Hawkes Bay’s Kevin Martin emerged victorious in the Manawatu Saloon Champs and the Palmerston North Pumas defeated a strong Rotorua Rascals Stockcar team on Saturday night at the Robertson Holden International Speedway.
Manawatu Saloon Champs
The 19-car Saloon field was split into three groups, with two groups in each of three heats keeping the fields under control until a 12-lap final. Heat winners were 16w Taylor Mahy, 29b Steven Martin and 92b Kevin Martin.
92b Kevin Martin hit the lead from the outside row of the front grid and was never headed, followed home by 242p Ashley Halcrow who resisted a ton of pressure from 8s Craig Korff. 829s Jarrod MacBeth and 57p Calvin Honore were also in the lead pack, but 27b Josh Smith worked his way around them into third place with an excellent drive from further back on the grid.
A Stockcar teams race between the Palmerston North Pumas and Rotorua Rascals was the other feature on the night. 535r Aaron Powell took the early lead until he was blocked by 882p Brandon Jurgleit, with 172p Daniel Burmeister hitting the front. The Rascals remained only one block away from victory in second place, but good shielding from the rest of the Pumas kept Burmeister untouched on his way to the chequered flag.
The experienced 95s Duane Hickman won the opening two Midget races of the season, but had to settle for second place behind trackmate 24s Mark Willans in the feature.
RESULTS
Saloons
Heat One: 16w Taylor Mahy, 39p Ashley O’Dowd, 8s Craig Korff, 227b Wayne Melling, 829s Jarrod MacBeth, 29b Steven Martin – Fastest Lap: 27b – 17.2106
Heat Two: 29b, 57p Calvin Honore, 829s, 8s, 12s Blake Hooper, 242p Ashley Halcrow – Fastest Lap: 8s – 17.4128
Heat Three: 92b Kevin Martin, 7p Shane Laking, 27b Josh Smith, 242p, 57p, 227b – Fastest Lap: 39p – 17.6886
Final: 92b, 242p, 27b, 829s, 8s, 57p – Fastest Lap: 27b – 17.3855
Superstocks
Race One: 471k Benji Sneddon, 99g James Mallia, 2nzg Peter Rees, 9p Brett Hyslop, 34p Rebecca Barr, 32p Graeme Barr – Fastest Lap: 471k – 17.9820
Race Two: 127g Ethan Rees, 7w Shane Davis, 2nzg, 126k Asher Rees, 32p, 77p Scott Penn – Fastest Lap: 32p – 18.2889
Feature: 126k, 2nzg, 127g, 34p, 371k Daniel Hole, 9p – Fastest Lap: 34p – 17.9740
Stockcars
Teams Race: 172p Daniel Burmeister, 853r Shannon Orr, 174p Brendon Learmonth, 735r Keegan Orr, 535r Aaron Powell
Race One: 79p Kyle Rowe, 67p Alec Wilson, 6v Dion Mooney, 722p David Lowe, 26v Kaelin Mooney, 173p Greg Eden – Fastest Lap: 722p – 19.4626
Race Two: 722p, 6v, 172p, 72p Tony Norman, 72w Josh O’Keefe, 223p Raetea Robinson – Fastest Lap: 722p – 19.8441
Feature: 15p Luke Miers, 174p, 79p, 69p Nathan Harris, 57e Leighton Stanton, 6v – Fastest Lap: 722p – 19.1137
Midgets
Race One: 95s Duane Hickman, 93p Karl McGill, 24s Mark Willans, 6s Neville Thompson, 4v Brent Huijs, 34a Jordan McDonnell – Fastest Lap: 95s – 15.3317
Race Two: 95s, 4v, 93p, 24s, 11s Ricky Paul, 13p Tony Johnson – Fastest Lap: 95s – 15.8025
Feature: 24s, 95s, 93p, 4v, 4p Kerry Brockelbank, 13p – Fastest Lap: 95s – 16.2680
Minisprints
Race One: 2nzp Shane Dewar, 18s Daniel Nickel, 37p Todd Phillips, 53v Dylan Smith, 3nzp Ben Vaughan, 85s Erin Uhlenberg
Race Two: 82s Cameron Hurley, 2nzp, 3nzp, 8v Shane Gribbon, 57p Herb Tarrant, 18s – Fastest Lap: 2nzp – 15.1529
Feature: 2nzp, 3nzp, 82s, 18s, 53v, 37p – Fastest Lap: 2nzp – 15.1590
Sidecars
Group One – Race One: 22g Jason Rees & Callum Innes, 26p Josh Lambert & Ange Pogson, 84p Jimmy Hotton & Nick Dunne, 10p John West & Gower Morton
Group Two – Race One: 8p Rob Miller & Raymond George, 96p Mark Whye & Jacob Cooper, 46p Russell Stuart & Andrew Parker, 17p Tony Hislop & Matt Stewart, 24p Stu Sowry & Dean Harding
Group One – Race Two: 17p, 32p Sam Carter & Haydn Combs, 24p, 84p
Group Two – Race Two: 46p, 8p, 26p, 22g
Group One – Feature: 46p, 26p, 17p, 32p
Group Two – Feature: 22g, 24p, 84p, 10p
Adult Ministocks
Race One: 77s Craig Mason, 83p Ayrton Smith, 5p Chris Round, 24w Keegan Cotter, 25p Hamish McGirr, 92v Jemma Barnes – Fastest Lap: 77s – 20.3280
Race Two: 44p Dylan Barclay, 157p Jack Lammas-Martin, 56p Holly Lowe, 92v, 83p, 77s – Fastest Lap: 77s – 21.3603
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