Mess and carnage at derby
There was carnage and mess during the annual Stratford Speedway Caravan Derby on Saturday night.
Eleven competitors competed in the 10-lap race which was taken out by Matt Hill who started out towing a boat, but by the end only had a trailer left.
The race showcased destruction at its best and left parts of caravans and boats lying all around the track.
Prior to that, there were four trophies up for grabs during the usual speedway classes. Modifieds and adult ministocks both made their first appearances of the season and raced for their City of New Plymouth Classic events. Although he never won a race all night, Newton Gordge’s consistency of three second placings saw him win the Modified Classic by a four point margin from Aiden Crawford and Richard Pierce.
A first, third and second place finishes over the three races was good enough for Bradley Korff to win the adult ministock event ahead of Nathan Nolly who beat Zane Riddick in a four lap run off after the pair were tied on points for second place.
The saloon class was bolstered by four competitors from Kihikihi. Jarrod MacBeth recorded a fourth place and then two wins to win the Plews Memorial. Brett Barron was second and Richard Dreaver third.
Streetstock racer John Young was in good form and won the Olsen Memorial. Racer Cheyanne Reed was second, just one point behind Young while Wayne Barron came third after beating Steve Reed in a spectacular run off.
The stockcar and superstock classes completed the race programme with wins in the stockcar class going to Rowan Urlich, Kylee Symes and William Hughes. Logan Sharpe, Jason Brown and Nik Kiser were the drivers to carry the chequered flag in the superstock class.
Speedway now takes a break for a couple of weeks. The next meeting is on December 8 and will feature the Burger King Pro Dirt Super Saloons.
■ Both the Stratford Scrappers Superstock team and the Stratford Stormers Stockcar team headed to Huntly Speedway on Saturday night to compete in the team’s invitational event. The Scrappers beat the Waikato Wanderers in the first race but then were beaten by the Baypark Busters in the final after a tough race, finishing second overall. The Stormers, who are the current New Zealand team champions, won their first race against the Meanee Maulers from Hawkes Bay but were then beaten by the Rotorua Rascals in the semi final which put them out of the running for the title.
A good first meeting for both teams with the newly refurbished Scrappers and the Stormers now able to concentrate on the rest of the season with the two biggest teams events which are the Superstock Team Champs in Palmerston North and the New Zealand Stockcar Teams Champs in Stratford, both in February.