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Palmerston North - 24 March 2007
Manawatu Super Saloon, Minisprint & Streetstock Champs
Pictures and reporting by Mike Pollard

Hello and welcome to Palmerston North for a triple header of Manawatu Championships. With the Derby Cars still in the pits from last week's rainout, there was going to be something for everyone. In fact there was probably too much on offer, and with close on 200 cars in the pits it seemed like Buxton on steroids as 10 x different formulas took to the track.

Super Saloons

Heat 1
#3nz Graham Strong and #88w Paul Hodson started on the front and shot into the lead but being quickly joined by #1nz Brent Emmerson. coming round to complete lap 1, #1nz Emmerson clipped the #88w Hodson car, slowed, and found himself being hoisted into the air as #68s Murray Price drove into the back of #1nz Emmerson, sliding unerneath and jacking him up. A long delay ensued, as the track crew came to grips with the situation, with #1nz Emmerson finally being lifted off and restarting from the rear of the grid. #3nz Strong opened a gap over #88w Hodson and #61p Kevin Gimblett as #1nz Emmerson charged through from the back. #88w Hodson brushed the wall and lost a couple of spots as #1nz Emmerson came storming through and up to second by race end.

1.#3nz Graham Strong 2.#1nz Brent Emmerson 3.#61p Kevin Gimblett 4.#24w Martin Halcrow 5.#88w Paul Hodson 6.#58w Peter Lyons

Heat 2
#24w Martin Halcrow led them out, but was soon joined by #3nz Graham Strong who was up past #58w Peter Lyons. #24w Halcrow and #3nz Strong had a great dice for the lead before #3nz Strong finally found a way past, with #24w Halcrow losing another place at the death to the hard charging #1nz Brent Emmerson

1.#3nz 2.#1nz 3.#24w 4.#61p 5.#88w 6.#77b Ford Dunning

Heat 3
#1nz Brent Emmerson made no mistake from the front row, and opened up a lead on #61p Kevin Gimblett as he led from start to finish. #24w Martin Halcrow showed great pace from the rear, and ran for many laps in third after getting past #3nz Graham Strong and #88w Paul Hodson. the field was bunched up for a restart just two laps from home as #58w Peter Lyons spun relegating him to the back. Positions remained unchanged to the flag except for a death defying lunge at the line by #3nz Strong, gaining him third spot and tying on points, proving #1nz Emmersons' victory donuts to be a little premature!

1.#1nz 2.#61p 3.#3nz 4.#24w 5.#88w 6.#77b

Run-off
#1nz Brent Emmerson and #3nz Graham Strong ran side by side for most of the 4 x laps, with #1nz Emmerson getting the verdict.

1.#1nz 2.#3nz

Superstocks

Heat 1
The big boys were playing away again. This time winning the National Team Champs in Auckland, leaving the remainder to fight amongst themselves. #24p Russel Harrop and #5p Bruce Ward had a great scrap for the lead and put some distance on #53p Kevan Roberts and #42p Robin Davenport.
#14p Joel Pitcher retired his new tank in a cloud of smoke, never to be seen again, as #24p Harrop edged the win over #5p Ward in a race devoid of any real action.

1.#24p Russel Harrop 2.#5p Bruce Ward 3.#53p Kevan Roberts 4.#42p Robin Davenport 5.#43p Darryl Hammond 6.#29p Jonathon Richardson

Heat 2 (All-in)
The Superstocks started in front of the Stockcars, and so #24p Russel Harrop, #53p Kevan Roberts and #5p Bruce Ward had time to pull clear of the field before finding themselves in traffic. #53p Roberts and #5p Ward battled hard with each other allowing #24p Harrop to eke out a slight advantage at the front. Last lap, last bend, and #5p Ward slid under #53p Roberts for second, but drifted to the marbles, allowing #53p Roberts to re-take on the line.

1.#24p 2.#53p 3.#5p 4.#29p 5.#88p Dean Watts 6.#81p* Eddie Arnold
*Stockcar

Heat 3
Cancelled - time restraint

Cars racing

Derby cars 41
Jnr Ministocks 29
Minisprints 25
Snr Ministocks 23
Stockcars 20
Streetstocks 19
Boy Racers 15
Superstocks 10
Super Saloons 9
Rally car 1 (demo)