Thrills and spills at Whanganui Speedway
Large field provides plenty of action
It was billed as a Club Night, but Saturday night’s racing at Fast Lane Spares Oceanview Family Speedway provided plenty of thrills, a few spills, and some stellar racing.
With a number of Superstocks running at Wellington’s $10,000 Shootout meeting, the Stockcar class took top billing, with a few Superstocks running off the back.
The Superstock field included Dutch racer Rick Wobbes, running the ex-Graeme Barr car.
A large field of Stockcars provided plenty of action, with Palmerston North driver Wade McNabb winning the first heat from Mark Johnston and Josh Mulcahy, and Scott Duncan the first of the Superstocks to finish, getting up to seventh in the 27-car field.
Dion Mooney won the second heat from Mulcahy and Johnston, and Duncan again the best of the Superstocks in fourth position, whilst Mulcahy went one better winning the final heat ahead of Mooney and McNabb, with Duncan and Richard Hart the best of the Superstocks.
Despite not having raced since the NZ Superstock Championship at Whanganui in January 2020, Hart improved with each outing and recorded the fastest lap for the class with a 16.807 lap in the final heat.
The Grand Slam was won by Mooney from Bailey Chapman and Wayne Vercoe with Hart leading the Superstocks home.
A good field of Midgets was somewhat depleted after Brad McDonald and Jordan Russ withdrew with issues after the warm-up.
Ben Huijs took out the first race from Brent Huijs and former New Zealand Minisprint champion Shane Dewar, with Ben recording the fastest lap of the night for all vehicles, a 15.535-second scorcher.
Hayden Sherman took out the second heat ahead of Ben Huijs and Dewar with Brent Huijs making a clean sweep for the Team Huijs Racing team winning the feature from Dewar and Sherman.
Another big field of Youth Ministocks was on hand, with wins shared between Harrison Cheetham, CJ Graham-Brown and local driver Devon Wilson.
Palmerston North’s Charlie Newman provided the most spectacular moment of the night, rolling his car along the back straight. Both the car and driver were okay and returned for the next race.
With their West Coast Championship to be held this week, there was a big field of Adult Ministocks on hand.
Caleb Keane won the first heat from Stephen Mann and Kobe Day, whilst Keane was beaten by a mere one-hundredth of a second in Heat two, pipped at the post by Charlie O’Hara with Gabriella van Wyk in third place.
Kris Rasmussen took out the final heat ahead of Hamish Eagle, Keane, and O’Hara.
The BRC team dominated the Production Saloons with Ray Jaggard winning the first heat, Brent Hackett winning the next two and Chelsea Ellmers recording a maiden third placing in the last heat.
Newcomer Andre Crous came home third in the opening heat and Mike Lovell finished second in the second heat, preventing a complete BRC shut-out.
Meanwhile, Trent James came within a lap of a $10,000 payday in Wellington in the final of the Friday Homes Superstock Shootout.
James, in just his second year in the class, took the lead early after managing to squeeze seasoned teams’ racer Jayden Ward below the pole line, forcing Ward to disengage and concede the advantage.
Ward however showed his class taking James to and up the wall on the final lap, claiming his second consecutive Shootout win and $10,000 winner-take-all prize.
James finished in second and another highly promising youngster Kaelin Mooney finished in third place overall suggesting that the future of Whanganui Superstock racing is bright.
This weekend the Wanganui Warriors are off to Huntly Speedway for the Huntly Invitational Teams Meeting.
There’s plenty of optimism from local supporters as the team of Zane Dykstra (captain), Kaelin Mooney, Max Holloway, Dylan Marshall, Gerry Linklater, and Josh Kahui gets more experience racing together ahead of the Dewtec-ENZED New Zealand Superstock Teams Championship in Palmerston North in February. And with the Sharp As New Zealand Superstock Grand Prix at Oceanview Speedway less than three weeks away, the speedway season is ramping up.