The weather was kind on the first day of the Belt Up NZ Modified Championship with a warm dry evening for the spectators to enjoy along with the racing.
The 28 drivers that took to the track were divided into 3 separate groups to run 3 heats each, with the top 6 of each group going into the finals and the last 2 spots being decided by a repercharge.
Group One:
This group included current 1NZ John Jackson, current NI champ 4S Mark Dixon and long-time Modified stalwart 5W Brian McPhee.
Heat 1 saw 1NZ John Jackson take full advantage of his front grid with a blistering first lap that took him to a commanding victory from 12S Jason Kalin and 13C David Thompson. Both 5W Brian McPhee and 4S Mark Dixon made up a few places to come home 4th and 6th respectively.
In Heat 2 5W Brian McPhee took the wide line round the first corner and claimed the lead. 1NZ John Jackson also took advantage of the outside line getting a couple of passes in the first lap. 64A Grant Harris and 4S Mark Dixon had a battle for 2nd with Dixon finally triumphing and chasing down the flying McPhee only to fall short by 0.1 of a second at the chequered. Harris held on for 3rd spot.
Heat 3 saw 1NZ John Jackson demonstrate that if you wanted to use the outside line you needed to get straight on to it when he again made up several places in the first lap. At the front the two Southerners 49C Maurice Hedley and 13C David Thompson contested the lead. In the 7th lap 64A Grant Harris and 5W Brian McPhee became the innocent victims of someone else’s racing incident with Harris’s night ending with a trip to hospital. On the restart 13C Thompson stole the lead from Hedley and kept it till the chequered. 4S Mark Dixon capped off a strong night with 2nd with Hedley coming in 3rd.
Finalists from Group 1:
13C David Thompson 24 points
1NZ John Jackson 24 points
4S Mark Dixon 23 points
5W Brian McPhee 19 points
12S Jason Kalin 19 points
49C Maurice Hedley 18 points
Group 2:
In this group were two of the current in form drivers 871C Luke Keegan and 67S Richard Pierce. Also rising young Wellington driver 9W Blair McPhee.
The veteran driver 6A Brian Jessen took the early lead in Heat one. 9w Blair McPhee chased hard and challenged for the lead a number of times but the experience of Jessen stood out and kept McPhee in 2nd. Regular Te Marua visitor 55S Paul Ward came in 3rd ahead of 17A Nathan Robertson.
Heat 2 showed why 871C Luke Keegan is considered a leading contender to take the title when he shot round the outside to take the lead from 4W Paul Hodson on the first corner. He streaked away to win by 5 seconds with Hodson holding on for 2nd. Blair McPhee 9W made up a few places to claim 3rd place. It was unusual to see normal front runner 67S Richard Pierce lose a few places and finish near the back.
In Heat 3 Keegan showed more of the same when he galloped into the lead on the first lap and stayed there again to win by 4 seconds over 67S Richard Pierce and continuing his consistent night 55S Paul Ward.
Finalists from Group 2:
871C Luke Keegan 25 points
9W Blair McPhee 24 points
55S Paul Ward 22 points
6A Brian Jessen 21 points
67S Richard Pierce 19 points
4W Paul Hodson 18 points
Group 3:
The 3NZ Jamie Fox with his distinctive Anglia body was the one displaying the hot form coming into this group but fresh from his 2nd place in the SI Champs 24C Dan Rae hoped to give him a run for his money.
In Heat 1 91W Jordan Arapere got the jump on one of the true veterans of the class 72S Merv Julian and took off to a commanding lead. 17W piloted by up and coming rookie Jonas England made it up to 2nd and, not only held out the 3NZ Jamie Fox who was snapping at his heels, but managed to eat into the large lead Arapere had built up. 24C Dan Rae made a few passes to finish 5th with Julian keeping 4th place.
Heat 2 saw 24C Dan Rae set a blistering pace and take the chequered with 7 seconds to spare. 77S Craig Ward started what was to become a night to forget when he spun from 2nd spot to the back of the field where he remained, this handed 2nd to 8S Sean Rice with 3NZ Jamie Fox pulling off some good passes to come in 3rd.
In Heat 3 Jamie Fox, 3NZ took advantage of his front grid and never looked like relinquishing 1st place. 17W Jonas England continued his good form taking 2nd place from West Coast driver 5GM Brandon Parkinson. 24C Dan Rae again made up places to finish 4th with 91W Jordan Arapere uncharacteristically taking a conservative approach doing just enough to ensure qualification.
Finalists from Group 3:
3NZ Jamie Fox 26 points
24C Dan Rae 23 points
17W Jonas England 22 points
91W Jordan Arapere 18 points
5GM Brandon Parkinson 17 points
8S Sean Rice 17 points
Repercharge:
226S Blair Luscombe led from the start but behind him in was all action. 32GM Iain Whyte in the only Ford-powered car in the field made a courageous move round the outside of the turn 1 melee to sweep into 2nd. Unfortunately he was unable to hold the place when very close racing pushed him towards the wall. A great battle between 77S Craig Ward and 17A Nathan Robertson ensued for the final qualifying spot with Robertson just crossing the line ahead of Ward. This gave 226S Blair Luscombe and 17A Nathan Robertson the last two places in the finals field.
With rain delaying the finals by a day the drivers took to the track on Wellington Anniversary Day, which, the Wellington supporters were hoping was a good omen for the local drivers. The finals field saw a couple of changes with 6A Brian Jessen and 49C Maurice Hedley unable to make the line up. The next two highest available qualifiers were 77S Craig Ward and 8W Michael Burt which made the makeup of the finals field: 8 Stratford drivers, 6 Wellington, 3 Christchurch, 2 Auckland and 1 from Greymouth, truly a microcosm of NZ Modified racing to compete in three twenty lap heats to find the highest points scorer to crown NZ champion.
Heat One saw 24C Dan Rae spring into the lead leaving 17A Nathan Robertson and 55S Paul Ward in his wake. With twenty of these unpredictable machines flying round the track at full noise the crowd knew it was only a matter of time until a race incident spiced up the event. 4S Mark Dixon provided that spice in a big way when he clipped the wall and flipped spectacularly in the air. As one of the favourites to take the title he was obviously disappointed, but showed a philosophical attitude when interviewed. 4W Paul Hodson had the misfortune to run over a wheel that had flown from Dixon’s car and also went to the infield to join 77S Craig Ward whose race ended on the same lap. 55S Paul Ward had an excellent restart to take second but was unable to reel in Rae who took the chequered with a comfortable margin. 3NZ Jamie Fox made some good passes to take third. 871C Luke Keegan and 13C David Thompson both made up places but the most places gained was by 67S Richard Pierce.
Heat Two had 19 cars make it out the gate but, after an inspired drive in the qualifying heats, 17W Jonas England unfortunately retired with mechanical problems before the race started. The heat was only a quarter of a lap in when the next high profile casualty hit the infield. 1NZ John Jackson, after being caught in a melee with three other cars, had his hopes of title number three dashed. 55S Paul Ward, in a decision that would cost him a podium chance, was deemed to be the cause of the incident and was sent to the back of the field. 871C Luke Keegan was determined to make up for the points he’d had deducted for passing while cutting the pole line in Heat one. He showed his class with a commanding win, breaking the 15 second barrier on a number of laps throughout the race. 17A Nathan Robertson ended his race in the wall as did another title favourite, 3NZ Jamie Fox. This race ended up a matter of survival with only nine finishers. 67S enhanced his title chances with good passes to finish second. 4W Paul Hodson had a better heat to finish third, with 24C Dan Rae giving his title bid a shot in the arm moving from grid 12 to take fourth spot. The biggest mover in this heat was 9W Blair McPhee who came from the last grid to 5th place.
After two heats 24C Dan Rae was the points leader with 36, tied for second on 33 points was 871C Luke Keegan and 67S Richard Pierce with 5W Brian McPhee next on 29.
Heat Three. 4s Mark Dixon, in what seemed to the spectators to be a miraculous effort by crew, got the munted looking car back on the track. It was however, short lived as he ended his night in the infield. 9W Blair McPhee will be wondering what might have been if not for his below par first heat. He again showed he is as quick as anyone in the class when he took the lead from the start, commanded every restart, had the fastest lap of the race, took the chequered flag and fourth place overall. 13C David Thompson will be another that rues one poor heat with his second place in the final heat giving him sixth overall. 5W Brian McPhee after being right in the hunt after two heats had the disappointment of coasting to the infield in the third and dropping to ninth overall. The main battle for the title was being decided in the middle of the field between the three points leaders. 24C Dan Rae had a rear grid start and got held up a number of times as he pushed for place gains. It did not help his cause when he made a pass just before the caution lights came on and so had to relinquish the place for the restart. Rae did manage tenth in the heat for third place overall, and will wear the 3NZ with pride. He became a crowd favourite as many of us love to back the underdog. Rae has one of the oldest chassis’ around with a small 383 engine but has shown, both at this meeting and with his second place at the South Islands this year, that it “ain’t what you got, its what you do with it that counts”. 871C Luke Keegan started the third heat from grid seventeen, which meant he would have to pull out every trick in his book to take the title. It seemed to take him the first thirteen laps to really find his mojo, but when he did it was certainly spectacular to see. Keegan displayed tremendous courage as he pulled off passes that didn’t look on to us mere mortals. He managed to make his way up to fourth to be snapping at Pierce’s heels in the final lap, but finished one place short and second overall. A podium at the New Zealand’s was only a matter of time for the South Island, Grand Prix and Dirt Cup winner and it would not be a surprise to see him add to his 2NZ in future seasons. 67S Richard Pierce only had to keep his main rivals for the title far enough behind him, which he looked like he was doing with ease for the first half a dozen laps. He then had one of those moments racers dread, where he got a bit loose and headed for the wall, fortunately he was able to pull it up with millimetres to spare but not before losing five places. But Pierce did as he had all night long, kept his head, and continued to make gains back up to third for the heat and first overall. Richard Pierce now joins an elite group of drivers who have won the New Zealand title in two different classes, being 1NZ in Supersaloons in 2005.
Overall the Belt Up NZ Modified title here at Max Motors Family Speedway must be deemed a success in spite of the rain interrupting proceedings. To have five Wellington drivers in the top twelve shows how the class is building not only in numbers but in ability.
Support classes over the two nights were Century Distributors Youth Ministocks which saw a few visitors add to the growing Wellington field. 93H Syd Ferguson made the line up thanks to his Dad’s business Race Works being involved with the Modifieds so Dad agreed to tow the ministock down. Also 4M Caitlin Hayward made the first night, with 88S Conrad Hall, 58S Bayley Betts and 21S Iziah Willets joining regular visitors 92V Amiee Barnes and James and Georgia Mallia on night two. While there was a few race incidents, one in which Amiee Barnes was the innocent victim, overall the racing was clean, with plenty of close battles. Race winners were 13W Todd Jenkins, 36W Jacob Free, 55W Todd McLachlan, 99P James Mallia and 97W Jordan McLeod.
Hirepool Stockcars were graced with the presence of two newcomers to speedway 26W Tom Rundberg who has purchased the ex 85N car and 25W Jake Abels in the ex 15N car, considering it was their first ever run both acquitted themselves well. It was good to welcome entertainer Ron Tye in his tank back to Te Marua for the evening as well. There was a couple of driver changes when Paul Gaskin who was doing hot laps in a Superstock handed his car over to brother in-law Dale Robertson and Jason Kinsey gave the wheel of the 35W to brother Sam for a couple of races. Winners were 6W Dale Robertson, 12W Simon Hendry and 71W Benji Sneddon.
CDC Concrete Streetstocks again turned on the entertainment, with not one driver exempt from the continual argy-bargy. There are certainly a number in this class that are putting their hands up for the “Spectators Choice” award this season. It would be difficult to pick a stirrer of the night as all joined in with relish. Because it is still racing we must tell you that the chequered flags went to 18W Clive Rogers, 26W Hayden Bonner and 81W Brian Hughes.
The Resene Paints Production Saloons had three races on night one. It was interesting to see Matt Gaskin back behind the wheel of a race car as he piloted Tim’s 32W. The other act of interest was the black flagging of 34W Scott Hilder for excessive noise, not a common occurrence in this class. Race winners were 73W Michael Wood, 32W Matt Gaskin and 33W Elric Sharpe.
The Moving Company Saloons was the final support class. We finally got to see one of the true budget cars of this class, the 911W of Scott Jones. While Scott won’t be entirely happy ending the night with damage, he still got a warm welcome from the spectators. This class continues to provide the crowd with close entertaining racing and hopefully we will see more drivers follow the example of Taylor Mahy in going from Ministocks to Saloons. Winners on the night were 11W Ian Shingleton, 10W Todd Moffatt and 38W Vic Abbott
