19-10-2002
Huntly Speedway Season Opener
By Macgor
Huntly's new season of speedway action got off to a great
start with the first meeting featuring plenty of aggression combined with
high speed thrills .
A dozen or so saloons , 10 agrade stockcars , 21 std
stocks ,9 streetstocks , 11 minisprints and a zillion ministocks provided
a show worth watching with the meeting winding up at a most respectable
10 pm . Biggest crash of the night was performed by 91m Andrew Marks when
he rolled his super saloon big time .
.Agrade stockcars in attendance were 8h Dave Roigard
, 85h Jarrod Wade , 181m Lazlo Mezzaros in the ex Murray Hobbs nz title
winning flier . 65m Mark Thompson , 5h Shaun Wade , 15 Steve Pribicevich
, 16a Aaron Headington , 75a Dave Tennant , 12h Chris Bear and 33h
Callum McCloud .
The racing I thought was aggressive and fast .
Standout performer for me was Jarrod Wade in the awesome
sounding 85h and he dominated for two wins out of three races on the night
. I'm picking who ever is close to winning the NZ Champs this season better
be checking their rear vision mirror as the laps wind down because 85h
is likely to lining you up on his way to snatching the win .
12h Chris Bear won the first race when the front running
pair of Roigard and Wade tangled and became stuck together . Bear was impressive
though and showed later on in the night he was prepared to play wait and
tag when he was out of the running for a top placing .
8h Dave Roigard is another that looked fast and although
15a Steve Pribicevich had teething woes the car when running right looked
fast . When the chips were down a little of the animal killer instinct
was showing and that's what I like to see .
The ten car field may have been a little smaller than
hoped for but was much better than the four car effort that fronted for
last season's Huntly opener .
Std Stocks came from all the northern tracks including
Kihikihi I thought until I realised that the cars were all carrying Huntly
registration rather than the familiar 'K' . My feeling was of sadness because
this means the Kihikihi field of stockcars must be decimated . I hope I'm
wrong .
Plenty of class in the field for Huntly's opening night
though with 2nz Clive Pritchard and 3nz Steve Axtens adding prestige .
71H Tony Wootton was the first race winner but from then on he was in the
wars . 5h Greg Martin and 2nz Clive Pritchard were the other winners athough
it was a well performing 5a Noel Hawthorne that took the silverware on
the over all points score .
73m Clinton Thickpenny impressed as usual with his ability
to dish out the hits and take them back again while staying on the move
come what may .
Saloons
A mix of supers and mostly Ltds with 96a Lance
Jennings and the mazda rocket of Ken Sines providing the edge of the seat
thrills . Momental rollover for 91m Andrew Marks did heaps of damage to
the car and 41m Neville Stewart exploded the engine in his ltd ending early
what looked to be a promising start to his season . Some good racing in
this class but the track turned slick everywhere , excepting for the pole
lane , making passing difficult . .
Streetstocks
nine cars and a few Mintie's moments to stop them
being too much of a bore .
Youth Ministocks
Heaps of the little critters and driven more proffesionally
than some of the glamour classes .
Minisprints
The eleven that showed bettered the 7 that kicked of
the season last year . First race was a goody but after that I lost interest
.
Printed program & Commentating
I know someone down the line that will have a chuckle
at this . Listed as commentors were none other than Frank Irvine , Graeme
'Mintie' Mead and Malcom Simms . The reality is that Frank Millar , Graeme
"Mintie' Mead and Malcom Sines are the men meant . For some reason I hate
it when programs get this sort thing wrong . A little proof reading would
fix it easy .
Mintie was on his own for the opener and a wonderous
job he did too . Enthusiasm , excitement and info were all conveyed and
if I get the time I will put up a sound bite of Mintie in full cry . Good
Stuff !! .
Food was passable but next time I will take my
own .
Overall the meeting was well run and finished in
a timely fashion at 10 pm which caught a few by surprise as they sat and
waited for the next event . I had expected a bigger crowd than what attended
but I had forgotten about the rugby game happening down the road .
A good start to the season for Huntly and if they can
build from it the Waikato fans will be in for a good time
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The burnout pad that many of the speedway
drivers couldn't resist testing |
Nigel Ross was the first crasher of the season but
returned to excel the rest of the night |
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| Two of the ex 'K' cars |
and another one |
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| Minisprints |
Ministocks |
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71h Tony Wootton was the first std stock
winner and 5a Noel Hawthorne was right there
keeping him honest most of the way |
Wootton returned to form as the night
progressed and his car is looking well used
already |
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The ex Kevin Free dinky toy is now a std stock
but still carries a famous number |
12h Chris Bear impressed and the car looks real
good too |
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| 85h Jarrod Wade would have thrice won if
the tangle with 8h Dave Roigard hadn't happened |
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2nz Clive Pritchard and 3nz Steve Axtens added
prestige |
Saloons probably mostly had hoped for a more
trouble free run |
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| Ken Sines out wide rounding 41m Neville Stewart |
The smoke denotes the demise of 41m |
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| 91m Andrew Marks took a big dump that is
sure to set his season back somewhat |
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