by  Tear-Off

First of all, a big thank-you to the sponsors for helping make this such a success and to Paul Blakely for working so hard to put it all together. It was unfortunate that a couple of previous champions couldn’t make it to Auckland, but the crowd was still treated to some exciting racing. I find it rather surprising, considering the entertainment put on by this class all around the North Island this season, that no track has applied to run the North Island Champs next season. Those who witnessed Saturday nights races couldn’t possibly have any complaints about the show the Modifieds put on.

Sixteen cars were in the pits, 9 Auckland cars and 7 “out of towners”. (We are talking where they are registered, not where they live). Upon looking at the track a comment was overheard from a local that the visitors would find the track a lot “drivier” than anything they were used to and may struggle (wonder if he is as good with the lotto numbers?).

After two sets of hot laps followed by some set-up adjustments, the cars rolled out for Heat 1 of 3. Paul Ward, 55S, had the newer of the two Devon Plastics/Realise IT cars on grid 2, outside 6A Brian Jesen. Jesen had his no.2 engine in the car after blowing up his no.1 motor a few weeks ago and didn’t have the horsepower to go with Ward. The pace was hot right from the start, with some of the lesser drivers right on the pace with their more experienced rivals. For several laps there was a fantastic three-way dual going on between Ricky Martin, Jamie Fox and Tony Galbraith and this was for 5th place, which gives you an idea of the speed up front. Fox and Galbraith swapped positions several times until Galbraith had a mishap and destroyed his right rear and effectively his chances of taking the title. A spin from 94A Nick Simmonds, whose car wasn’t handling well, closed the field up but no-one could deny Ward a victory in the first heat.

The field was down to 14 for Heat two with Ray Chatfield blowing a head gasket and Ricky Martin, who had absolutely no brakes in Heat 1, having the dry sump belt fail as he fired up for Heat 2. This time Jamie Fox was off the front and was never going to be caught. The field spaced out quite quickly but Nick Simmonds spinning again allowed the field to close up and offered Alan Haigh the opportunity to make more passes than he might otherwise have. As it turned out, these passes would be crucial later in the night. Hilight of the 2nd heat was 4S Mark Dixon who, when he wasn’t lifting the inside left high in the air on the turns (see photos on the Waikaraka web site), was launching the front completely off the ground coming out of a pot hole on the pit bend.

Going in to Heat 3 Foxy was 2 points ahead of Alan Haigh but starting off the back of the grid, whilst Alan was off 5, and looking the best bet for the title. A bit of push and shove at the first attempt saw a restart required and Dixon again was off, hurtling along on 3 wheels and Foxy driving hard to make up ground on Haigh. Simmonds made it three spins from three but this time it was mechanical failure, with the side-board detaching completely from the wing. A wing is as critical to a Modified as a plastic bucket is to an NZ Americas Cup boat, so it was no wonder that the car spun. Dixon lead from the re-start but not for long as mechanical problems saw him on the infield and Haigh inheriting the lead. Fox was working his way up the field but really needed another yellow to close the gaps and he got it courtesy of the two Pacific Urethane cars of Paul Blakely and Brian Jesen. These two had been showing each other no mercy at all during the night but it was actually because of a spinning Greg Brown that they ended up parked and facing each other on pit bend. The yellows came on really late and it was edge of the seat stuff watching the leaders braking desperately hard to try and avoid them as they came flying into the corner. The first three managed just, but 21A Gary Parker was the unfortunate one cannoning into Jesen, bending yet another front end and also putting Jesen out for the night. The restart saw Fox in 4th needing to get up to 3rd to at lease force a run-off with Haigh, but the odds were stacked against him. Not only was there only one lap to go but the car in front of him was none other than 1NZ, Tony Galbraith. It would have been fantastic to watch had there been more laps but the places remained unchanged and after starting the season strongly Haigh finally got himself a title. Jamie Fox finished one point adrift in second and congratulations to 112A Mel Hills for getting up into third.

This left the 20 lap feature which had the lowest point scorers in the NI champs off the front. Courtesy of an average night so far and a host of the lower scoring cars already trailered, Tony Galbraith found himself off the front with Haigh and Fox off the back of a 10 car field, so the battle was always going to be for the minor money. The track by now was pretty slick and passing was going to be difficult. Galbraith lead all the way chased by 43W Chris Mulvena. Foxy got up to 3rd turning in some high speed laps and then 2nd when Mulvena retired to the infield and 22A Glen Lloyd, who after having problems earlier in the season ran impressively all night and came home 3rd.

All in all, an entertaining nights racing from the Modifieds in their last major hit-out for the season. Should all the rumours flying around prove correct, watch out for another big season later in the year.