A big crowd turned up to watch what could have been a stellar night. Instead they got a fair bit of dust and a fairly ho-hum night aside from the normal excitement that is provided in the Midget class. The Sprintcar class failed to produce the excitement that one normally associates with an SNZ Championship for a variety of reasons.

This was one weird race track. The pole line had an excess of moisture at the start of meeting so the middle was favoured. Instead of starting as a pole line track and widening out to the wall, the track started with the preferred line in the middle and widened in both directions. The rest of the track also looked to have it's fair share of moisture but after 7-8 races you could see that the moisture was not deep enough in the surface to produce a high line that was going to stay there all night. The track did keep it's smoothness but it did dust up a bit. Passing wasn't particularly easy all night. 6/10

I think I've found the reason why we only have 8 Quarter Midgets. Check out this link. That's right folks $12,000 buys you a competitive Quarter Midget. Clearly something has gone very very wrong with the class. Tonight the class was a questionnable addition to the programme given the increased Sprintcar racing and managed to have one follow the leader race.
Winner - 7a Andrew Hanson

Another class to suffer was the TQ class as the top 14 had their second race cancelled. I can only presume that as a result of that tonights feature race did not count for the track championship. On the second attempt the opening heat got underway and polesitter 9a Hayden Williams was swamped by several others. Williams proceeded to stage a remarkable comeback eventually passing 15a Lawrence Baker to claim a great win.

The second heat was a little less remarkable as 13a John Hopewell was pushed all the way by 33a Amanda Warren. 19a Brock Mascovich made steady progress without showing the outstanding form of the opening two nights. 15a Lawrence Baker got the jump from the drop of the green in the feature. The action was further back in the pack with the likes of 98a Chris Gwilliam, 71a Gavin Hamlin and 24b James Tollison in the thick of the action. Baker had established a lead but the car died and 9a Hayden Williams took up the reigns at the front of the field.

Tollison continued to make progress and passed Hamlin for third late in the race. Another to show good form was 3nz Shane O'Conner. But it was Williams who recorded a welcome return to form from 14a Paul Le Cren who was always thereabouts.
Winners - 9a Hayden Williams (2 incl feature), 13a John Hopewell

The Midgets totally upstaged the Sprintcars on the night. All drivers were fighting tight cars in the opening heat. 54a Michael Pickens used lapped traffic to his advantage to make third. He then made up an impossible amount of ground to launch a successful pass under 11a Shayne Alach in the final corner. Alach tried to repeat the dose coming out of the corner but went into the side of Pickens, putting him in the feance as both drivers crossed the start/finish line. 2nz Bill Clarkson Jr led away in the second heat. Behind him 13a Brad Mosen was relentless in his pressure and finally made the pass. 33a Graham Standring made up plenty of places back in the field.

1nz Shaun Insley outdragged 81a Michael Kendall to lead the third heat. 11a Shayne Alach encountered problems and in trying to pull off was collected by 51a Neven Bowman. Alach was not seen again. It was all on in heat four as 33a Graham Standring made his way to the front with 54a Michael Pickens in close pursuit. The action was ferocious back in the pack with plenty of bumping and banging. In particular 88a Angus MacLeod was a man on a mission. The yellows came on as the unlucky 2nz Bill Clarkson Jr spun due to others. From the restart Pickens launched a big slide job up the inside of Standring and it was race over, Pickens was gone.

The final heat saw 21a Carl Worboys secure a good feature grid. 87a Lance Beale made up ground until feeding 4a Dave Gick into the Town Bend fence. Beale appeared to incur an on track penalty and proceeded to drive back to second place. The B-main and F2 feature was a combined affair. YES YES YES!!! Please may this be a regular feature of the programme. Once again Clarkson Jr was an innocent victim, the 2nz proving to be a magnet for getting into others troubles.

Pickens led from Mosen early in the feature while 33a Graham Standring made his way into third. The action through most of the race was in the battle for 4th to 6th between 21a Carl Worboys, 87a Lance Beale and 1nz Shaun Insley. Mid race Mosen closed in on Pickens and made a magnificient pass in Town Bend to take the lead. Just as Pickens was looking to do the same in Pine Tree Bend the yellows came on and Pickens re-assumed the lead as the lap had not been completed. Pickens re-established a small lead on the restart but with 5 to go Mosen started to close.

Lapped traffic was coming up and it was to prove a factor. Two cars got together right in front of Pickens yet somehow Pickens managed to avoid them and retain his lead. Mosen was probably held up more as a result of the fracas and his charge was in vein as once again Pickens proved his worth despite not being the quickest car for several periods during the race.
Winners - 25a Scott Buckley (2 incl B-Main), 13a Brad Mosen, 1nz Shaun Insley, 54a Michael Pickens (2 incl feature), 21a Carl Worboys, 28a Trewren Joine (F2 Feature)

Time Trials
The decision was made to run two cars at once. Mayhem ensued. With the pole line still wet problems were left right and center. Push trucks couldn't get off the track and at least two cars were on a hot lap when they came across sideways push cars on the pole line. Some cars couldn't start, so we had the first car on a hot lap coming across stationary push car and Sprintcar. There were also problems with cars pulling off and crossing the line of cars being pushed off. Again, several near misses. Overall the time trials were a total calamity and as many as 5-6 drivers should have been afforded a second attempt. Nobody was and ultimately the track got better and the best time trialist in the field went last and duely recorded the fastest lap. 10usa Ricky Logan was the fastest but really there was only one winner.
Winner - Incompetence

Heats
The heats were almost a non-event with about as much passing as a Formula 1 Grand Prix. Heat one saw 51m Rodney Wood set off into the distance. After an outstanding time trial 19a Jamie Duff found the going a bit harder. A pass on an out of sorts 66m Skinny Colson failing to move Duff into a transfer spot as Logan held 4th securely. The second heat saw 1nz Carl Wilson make contact with the back of 22a Dean Brindle on the first corner. Wilson went to last but set about making an inspired run through the field. Brindle couldn't pass 8a Ryan O'Conner for the final transfer spot. Wilson made up the ground only to run into the back of Brindle for the second time, effectively ending his charge. Brindle also failed to secure a transfer spot.

It was also hard going for the quick qualifiers in heat three. 71a Jamie McDonald took a few laps to get going but made it into the treasured 4th position. McDonald continued his charge, passing 5p Nick Pedley who seemed very surprised by the pass. Pedley wasn't the same after the move and eventually fell victim to 35a Hans Boere in the final lap.
Winners - 51m Rodney Wood, 27a Alan Wakeling, 59a Alan Haigh

Dash
Logan dominated the first dash. Behind him 27a Alan Wakeling and 51m Rodney Wood made up a spot each. The second dash saw 71a Jamie McDonald throw down the gauntlet to Logan with an impressive performance. 7p Brent Harris was certainly exciting back in the pack but his lack of consistency saw him finish behind 77m Andrew Marks and 18a Greg Pickerill.
Winners - 10usa Ricky Logan, 71a Jamie McDonald

B-Main
A very slow start to the B-Main caused chaos. 57m Aaron McConachy rolled down the front straight, 96a Jeremy Halpin was disposed of in the first corner and 4a Glen Torpey at the exit of turn two. Torpey was restarted but spun on Pine Tree Bend after the restart and collected a couple of others. With the infield resembling a used Sprintcar lot we actually got some racing. All finishers qualified including the deserving 19a Jamie Duff and 5p Nick Pedley.
Winner - 22a Dean Brindle

North Island Championship Race
We hadn't learnt from the B-Main and another slow start caused chaos. All victims ended up on the infield so there was no yellow. 77m Andrew Marks and 1nz Carl Wilson were two cars involved. McDonald got the jump over Logan and set about establishing an impressive lead. 51m Rodney Wood was an early victim, unable to turn left due to what looked to be a flat tyre. McDonald approached the lapped cars, lost momentum threw, his car into the corner and spun all of his own accord.

Brindle was the big mover from the back as Logan set about resuming the pace from 21a Mark Browne. The middle of the race was punctuated by yellows as 7p Brent Harris and 27a Alan Wakeling spun. Logan meanwhile looked untroubled. Brindle got up to fourth where he found the now familiar sight of the rear of 8a Ryan O'Conner. O'Conner has improved out of sight since opening night and deserved a 3rd place finish. Unfortunately he went slightly wide into Town Bend and Brindle seized the chance to make the pass. As the race came to a conclusion Logan approached lapped traffic. Browne caught up as Logan seemed hesitant to put the race beyond doubt. As they crossed the finish line Browne went up the inside but it was Logan who took the win by half a car length.
Winner - 10usa Ricky Logan

It was a good start to the night for the officials with the recall of an obvious jump start in the opening TQ race. It went pear shaped from there. How Alach avoided a relegation in the opening Midget heat I will never know, especially when Beale copped one in the final heat. Also in the Midgets 89a Craig Atchison spun on the edge of the track and the yellows were very slow to come on. The re-ordering of the field was slow as the one way radio system once again failed to produce the goods. They let a race go with an incorrect order despite 33a Graham Standring motioning twice to 7h Jason Bunney that he should be in front of him.

Time Trials were a total disaster. I don't know why they didn't push the cars off on the front straight. This would solve pretty much every problem that arose during time trials. Whoever thought of doing two cars at once had not thought it through to it's natural conclusion and it was obvious from the erratic nature of the drivers that the process had not been adequately explained in the drivers briefing. For the second week in a row we saw the red lights activated far too late. This was for the B-main crash where the reds weren't activated until the leaders were right in the middle of the crashed cars.

The starting procedure turned to disaster. The Midgets and TQ's had the right idea, building pace before the chalk line at the beginning of the front straight. However the Sprintcars decided a slow approach was the way to go. You can imagine what happens when 800+ horsepower takes off from pretty much a standing start. Chaos. If we are to continue with this starting technique it is imperative that all classes build up speed before the start and that building up speed is strictly enforced by the officials.

The performance of the offcials was best summed up by confusion in the final Midget heat. The reds were brought on for the Dave Gick incident and the pit gate was opened to allow crew members onto the track just as cars were being pushed off. They were promptly sent back to the pits. It summed up the officials on the night, confused. Overall it was a night of officiating to forget. 2/10

This was a meeting that had the potential to be a beauty but the main event failed to fire. The promotion did a good job to ensure the Sprintcars were prioritised from early in the programme but I would question the planning in why we had to cut races in the first place given we were never going to get through the scheduled programme. Next week it's off to Placemakers Huntly Speedway. If the promotion down there uses quality support classes and formats the championship sensibly then that could be a very good meeting. Lets hope so because I'm still waiting for a meeting to elevate itself to an 8 or a 9. Tonight was unfortunately not that night.