Author: Matt.Bylett

NZ Championship

Stratford Speedway would be the venue for this years NZ Championship for the Minisprint class, and we headed down following a good preparation, buoyed by a strong win the round earlier at Palmerston North. It would be our first run in Taranaki this season, but despite this we were confident in our speed and had some improvements to try out since last season. The format would be three heats over the night and the winner would be chosen from aggregate points meaning we had plenty of cars to pass. Car speed would be important with the heats only being 15 laps each.

We drew a mid grid for the first race, giving us outside pole for the second heat and rear grid for the finale, but luck would always decide if that draw would be the winning ticket. Heat one went well for us on a heavy track, we were a little tight to fire off but as the track burnt off a little we picked up plenty of speed. Our opening few laps gained us a couple of spots but our progress seemed to stall in the middle of the race, before right at the end when we closed the gap and started to pick them off. A stack up in front of us gave us a little damage, but fortunately we could hang on for the last couple of laps, even making another spot on the way to the flag.

Race two was a must win for us off the front of the grid and we made the right adjustments to suit the drying track. We led from the outside row into turn one and gapped the field a little before a yellow closed things up again. We held out for the win showing some good pace and learning some clean lines around the bumps that had developed through the night.

The final race would be the money race with all the work to do starting from the rear. Our main competition was down the back with us except for one starting on the front. This meant we would need to make it through to a top five to be in the hunt. As we went green we had a clean run through the first few laps and made some spots before the field got strung out a little and we could pick them off. Our car pace was good and we were on a tear towards the front. We made a spot on the final lap to put us into fifth and secure the points lead for the championship coming off the track.

However it was not to be and the referees would call us upstairs for a lap one pass on the pole line. Despite being pushed down there it was deemed we gained an advantage and we were handed a two spot relegation pushing us back to the 2NZ. It was a still a great result for the team at a track we had typically struggled with and had no real expectations for heading in. We will be proud to run the 2 for the next year, starting at Palmerston North again for the Grand Prix in March.

In addition if you’re keen to get your hands on some merch we have our now vintage 1NZ 2022-23 season shirts out in a variety of sizes available in the shop for $30. We can also send them out if you aren’t able to make it in.

North Island Champs

It had been a lean couple of months as far as racing goes, we pulled out of the Taranaki Champs due to impending weather, despite the meeting getting through just in time. Then the Manawatu Champs at Christmas were a bust following more electrical gremlins. But with a bit more time over the summer break we were deep into the car making repairs and isolating all the possible issues with the sensors and the wiring loom. The North Island Champs would be the first Speedway NZ title for the summer series and the biggest race we would have at our home track in Palmerston North this season so we were keen to have a good showing. Hot laps went well, proving we had solved the electrical issues. We made one change to the car afterward which made sure the car was completely fixed and ready for a big night ahead.

The 20 strong field of minisprints was split into two groups for the heat races, before combining for an all-in 25 lap feature to decide the championship. We drew marble 6 which put us mid field for our two heats. For race 1 we missed the setup a little as the other classes’ practice had caused more wear on the track than we envisaged and we struggled to get a handle on the car. We made some changes inside the car to the shocks which made a big difference and at least allowed us to make some forward ground after a quiet start. We picked up a couple in one corner then were able to make a few more spots as others also struggled eventually winding up third. It felt like a win after the tough run we had endured on the last few weeks.

Heat two we started fourth and moved our way up to second after a couple of quick passes we then stalked the leader but couldn’t make a pass, but were happy with our qualifying points. Our finishes put us second and in the power position for the feature, controlling the start pace on the outside lane. We made our final few setup changes and were ready for the gruelling feature ahead despite being a little short on tires.

In the feature we made a great start and got away to a clear lead for the first part of the race, although from the driver’s seat with no mirrors you just have to push as hard as possible until the chequered flag. We caught and dispatched the first group of lappers, but due to the speed of the field this was no easy feat and it felt like we were losing time. As it turned out the chasing pack barely made it to the back of the field so we had plenty of space. We caught the next cars but they were trailing some oil making the track slippery and impossible to try and make a pass. Luckily the white flag soon came out and we just had to hold on once more around to round out an emphatic victory and put ourselves back on top leading into the business end of the season.

The NZ champs will be our next outing at Stratford Speedway in the middle of February, hopefully we can put on another good showing at the biggest meeting of the year!

We headed to Palmerston North for our second week running for the first round of our travelling series the Oval Superstars Tour. Last week we used the first round as a bit of a shakedown for our newly refreshed engine in the #1 car and it performed well, we top qualified and won the shortened feature on a rough and bumpy Palmy track.

This week the surface was much different however, a dryer and dustier surface which made passing in the heats much more challenging. We drew grid 6 for the opener and had a good run through the opening corner, going to the top and clearing the row in front of us. We then got one more spot before the groove moved to the bottom and we held station for third.

The second heat was a similar dry surface but we tuned the car to be much better and made good progress forwards. In the initial race start we got tangled in a snarl up in the first corner that resulted in us spinning across the infield but no harm was done and we re-joined the race for the restart in our original grid. On the second start we worked our way up the middle and with a bunch more drive forward on the slick track just picked them off one by one. We jumped up from grid 13 to fifth which would put us on top of the qualification order.

We drew marble one to not invert any grids and rolled off inside pole for the feature. We didn’t get quite the run we needed off the start and fell to second on the first corner. However our car was running well and as the laps wound down we started to make some ground on the leader and got to the stage to try and make a move. However the next lap we began developing a misfire at the end of the straight which killed our momentum around the top groove. With this happening and pressure from behind we had no choice but to hold station on the bottom and defend second.

It was a good start to our series with a good points haul from the heats combined with a strong feature finish putting us up the pointy end of the ladder. The next round of the OST will be at Huntly in January, however we will be competing for the Taranaki Champs at Stratford next weekend the 16^th of December. Hopefully we can fix the misfire and be back on the pace in two weeks for our first run there this season.