Speedway: Five classes in action during second night

Jarrod MacBeth

Photo: Newton Gordge (#121) and Carl Hinton battle for position during Modified race. Hinto went onto win the Rusty Kay Memorial. Photo by Loaded Glass Photograhy.

Five Star Liquor Stratford Speedway hosted its second meeting of the season on Saturday, October 31st, with Eltham Timber & Supplies sponsoring another entertaining night of racing.

Five classes were in action, with Superstocks, Minisprints and Youth Ministocks making their first appearances of the season. Adding to the atmosphere was the Halloween costume competition, which attracted approximately 10 children in each age group. Dressed in their Halloween outfits, the youngsters enjoyed a ride around the track on the back of a truck during the grand parade.

The Minisprint City of New Plymouth Classic saw New Zealand's top three ranked drivers dominate proceedings. Current NZ #3 Daniel Nickel claimed overall honours with a third, first and third across the three heats. NZ #1 Karl Uhlenberg finished second overall, with NZ #2 Regan Ogle third. The trio featured prominently throughout the night, although Palmerston North's Jayden Clark interrupted their dominance with two third-place finishes.

The Modified Rusty Kay Memorial produced a thrilling finish. Heat victories went to Newton Gordge, Sheldon Arapere and Shaun Bloemen, but it was Gordge and Carl Hinton who finished tied on points. A four-lap run-off was needed to decide the winner, with Hinton grabbing the early lead and steadily extending his advantage to claim the memorial. Bloemen completed the podium in third.

In the Stockcars, Ricky Paul, Mason Woods and Haydin Barker shared the victories in the opening three races. Woods then returned to victory lane in the 12-lap feature, completing a successful night.

The Superstocks welcomed several visiting drivers, including Tauranga's Stefan Roigard, Rotorua's Dion Henderson and Jessie Wilson-Henderson, Christchurch-contracted Scott Tennant and Whanganui's Ethan Linklater. Wayne Moss led much of the opening race before Blair Uhlenberg worked his way past in the closing laps to take the win. Roigard dominated race two, while Henderson claimed race three. Roigard then secured the feature victory, holding off a determined Uhlenberg, who closed the gap in the latter stages but couldn't find a way past.

The Youth Ministocks were split into two groups, with mentor drivers gaining valuable experience while the more established competitors battled in their own races. Quinn Turner claimed two wins in the experienced group, with Jake Read taking the other. Taylor Dettling provided one of the night's more dramatic moments when he rolled his car in race two, but was back on track for the following race. In the mentor group, Max Joblin enjoyed a clean sweep, winning all three races.

Next up is the Hinton Contracting Fireworks Spectacular on Saturday, November 7th, featuring the Repco Taranaki Superstock Championship. With plenty of action promised both on the track and in the sky, it's another night not to be missed!