Track: Wanganui
Date: Tuesday 3 January 2006
Event: NORTH ISLAND SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIPS - FINALS NIGHT
Report by Roger Morrison and pictures by Mike Pollard

Wanganui - Tuesday 3 January 2006
NORTH ISLAND SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS NIGHT
Report by Roger Morrison and pictures by Mike Pollard

Wow!! When they talk about the great championship meetings in years to come the 2005/06 North Island Superstock Champs is going to come somewhere near the top of the list. Action from the 1st corner of Heat one, electronic lap scoring hiccups, protests, one of the biggest hits ever seen in stockcar racing and we still don’t know conclusively who won!! As at now 58P Peter Bengston has one hand on the trophy but a dispute has arisen in relation to his finishing of the 2nd heat, which needs to be resolved by SNZ and this won’t be known for 3 to 4 days. And the action wasn’t confined to the finalists as the non-qualifiers and the stockcars all did their bit to serve up a great night of entertainment.

North Island Superstock Champs

Heat One

Even before the start there was a minor drama with things obviously not right with the 19V Malcolm Ngatai car as he pulled in by the pit gate to have some running repairs made. Although he eventually finished, things weren’t right & he didn’t show for heats 2 & 3. 26 cars thundered off the line in front of a huge crowd on a blustery but dry evening at the real oval by the ocean. Now speedway fans know the dangers of the southern bend at Ocean View and in a taste of things to come 43P Daryl Hammond added to the folklore as he was squeezed up and over to his roof and then landed back on his wheels – this happening in the 1st corner of the 1st heat of the 1st lap!!! The red lights were thrown and Hammond was ready to roar off again only to be hauled infield by the blue shirts because of damage to his roll cage. And the casualties were already mounting with 591P Wayne Hemi pulling infield along with 15V Morris Doyle and 271H Blair Neal. Up front 58P Bengston, 41H Lionel Penn and 5V Daryl Taylor had cleared away. 164V Cameron Sturzaker almost had the same fate as Hammond a few laps later to land back on his wheels but his heat was over. And midway through this heat all hell broke loose on the southern bend again as 53P Keven Roberts and 8P Scott Miers came together in a melee of cars. Roberts ended up astride the bonnet of Miers but was able to back off although what looked like a broken spring ended his heat. Miers pushed the cockpit grill back in place and was ready to rumble off. As the heat progressed and the track started to slick off it became apparent that 77B Shane Penn was the fastest car circulating and his efforts would be rewarded with a top 3 placing but in trying to get around cousin Lionel in the last corner he got sideways and lost valuable placings.

As the dust settled and the crowd drew breath it was Bengston who had made the most of his grid draw who took the chequered flag ahead of 2NZ Rodney Wood and Lionel Penn. Wood had come from grid 21 to claim 2nd place. Other big movers were Shane Penn claiming 5th placing from grid 24 and 72P Simon Joblin 7th from grid 26.

1.#58p Peter Bengston 2.#2nz Rodney Wood 3.#41h Lionel Penn 4.#48h Dave Roigard 5.#77b Shane Penn 6.#5v Darryl Taylor

Heat Two

24 cars made it to the start line with Hammond and Ngatai out for the evening. After the drama of Heat One what was in store for Heat Two? From the green flag dropping it became evident that this would be more a speedfest and Hemi had the Red Waka at full throttle. Shane Penn was spun early and was left to chase down the pack. 515R Stan Hickey wasn’t getting the rub of the green either and got hung up on the front of Joblin slowing his progress through the field. Doyle and 17V Rick Campbell pulled infield to dent the local hopes but Taylor was notable making up significant ground from his grid 25 position. Miers was in stirring form and between he and Joblin they ended 119R Kerry Remnant’s run for the night. With the pace on it became evident that Hemi would not be touched and 37R Dayne Wright and Wood would also profit well from the heat – until the last lap!! In to the southern bend (again!!) and 31B Andy McCabe caught and tagged Wright who in turn nailed Wood. Wright struggled away while Wood soldiered on with a broken right wheel seeing valuable placings slip by until he reached the chequered flag. Another incident playing out that would have a big impact on the final result was Bengston struggling across the finish line with the assistance of 52P Bruce Ward. The lead up to this incident and the subsequent placing of Bengston have still yet to be resolved. In amongst the mayhem Hemi strolled away to a comfortable victory from 75A Dave Tennant and Taylor. After much deliberation and re-postings of results the points going in to the last heat saw Taylor and Bengston level on 45 points, Shane Penn and Tennant on 44 each, Wood on 42, 48H Dave Roigard on 40 and Lionel Penn on 38.

1.#591p Wayne Hemi 2.#75a Dave Tennant 3.#5v 4.#5p Bruce Ward 5.#77b 6.#99v Richard Watkins *(new official result, giving title to 2nz Rodney Wood)*

Heat 3

The carnage was starting to take its toll with only 18 cars emerging for heat 3 as Hammond and Ngatai were joined by Doyle, Neal, Hyslop, Remnant, Wright and Nolly. Joblin was on poll with Taylor back on grid 4. Shane Penn was behind Joblin but had Miers looking in his right hand window. From the start Miers did his best to stop Penn allowing Joblin to slip away with Hickey and Taylor well placed. The first corner took some casualties with Tennant in trouble and Roigard not long after having to retire. Taylor was spun and car problems saw his chances diminish. Wood was aware of the danger of Miers and nailed him just past the start/finish line although Miers returned the favour a few laps later. Miers then used the southern bend to take out Lionel Penn to remove him from the equation. As the heat progressed Shane Penn was doing well to avoid all the attention being placed on him and was seemingly home for all money. That was until the last lap, with the white flag having already been waved at Joblin. What came next was one of those moments in time that one will never forget. Coming past the start/finish line Miers had allowed both Shane Penn and Wood to get past him. Miers then planted the foot to the floor in the tank and lined up Wood going into the southern bend. As Penn and Wood turned in to the corner Miers left the foot planted to the floor and launched himself at Wood’s left hand rear guard at full noise. Miers didn’t miss and Wood in turn collected Penn who was launched backwards in to the wall with all 3 cars seemingly in the air. The red lights were thrown with Penn sitting unconscious in the car and emergency services quickly on the scene. He eventually came around but the car was gingerly removed from the arena. Miers coasted infield with a split fuel tank. And somehow Wood cleared his head to take his place in the field – whatever the car is built from should be the new template. While the removal of Penn was occurring it became evident that Bengston only had to complete a lap to take the title as Wood didn’t have enough cars between him and the 58P. From the lights switching back to green, the crippled Campbell made a lunge at Bengston and it was a stroll home to claim the title – maybe?? Stunning. Gut churning. Amazing. Unbelievable. The words could never come out right for what was an amazing championship.

1.#72p Simon Joblin 2.#515r Stan Hickey 3.#2nz 4.#58p 5.#5p 6.#99v

Non Qualifiers

With only 11 starters matters were expected to be low key but these guys gave a great display of full contact racing over 3 heats with 45V Steve Guilford and 186V Bevan Giltrap both having wild rides up the wall. 98P Craig Humphries was obviously the quickest car on show and used his knowledge of having attended Ocean View this season to do enough to claim victory.

1.#98p Craig Humphries 2.#28h Glenn Drabble 3.#11a Gary Ellis 4.#59b Ian Barron 5.#92v Adrian Barnes 6.#53s Anthony O'Hanlon

1.#92v 2.#28h 3.#98p 4.#186v Bevan Giltrap 5.#45v Steve Guilford 6.#11a

1.#82s John Booker 2.#98p 3.#11a 4.#28h 5.#53s 6.#95s Brian Booker

Cars racing

Superstocks 37
Saloons 18
Stockcars 12
Sidecars 6