This Saturday was the final meeting for the season here at Max Motors Family Speedway and the headline acts on the programme were the final round of the Friday Homes Superstock Tri-series and the Panhead Streetstocks Best Pairs.
Going into the final round of the Friday Homes Superstock Tri-series there were really only three drivers with a realistic chance of taking out the overall podium, 46w Ethan Levien, 5w Keegan Levien and 24w Grant Littlewood, who all had a decent buffer over the next three in the running , 95p Clive Elliott, 69p Todd O’Donnell and 371p Dan Hole. In the first heat 22w Richard Gaskin got off to a flying start from his front grid and never looked like being caught. Behind him 89w Dale Robertson was the one making the passes as he worked his way up the field from the back of the grid to take 2 nd place. The ever-green 95p Clive Elliott, who was turning laps at Te Marua nearly three decades before some of the other drivers were even born, came home close behind the 89w to take 3 rd place. In their next heat 112p Shaun Pearson turned left off the grid and took 24w Grant Littlewood to the grass, on regaining the track the 24w then came into some more attention when 69p Todd O’Donnell took him to the wall. Meanwhile 371p Dan Hole had taken up the running albeit only for a couple of laps before 5w Keegan Levien relieved him of it. The 5w went on to win the race with 89w Dale Robertson taking the 2 nd place spot and 371p Dan Hole managing to retain 3 rd . The final heat saw 24w Grant Littlewood take great advantage of his front grid, getting off to a good start and leading the field for 99.9% of the race, only to lose it in the final few centimetres to 89w Dale Robertson. The 3 rd and 4 th placings were nearly as close with only 0.12s between 46w Ethan Levien in 3 rd place and 5w Keegan Levien in 4 th . Points totals for the final round saw 89w Dale Robertson four points clear of 5w Keegan Levien with 24w Grant Littlewood and 22w Richard Gaskin rounding out the top four. Overall for the Friday Homes Superstock Tri-series 5w Keegan Levien with a total of 245 points took the top podium step with 24w Grant Littlewood on 228 points in 2 nd place and 46w Ethan Levien close behind him on 226 points for 3 rd .
The Panhead Streetstocks Best Pairs as usual produced some great action especially as the winner of the Season’s points hung on a knife edge with only one point separating the top two contenders, 9w Aaron Wilton and 17w Byron Sutherland –Old. In their first heat the 17w Byron Sutherland-Old soon got to the lead only to be passed by the eventual top three, 10w Corey Draper, 13w Paul Sammons and 51a Craig Anderson. This put the 17w on top of the points chase. The next heat saw 77w Daniel Bouzaid take up the early running only to be spun out of the way by 51a Craig Anderson who went on to take the chequered flag. 77w Daniel Bouzaid recovered well to come home in 3 rd but with the season points in mind 9w Aaron Wilton’s 2 nd place returned him to the lead. In their third heat the hopes of 17w Byron Sutherland-Old wresting the Season’s Points from the 9w ended when he registered a DNF. 10w Corey Draper led the race from start to finish with 77w Daniel Bouzaid and 9w Aaron Wilton taking the next two places. The consistency of 51a Craig Anderson and 15w Glenn Wood saw them take out the Panhead Streetstock Best Pairs for 2019.
The Capital Pools and Spas Stockcars were another class that had their Season’s points on the line with 10w Desiree Craike and 992w Taylor Lampp well ahead of the pack but too close to each other for comfort. In their first heat it became apparent that the Lampp family were united in their efforts to take the Season points home when 772p Kyle Lampp spent his whole race harassing the 10w
13 April 2019 Desiree Craike and keeping her towards the back of the field while 992w Taylor Lampp made his way up through the field to take 4 th place. 9w Bryce Jensen took the win from 93p Kane Dittmer and 25w Jarrod Higgins. Their next race some of the Wellington drivers decided to spoil the party for Team Lampp. 45w Kelly Houghton and 25w Jarrod Higgins managed to put the 772p Kyle Lampp out of the race and putting 10w Desiree Craike in a more favourable position. 9w Bryce Jensen did his part when he spun 992w Taylor Lampp out of the lead and went on to take his second race win of the night with 93p Kane Dittmer again taking 2 nd place. 247w Dave Marshall completed the top three. With 772p Kyle Lampp not being able to make the grid for heat three 992w Taylor Lampp’s task of over-hauling Points leader 10w Desiree Craike was much harder. It all started well with the 992w getting off well on the green but unfortunately he was spun to the back of the field before the first lap ended and by the third lap he had retired to the infield along with his hopes. At the front of the field 39p Graeme Munn took the early lead only to lose it to the fast-running 93p Kane Dittmer who retired halfway through the race. 10w Desiree Craike went on to take the chequered flag and also the Season’s Points. 278p Corran Taylor came home in 2 nd place ahead of 669w which was evidently driven by one of Brendon Tye’s crew members.
The Saloon class saw 3nz Matt Eckersley take the wheel of sister Amy’s 34w for the night with great success when he won the first race from 57p Calvin Honore and one of the big improvers this season 13w Scott Hadley. Their next race saw 5w Jaden Munn’s season come to a premature end when, due to a racing incident, he ended up in the wall on the Start/Finish. 7b Shane Laking took the win from 57p Calvin Honore and 8w Mike Denham. Their final race of the season again went the way of 3nz Matt Eckersley with 7b Shane Laking and 57p Calvin Honore following him home.
The Modifieds are a class that always thrill the crowd. The interest in the racing last night was the appearance of local personality Todd Moffat in the 17w of Jonas England. It didn’t start well for him when the car ran out of fuel after