Macgor's New Zealand Speedway
www.macgor.co.nz


published 19-10-2015
Riverside Speedway Opening Night



29i Shanan Knight spins Aaron Borthwick while
Erwin Tree goes around the outside
841 Jason McMullin takes drastic action to avoid Darcy Hewitt in Modified Sprints


22i Dan Black gets his classic Chevy Monza sideways in Saloons
29i Shanan Knight was dominant in the Gulf Oils Stockcar Rampage

Knight Unbeaten In Stockcar Rampage

By Daryl Shuttleworth

A big opening night crowd enjoyed action aplenty at The Rock FM Riverside Speedway on Saturday night, as the club hosted the Gulf Oils Stockcar Rampage.
With a number of cars still not ready it made for a small but entertaining field of five Stockcars that went head to head, but no one could tame Shanan Knight who was not only fast but menacing when it came to delivering punishment on his fellow drivers.

Knight drove away with heat one but the battle further back in the pack was intense with newcomer Logan McNamara laying some big hits on his more favored competition managing to climb through the field to score an impressive second place and Erwin Tree third.

The tables were turned in race two with McNamara being hit by every other car on track which caused him to park up on the infield, once again Knight was too classy heading off the field by almost a full lap.

Heading into the final Knight had maximum points, but it was it was Aaron Borthwick and Tree who were tied for second, when the green flag dropped it was newcomers McNamara and Johnathan Delany who hit Tree with force, causing him to spin in turn one, Tree fought back showing impressive pace to catch the pack eventually catching Delany and making contact damaging steering and handing second place overall to Borthwick.
As Tree limped around the outside of the circuit Knight delivered a monster blow on Tree as he crossed the finish line to make it three from three and claim victory in the Gulf Oils Stockcar Rampage.

An impressive field of Modified Sprints turned on some of the nights best racing, eleven cars started race one but it was current Southland Champion Jayden Fraser who made it look easy as he drove on to claim his maiden victory of the season, the battle for second and third was intense with Daryl Scott managing to hold off Raymond Phillips.

Race two once again saw Fraser get to the front and drive away with the win, Tony Jones showed his class by heading home seasoned campaigner Kevin Fulton for second place, but the big talking point of the race was the spectacular roll over by Darcy Hewitt on debut, Hewitts race came to an ubrupt end in turn one, thankfull Hewitt walked away unscathed.

Fraser tried to make it a perfect start to the season with double points on offer but couldn't quiet find his way through the pack on a slick track in race three.
Fraser had to settle for third behind Michael Jackson and Daryl Scott who also had an impressive day out and will push Fraser hard all season.

Campbell McManaway was unstoppable in Super Saloons, his Hypermac Mustang claimed four wins from four starts and looked to get faster as the day went on, the only real pressure McManaway faced was in the early stages of each race where Paul Renton put up as much of a fight as he could, hoping McManaway would slip up and open the door for Renton to pounce.
Renton had to settle for four second place finishes.

The battle for third was entertaining as father and son, Owen and Kerry Dixon continually swapped paint on track but it was Owen Dixon who took bragging rights with three third place finishes, Kerry managed to get ahead of Owen in race one claiming third. Kerry Dixon looks fast and as the season progresses he should look to be battling at the sharp end of the field.

In Saloons Craig Philips set the pace early, making easy work of a strong field, but mechanical issues ended his day part way through race one.
Lloyd Phillips extensive hard work in  the off season paid off as he took the lead from his brother and drove to victory, from Dean Shearing and Dan Black campaigning his class Chevy Monza.

Phillips dominated race two from start to finish but this time around an impressive drive from Trev Black saw his Camaro head off Shearing for second but Shearing was proving that he was also going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.

All the carnage took place in race three with James Stronach in his Mustang leading early from Shearing when the pair contacted in turn two leaving extensive damage on Stronachs car and excluding them both from the race.
At the restart Cromwell's Graham Williamson got the jump on the field and defended his lead throughout the race to claim the win from Phillips and Trev Black.

Race one in the Creativity Plus Production Saloons saw twelve cars battle it out, it didn't take long for Aaron Rawcliffe to thread his way through the field and drive off to victory, the battle for second and third went down to the wire with Wade Von Tunzelman and Stacey Jackson swapping places on track a number of times.
With a lap to go Jackson managed to pull a move on Von Tunzelman which he held until the chequered flag.

Race two saw an impressive Josh Johnson take the lead early and despite late pressure from Rawcliffe he drove on to claim his maiden victory in the Production Saloons, and showed that he can front it with the best drivers in the grade.
Rawcliffe had to settle for second with Jackson third.

Rawcliffe looked to run away with the third race of the day also, only to suffer mechanical issues after pulling a lead of almost half a lap.
This allowed for Jackson to take full advantage of the situation and steal the win from a fast finishing Tam Clements and Von Tunzelman in third.

Jack Brown looks to be the man to beat in a very competitive Youth Saloon field. Brown in his bright yellow Honda CRX made short work of the competition in race one however the battle further back was intense and Olivia Beck-Graham drove a brilliant race to claim second over Zane Tuhura in third.

Tuhura turned the tables in race two holding off a mighty challenge from Brown to claim his first win of the season, Brown held on for second spot while Acacia Mitchell who was fast all night finished third.

Race three once again saw Brown race away for an impressive win, however any one of five cars could have claimed the minor spots. Emma Phillips and Olivia Fraser fought it out early in the race before Brown made his move for the lead, Phillips managed to hang on for a well deserved second, while Fraser slipped down the field to fifth allowing Tuhura to grab third late in the race.

Steve Dryden and Mark Henderson shared the overall honors in the Streetstocks.


© This page produced and hosted by Macgors NZ Speedway .