Stockcars ready to rumble at Glen
Speedway fans are in for a treat at Ampro Tools Woodford Glen Speedway, Kaiapoi, this weekend (tonight and tomorrow night) as it hosts the inaugural Brown and Syme Rumble by the River stockcar spectacular. With drivers coming from as far away as Palmerston North, much is anticipated from this contest, which is modelled on the successful and prestigious Battle of the Stocks.
This is a challenge where hitting, ramming or crashing into your competitors is encouraged. Thirty-four drivers will compete in pairs as they try to eliminate their opposition. The two drivers with the highest combined points at the end of racing tomorrow night will have the honour of being crowned the first Rumble by the River Champions.
Six-times world jetsprint champion Peter Caughey, from Christchurch, won the final round of the UIM World Superboat Championship at Whanganui last weekend but lost his world crown. Caughey’s prospects were dashed before the series started after problems with United States-supplied parts could not be rectified in time. He had been hoping to launch the latest in cutting-edge racing craft but instead had to lease fellow racer Steve Bron’s second-string boat, fighting a battle against the clock to be competitive.
After crashing out the previous weekend at Featherstone, Caughey took some desperate measures, and won.
Whanganui’s Leighton and Kellie Minnell won the world title and ironically the top three finishers were all in Sprintec boats built by Caughey.
After their successful debut at Hampton Downs, south of Auckland, last weekend it would pay to head out to Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Easter for the second round of the V8 Supertourers Series. These new Ford and Holden V8s were impressively fast and highly entertaining for the large crowd. Greg Murphy certainly showed just how much talent he still has on the track. There were three outstanding races with lots of passing, thrills and (unfortunately for some) spills. Although suffering from a niggling temperature issue, Christchurch’s Andy Knight ended up eighth overall, with Eddie Bell immediately behind him on the points table.
The penultimate round of the South Island Formula Ford championship takes place at Timaru International Raceway this weekend. A real battle is looming, with several drivers well placed to win the series. Brett Sullivan (Nelson, Van Diemen RF 01) leads from Munro Tall (Queenstown, Van Diemen RF 90) with Michael Collins (Christchurch, Van Diemen Stealth) in third place. The final round of the championship will take place in Christchurch on March 4.
A large contingent of Australian rally drivers are heading across the Tasman in May to compete against the best Kiwis and Welsh rally star Gwyndaf Evans in the Classic Rally of Otago. The rally, run over three days, last year introduced the unique feature of night stages on the Friday giving both competitors and spectators the opportunity to watch the cars light up the forests.