Author: Matt.Bylett

Race report

The final round of our tour was moved to Palmerston North following a string of rain offs and interruptions through the season. We were happy to be back at the track that had treated us so well this season.
We would run three heats for qualifying then a feature to finish the night.
We had a solid lead in the OST points but needed another clean night to round out the season.
We drew grid 7 for the first race and got off to a reasonable start however on the slippery track I made a little error and caught the fence damaging our rear suspension. We carried on but not at great pace and lost some spots to finish about 10th.
It was an easy enough fix for the next race and we were back out with our car tuned up but a lot of work to do starting back in 15th. We got a killer start and sliced through cars left and right through the opening laps before the field spaced out a little and it got more difficult to pass. By the end we made our way up to fifth which helped to make up for our bad first heat.
Second heat we started off 2 and got off to the lead. We quickly caught the back of the big field and worked our way through lapped traffic albeit a little too cautiously as it turned out as we lost the lead in the last lap after dodging a spinning car in front of us. We hung on for second but it was a little bit what could have been. The results qualified us sixth for the feature and gave us a lot of work to do on the very slick track.
We fired off in the feature okay, getting the setup where we needed it early and made some ground up the field. However our progress stalled about mid race once our rear tires began to give up and we were stalled at fifth spot. While it wasn’t an amazing nights racing for the team it was hard to balance being cautious for points versus attacking for the race win. On final count we had done enough to win the series, with none of our close competitors taking any points off us in the final round. It would be our second OST tour win in three seasons and a great reward for our resilience through the season.
Our next round is to be at Stratford speedway for the third attempt at getting the Grand Prix meeting in. Hopefully we can score another weekend of dry weather and challenge for another win in the naki

The next round of the tour took us back to our ‘home’ track of Palmerston North and while it’s still a long trip down the country it was nice to be back in familiar territory. After a bruising few weeks the field was a little depleted but all the contenders were there to put on a good show. As always we drew a tough grid, putting us off 11 for race one.

The track was still quite heavy as we drove out the gate, but we were much better on setup than we had been for the last few weeks and managed to make some good ground. Picking cars off through the race to finish up in fifth spot. The reverse grid put us off two alongside our good mate in the 2nz car, promising to make an exciting start.

We got the jump heading down to one but stayed high in 1-2 and the top lane just didn’t have the grip we needed causing us to fall back to second. We followed through the other end before getting the run and reversing the move at turn 1 the next lap. Making the dive and getting it done for the lead. Our car was pretty perfect for setup and we cleared out for a strong win.

The heat results put us in a three way tie for top qualifier. However we scored quickest lap time through the night which settled the tie breaker. The format was to invert the top six and this put us outside row three for the feature.

On the race start we had a blinder running down the outside then cutting to the bottom to take the lead into turn one but when we get to the back stretch the yellow comes out for a jump start, reason being the front row not entering the box even. We had to try again from row three but lightening wouldn’t strike twice and this time we couldn’t gain any ground. It took us a sec to get rolling but once we did we were fast, moving up a little and scoring fastest lap in the process but we couldn’t make the passes on the primarily one lane track and had to settle for fourth.

It certainly wasn’t the result we hoped for after having such good speed but it was another good points night and helps cement our place at the top of the ladder. With all the rain offs we now only have one round left of the tour at harrisville speedway on Easter Sunday. The daytime show at the outlaw track is always a challenge and we will have to apply ourselves well to get a good result.

Our next race is back at Stratford for the speedway nz Grand Prix title and will be another important weekend. That will be after a well deserved week off where we can get into the car and make sure we finish the season well.

We headed to our home track Huntly for a two night show supporting the modified nz title. Unfortunately Friday night ended up getting rained off while we were at the track so we packed up and regrouped for Saturday. With an early start we were met with a challenging track, which went very slick early and then as it turned out came back to be quite drivey later in the night, something we hadn’t really experienced before.

For our first heat we drew grid 10 and after a dicey first corner we dodged all the carnage and were lucky to make some good spots in the first heat. We jumped to about fifth after the opening lap then picked off a couple more through the race on a slick track despite being setup for a much different track and wound up third.

We started off mid pack for the second heat and managed another good start from the outside lane and jumped to second where we would stay. Our car wasn’t where it needed to be to challenge for the win but second put us into a good spot for the last heat.

Our final heat put us in a strong position from mid pack again but we battled to make ground after the track started to turn drivey again. We managed to move up a couple spots but couldn’t really capitalise to race for the win. Our finish put us third for the Waikato champs which was a little disappointing after such a strong start but it was good to come away with a podium with the strong field.

The final feature race was for the Waikato war round of the oval superstars tour. We started third and got a good start to jump to second. Despite the long 20 lap distance and a caution that got us right into the mix we never really made any inroads on the leader to battle for the win. A second place finish did help our points in the overall tour and it was good we could salvage some results despite not performing at out best through the night.

Our next round will be this coming weekend at Palmerston North. It will be good to get back to the super speedway, hopefully we can get back up front.

We made the trip to Palmerston North speedway for the nz title event our biggest race of the season where who gets to run the coveted 1nz is decided for another year.  24 cars faced the starter for a complex format of qualifying heats before the main 25 lap feature where all would be decided

Our grid draw was 11 which put us last and first in the primary group for our two qualifying heats and meant we had a lot of work to do in race 1 of the night. We had 12 laps to come through from the back and were lucky to make some good ground early. The track narrowed up after the opening laps which stalled our progress but after a couple of mechanical failures for other competitors we climbed up the field to fifth which we hoped would be enough to qualify towards the front for the feature.

For heat two we tuned up the 72P car and had an absolute weapon that dominated out front from grid one, however our main competition behind us also managed to make good ground and although our car was fast on aggregate points from the two races we only qualified fourth spot for the one race final.

We knew we would have our work cut out to try and slice through the quality field from that far in the pack but we tuned up our best setup and bolted our best Hoosiers on for a shot at the big race.

When the flag fell the top row shot out to a good start and we catapulted to second place however our car was pretty average to start with and we soon dropped back to third. We battled away for maybe five or six laps with an ill-handling car before our setup came right and we finally hit our straps. We found a good groove out by the wall and the car came alive. We quickly moved around to second spot and then set our sights on the leader. It took maybe five or so more laps before we made any inroads but then the gap started to reduce at an ever increasing rate until we got down towards the end and we were right in the hunt.

We had to move off the wall to putt past the leader on the bottom and somehow managed it, we then led for half a lap before a poorly timed caution for a spin put us back to second spot. Under the yellow everybody had a chance to catch up and sort their in car adjustments out before the green came back out. We had an average restart but cruised back up to the leader quite quick staying out of the dramas that unfolded behind us. It took a lap to get our momentum but we shot down into one and pulled off the same pass as a couple laps earlier to lead with only a few corners to run. We rolled around the bottom for the final lap to seal the victory and secure the coveted 1nz.

It was a spectacular result for our team and the culmination of five years of hard work and learning to put our name on the biggest trophy in our sport. I want to thank everybody on our crew for all of their hard work and dedication and thank the Palmerston North speedway for putting on such a great event and prepping such a racy track. We get a week off next weekend to come back down to earth before we head back to stratford speedway with our new number to contest the north island champs on the 4th March.

Race Review

Check out the full race review in Stuff here

After yet another rain off two weeks back we were lucky to have this weekend slotted in to give us the second round of our travelling series as well as the local king of the mountain championship
With it being one week before our national champs we were keen for a quiet night to get some points towards the tour
Rain threatened as we went out for heat one. The format was three heats with front middle and back grids randomly drawn for the local championship then fastest to the back for the 15 lap OST feature
Our first race was off the back. We were lucky to pick off four or more cars in the opening laps with the track very narrow around the bottom. Then I made the rookie error of pulling all my tear offs leaving only visor for the rest of the race. We battled through with limited vision losing two spots late for a mid pack finish
For race two we moved up the grid to sixth. Our car was much racier on the slick track but we still had work to do. We made a few spots to jump to third but had nothing to chase down the leaders and stayed third throughout.
Race three and the final for king of the mountain had us on grid three. We followed the pole sitter through on the first corner but couldn’t make any further inroads to run second.
This gave us accumulated points to finish second equal however we lost the tie break based off of fastest laps on the night.
We had a quick turnaround for the feature which put us deep in the pack again fastest to the back. But as soon as we kicked off it was clear we had finally sorted the setup and had a racy piece. We ripped through the field on the high side, moving through to sixth before a tangle in front of us elevated us to fourth.
After the restart we had to put the hammer down and blew past two of the drivers in the opening corner just leaving the leader to go.
It took maybe four laps of work trying inside and out but we finally wore him down to get side by side into turn one on the final lap and we could finish the pass on the outside.
We rolled through three and four untouched to take our first OST feature in two years. The result puts us up the pointy end of the points with most of the season remaining.
Our next race will be the nz title at Palmerston North this weekend coming. It was great to finish up a trying night like this with no damage and a good result to boot going into the biggest race of the year.

Weekend Review
Palmerston North 21st jan 2023
Manawatu champs

We made the long drive to Palmerston North to defend our Manawatu championship from last season. With a huge field of 22 cars, we had no concerns about the weather after such a torrid season.

We drew marble 14 which put us in the middle of the grid for the heats. In heat one, starting mid pack, we were lucky to pick a few cars off with the help of some cautions and a few passes in the middle to move up to sixth. In heat two, the grid was inverted and we had an incredible start, jumping to fourth.

With a bit of luck, we got two restarts which allowed us to work our way up to second place and then, on the final restart, we grabbed the lead and held on to win the heat. Our 39 points put us second top qualifier, with Karl Uhlenberg from Stratford in first. He chose to start on grid two for the feature, which was to be 15 laps on a slick Palmerston North surface.

We didn’t have a great start in the feature and ran second until lapped traffic when we got a couple of looks at passing Karl for the lead. We got a little snagged in traffic just as a caution came on track for a crash down the field.

This gave us the opportunity to make some shock changes to the car and cool our Hoosiers. When the race resumed, Karl chose the outside line for the restart. We didn’t give it to him easily this time and what followed was one of the most exciting battles I’ve ever been a part of.

We ran side by side for easily three laps, neither giving an inch, until finally we snuck ahead at turn one with only a few laps to go. We put the hammer down and held out for the win in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

It was great to defend the biggest local title of the season at our ‘home’ track and I want to thank all my crew who worked hard on the car this weekend, as well as the track crew and all the other competitors for some great racing.

Our next event is the Speedway NZ Grand Prix in Stratford, Taranaki. Last time at this event, we scored third, being pipped by Uhlenberg on the last corner, so we will be determined to put that right.

It will be our first time in Taranaki this season on the undercard to the NZ midget title, which promises to be an amazing show.

That’s it for our first Speedway Special – Keep your eyes posted for more specials coming Thursday and in the meantime check out the website for any of your day to day needs

 

See you for the next race

Your Wallace Heron Team