige International Speedway in Palmerston North.
It wasn’t until the 25-lap final that Heron stamped his authority on the title.
Starting on pole, he flew away from the start and had a big lead over Daniel Nickel, who recently won the International Series.
An accident caused the field to close up. Although Heron got away and into the lead, he had to battle first with Nickel and then with Karl Uhlenberg, who tried hard to pass him.
Heron held on for a deserved win, with Uhlenberg in second place. Nickel dropped off the pace but held on for third.
Two Manawatū titles, the adult ministock and the saloon, were up for grabs, and both came down to the wire.
After three tight heats of Manawatū adult ministock racing, it was Ayrton Smith who came out on top. His second place in the third and final heat proved to be the deciding factor in his win.
In a huge, 37-car field, Smith finished seventh in the first heat after starting at the rear.
A fourth in the second heat left him in second place behind Stratford’s Craig Mason. Charlie O’Hara, Cody Hodge and Riki-Lee Kauri, all with strong title-winning chances, joined them in the final heat.
Hodge took the final heat, but it was only enough to finish in third place overall. He was three points behind Smith, who notched up 100 points over the three heats.
Eighth place in the final heat was enough for Mason to finish second. O’Hara, Stratford’s Lukah Phillips and Kauri followed.
Wellington’s Jordan Russ had taken out the first heat, but his night ended early in the second heat when he became caught up with three other cars, shot out to the wall and rolled out of the championship.
The Manawatū saloon title appeared to be a battle between Stratford’s Blake Hooper and Ashleigh King after qualifying. That was the way it was going in the feature until Paul Hosking popped up and passed them both to take his first title .
Peter Bengston took his first feature win in the super saloon class after another former superstock driver, Hawke’s Bay’s Jason Long, had won the opening two races. It was a clean sweep for Palmerston North drivers, with Joe Ingram in second place and Ian Daniel in third.
Brad Uhlenberg was the standout driver in the superstocks, winning two races, including the feature. Manawatū Mustangs driver Brendon Tye won the other race.
After being rolled in the opening superstock race of the night, Rebecca Barr convincingly won the stockcar feature. Barr won an earlier race, with the opening race going to Stratford’s Shane Denham.
Mike Zachan and swinger Ben Franklin continued on from their recent New Zealand title win to convincingly win all three sidecar races.