New machines make their debut in style among a quality lineup
SPEEDWAY
Two new cars on debut and a combination perfected during last summer claimed feature race honours at a fast-paced Baypark Speedway season opener last Saturday night.
Joining forces with the Harper Leonard Racing squad to pilot a new Maxim sprint car, NZ No. 3 Daniel Thomas was the class of a quality sprint car field and led the 20-lap feature from start to finish.
Thomas was able to grab the advantage at the green light and also when racing resumed following three cautions.
“I had a bit of pressure from Stephen Taylor and Rodney Wood at the restarts, but I held my lines because I knew I had the best lines,” said Thomas.
“My crew chief Jason [Mcindoe] and the team did a great job on the car setup. It was the best car I’ve driven. I have never felt so comfortable in a car, and it felt amazing to drive.”
Thomas said he enjoyed Baypark’s freshly laid track surface and reshaped turn three-four profile.
“The track was really good. They’ve done a great job with the track preparation,” he said.
It was a 1-2 finish for the HLR team. As Wood’s pace faltered in the closing laps with a broken shock absorber, Ryan O’connor made the move into second place on the final lap to shuffle Wood back to third.
Aucklander Craig Cardwell debuted a new four-bar rear suspension super saloon built in Tauranga by Cowling Motorsport and won the first heat race.
In the 20-lap South Pacific Championship, Cardwell gained the second spot after an early battle with Sam Waddell and Scott Hayward and was gaining on race leader Steve Cowling when Cowling clipped a spinning lapped car and was forced out with damaged front suspension.
Running a mid-track line,
Cardwell was able to hold off Waddell in the second half of the race while Hayward was third.
Cardwell’s car had only completed a handful of laps at a preseason Waikaraka Park practice.
“This car feels a bit different and it’s also a different style of driving,” said Cardwell. “The track was good, and it definitely feels a bit faster.”
Making a perfect start to the season was former NZ midget car champion Brad Mosen (Auckland).
His Greenway team has also built a new car over the winter, but Mosen has elected to stick with a combination that was fine-tuned last summer.
He won both of his heat races and in the 25-lap Midas Midget Series feature, he took the lead on a lap eight restart from early front-runner Mitch Osborne.
“I started from the back in my first heat, was up to second by lap two,” said Mosen. “Then I won the second heat from the front and, with the first three rows inverted, I started sixth.”
Along with Osborne, Mosen passed former national champs Michael Pickens and Peter Hunnibel on his run to the front.
“I really enjoyed the track, and it was great to see a good crowd,” said Mosen.
Mosen led home Osborne, Pickens and Hunnibel in a race that had just one caution.
A three-heat format for the super stocks saw Todd Hemingway post two wins before Ross Ashby led home Matt Jarvis and Hemingway in the third race.
The next meeting at Baypark Speedway is the annual Fireworks Extravaganza on Saturday next week.