 25-11-2009
Speedway young guns off to Australia When
it comes to speedway racing, Invercargill teenager Jake Gillespie certainly
isn’t afraid of the throttle – and it’s earned him an exclusive invitation
to train in Australia with the best.
Jake is one of just six New Zealand riders selected
by the FIM – the World Motorcycle Federation – to attend a training camp
in Melbourne this weekend...............read
on |
 22-11-2009
38P Neil Coley gets some air time courtesy
of 98h Justin Hutchby at the TWS StockcarTeams Invitation , photo courtesy
of Roadtrip photography
Who would have believed
the Auckland Alley Cats would beat the Manawatu Steelers at their own game
in the final of the TWS Stockcar Teams Invitation at Huntly on Saturday
night but that's exactly what happened and a spell binding final it was
too with the win not in the bag until a few metres from the flag . The
meeting produced some great action for the fans although night one was
the better of the two simply for the extreme nature of the racing, I guess
cars and drivers were feeling it a bit on night two. Huntly sure has the
base built for this event to become a must see on every stockcar fanatic's
itinerary in the seasons ahead . read
Percy's review for more.
54a Michael Pickens(Sportsweb
Photography) as expected was the victor by a country mile in the
Manawatu Midget Car Classic that featured a 15 car field of many of this
countries best . Pickens started from the rear of the 30 lap feature so
it was a win that was worked for . This event was part of the National
Midget Car Series and the next round is scheduled for Stratford on the
5th of December. The other big event on the card was the Manawatu Superstock
Champs , 22 cars and 591p Wayne Hemi the winner. Bit of action too if the
Discussion Board is anything to go by .
Other big winners of the weekend
were Jamie Fox for the Modified Gold Cup and 2nzr Steve De Malmanche claimed
the Streetstock 290'sat Waikaraka, Ritchie Taylor won the Canterbury Super
Saloon Champs while the Nelson Tigers dealt to the Glen Eagles at Woodford
Glen. The Super Saloon Car Series at Meeanee was won by Brent Emerson .
Check the Discussion
Board for much more about the meetings
mentioned above and other happenings .
Macgors welcomes Stockcar
31gm Paul Ayres to the Driver's
Boards |
 15-11-2009
Macgor ventured to Baypark for the running
of the Harry Fredrickson Stockcar Gold Cup on Saturday night and witnessed
his best night of Stockcar action so far this season . The Gold Cup race
was superb with several different visiting leaders falling foul of the
local mafia who were working hard to make sure a Baypark competitor got
the win and 35m Graham Keating drove well to be the one . 22 Saloons also
provided a worthy show . Not so enthralling was the 8 Super Saloons or
the 15 Sprintcars running on a dusty track, the stop start nature of the
Sprintcar racing was also frustrating to watch. Read the Spectator
Blog for what I consider a perfectly accurate account of the meeting
. Not a bad night though and actually better than expected .
Other notable meetings were run
and probably the biggest was the Super Saloon Championship of Champions
at Woodford Glen . 58c Ritchie Taylor won that although his driving style
has come under criticism by some. 1nz Shane McIntyre managed 2nd from new
comer 17c Kane Lawson . Must admit I would have found it a pain watching
umpteen seven car races over two nights while waiting for one 16 car final
.
At Blenheim the Titans won
the Eve of Destruction Meeting from the North Island Cowboys team . Over
at Kihikihi yesterday 95a Gary lonergan
won the King Country Champs at a meeting that was perhaps more notable
for the rotten weather and the no shows . The Ministock Stampede was won
by 75a Scott Tennant . |
 10-11-2009
Photo courtesy of SportsWeb
Photography . Midget 41H, Ricky
McGough, had a bit of a tumble after
a right front flat forced him to the wall at Huntly on Saturday night He
was okay after the tumble..
The midgets are fast becoming a feature class
at the Waikato venue and it's great that one of the more traditional classes
of speedway is enjoying increased exposure and hopefully an increase in
numbers .
The 2nd annual Manawatu Midget Car Classic
at Palmerston North is set to run on the 21st of this month and as the
meeting doubles as the first round of the Samsung National Midget Car Series
a top class field will fill the starting grid . Pickens , Worboys , Mosen
, Insley , Kendall , Clarkson and Thompson are just some of the names on
a promise .I think even Stockcar fans will be impressed with this lot of
fast hard chargers.
This page receives between 3,000 and 5,000
unique visits a day during the season
, exposure for your speedway events is free . Just send me the info and
perhaps an image or two and I will make it happen . |
 07-11-2009
It didn't take new Stockcar driver 88r Clive
Stanaway long to get amongst the action at Rotorua's opening last night
. This first lap incident didn't ruin his debut though as he earned himself
a 2nd placing in the second event of the night . Also noticed was his use
of the bumper suggesting the 88 car will be one to watch this season .
The crowds flocked to Paradise Valley last night and
they were treated to a good night of well organised racing along with a
spectacular fireworks display . Some frivolity with Superstocks and Ministocks
also greatly amused many in the crowd proving a well packaged speedway
presentation is always going to be a winner. Read the review along with
full results on the Rotorua
site . |
 02-11-2009
Of all the images I've seen from this past weekend
racing it's this Smeats
one showing a track full of Modifieds with a full crowd of onlookers that
has taken my fancy the most . It was taken at Waikaraka's opening and by
all accounts was the best opening meeting there in many a year and hopefully
a pointer to a bright new future for the previously much troubled venue
. Greg's Blog
makes for a good read about the meeting as does Percy's
slightly more jaundiced version .
Have to agree with Percy with regards team numbers,
they're just plain aggravating .
From my remote observation
it seems speedway is about to have a bumper season with successful season
starts all over the country producing mostly good quality fields in front
of good crowds . As always check out the Discussion
Board for plenty of comment and images from the happenings around the
country . |
 27-10-2009
Super Saloon 1nz Shane McIntyre got all fired up for Meeanee's opening
meeting as this Legaspeed shot depicts . More such shots can be found on
the Photo
Board for your viewing pleasure .
Thankfully the weather played ball for the tracks
that ran meetings this past weekend and while there were a few grumbles
about Meeanee's meeting there is no doubt there was action to behold .
Shane Penn in the 7p Superstock won three from three at Meeanee
and then went and won two more at the Place Makers Series held at Palmerston
North on sunday night.
Winning isn't always everything though and proving
consistancy pays off it was 77p Wayne Norris who has claimed the Series
lead .
Blenheim's opening attracted much interest
mainly for the small but high quality Superstock field that included 1nz
Malcolm Ngatai , 3nz Brendan Higgins and 7n Craig Boote . 3nz Brendan Higgins
won the deal but Boote's 2x3rds and a win earned him 2nd place ahead of
1nz Malcolm Ngatai . I guess you could say " Boote's back! , watch this
space! ".
Woodford Glen ran the Canterbury Champs for Stockcars
and if this quote is anything to go by it was good watching . 'Well
what a hell of alot of fun we stockcars had , there were hits all over
the place and a few sad faces in the pits by the end of the nite but i'm
sure they will get over it' . 29c Murray Greig came out of it the winner
from 17c Vaughan Fairburn and 21c Graeme Read . Notable was the 4c
Stephen Bishop piloted coupe finishing 4th on its first appearance this
season . An incident in the final heat keeping him from the podium I'm
told .
Of course you can find out much much more
about the weekend's happenings on the Discussion
Board |
 20-10-2009
RACING FOR A LOST MATE
Oreti Park Speedway rider Grant Tregoning is
no stranger to winning titles – but memories of a special mate ensured
Saturday’s victory was “the best yet”.
Tregoning, the current NZ under-21 champion,
won the Andy Tree Memorial Trophy at his home circuit, near Invercargill,
on Saturday. Andy Tree, of Invercargill, was one of New Zealand’s rising
speedway stars and was about to embark on a professional career in England
before his untimely death last year.....read
on |
13-10-2009
 Well
the season is almost in full swing now with Palmerston
North's opening giving the fans a taste of good things to look forward
to . As expected much attention was focussed on Peter Rees and his new
self built Stockcar Tank and judging by the comments he didn't fail to
thrill . When was the last time a Tank debuted, did some smashing , got
smashed and then went on to win a race all on the same night?, probably
never and half of the opposition is probably psyched out for the season
already . In the Superstocks it was 515r Stan Hickey showing the
way with 2 wins from 3 races . Perhaps the 'Smash the P' slogan could be
replaced with 'Beware the fast R's ' this season .
There is a good
thread about the meeting on the Discussion Board .
Macgor's small taste of speedway
was limited to a quick look at the Rotorua
practice and was most impressed with the extra work that has been done
to the venue along with the good turnout of cars and onlookers . It's going
to be a good season of that I have no doubt . Fireworks opener on Friday
6th of November , don't forget .
Be aware that Huntly
have already postponed their opening meeting that was to have taken place
this coming weekend , they are now planning to open on the 31st of this
month which just happens to be the same night as Waikaraka Park's planned
opening an hour up the road . Not ideal that's for sure but with a bit
more of this fickle weather perhaps there will be more changes to happen
yet , hope so.
The Macgors Saloon Series
is back for another season at Rotorua , big ups to the Rotorua promotion
for allowing and organizing it . Spread over six nights barring disasters
and hopefully a change to the format to encourage even better racing and
viewing . That side of it is still to be finalised but fingers crossed
. |
 15-09-2009
Jack Miers has become the first NZ driver to
have won a Grand Final race in any class at a UK speedway and in true Miers
style use of the bumpers was a part of his winning formula , Kiwi racer
Sam Barry has been going real good too . Read about the action by
clicking here .
I have just updated the Calendarwith
all the new season race dates I can find , hope what I have done is easy
enough to comprehend . At this stage I have left Western Springs out because
I'm expecting more info about their meetings will be along in due course,
nearly left Baypark out for the same reason but if past experience is anything
to go on not much more info will be forth coming . If you spot mistakes
or have dates for tracks that haven't published calendars yet then please
let me know . One thing that is for certain and that is if you are wanting
to following the racing this season there are plenty of opportunities to
do so . |
 |
03-09-2009
An Observers West Coast shed
update part 3
NZ Superstock champ Malcolm Ngatai was lucky to
escape a fiery roasting at the Skegness track as part of his warmup to
the UK World Final . For more info about Malcom's progress and news of
the other NZ drivers in the UK keep
an eye on this thread for links and comment |
 |
|
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26-08-2009
An Observers West Coast shed
update part 2
Got the off season blues then check out this
cleanout of
Speedway Illustrated, NZV8 Mags and V8X Magazines |
|
 |
25-08-2009
99m Saloon Steve Walling was the trophy winner
at Kihikihi's winter bash meeting on sunday...click
here for a few words and images from the meeting |
|
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14-08-2009
One of the good things about turning 50 during
the off season is that all your speedway mates have time to pull out all
the stops when organizing the celebration....just
ask Kim Lace |
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is a good place to look for the older items that used to be on this page |
|
