The summer of international Midget Car competition made a rain-delayed start on Sunday evening, but it was worth the wait with a thrilling Bay Super Stars 30-lapper at Baypark Speedway.
Ten-time New Zealand champ Michael Pickens used his experience to battle his young challengers and claim the 30-lap feature victory, while the racing throughout the pack saw a constantly changing running order and side-by-side action.
The primary challenge to Pickens came from young Auckland racer Ben Morrison, who top-scored in the heat races and opted to start from the outside of the front row. Morrison raced his signature high line on a wide track, a tactic that Pickens needed to counter early on.
“I could hear him [Morrison] up there for about two laps, so then I went to the top,” says Pickens.
It was the first move in a smartly calculated race by Pickens.
“I ran the bottom at the start, went to the top, then the middle and went back to the bottom again. You had to be heads-up and onto it.”
Morrison officially led one lap during the battle, and his efforts were hampered late in the race by a brush with the wall, which bent a footrest and restricted his use of the brake pedal.
The other challengers included Brock Maskovich, who made the lower line work for most of the race and US star Cannon McIntosh, who was part of the battle with Morrison and Maskovich and briefly ran in second on his NZ debut.
The Oklahoma racer survived a huge bicycle in turn one with five laps remaining, but stalled his car. He had to restart at the tail of the field and recovered to finish sixth.
Auckland teenager Alec Insley fought in the lower half of the top-10 and then built momentum in the closing laps to claim third place, while Te Awamutu’s Mitch Fabish climbed to fifth but ran out of fuel just short of the finish.
Tauranga’s Luke McClymont was a mid-race mover, starting ninth and getting to third spot before suffering engine problems.
Young Australian racer Zoe Pearce walked away from a spectacular crash on the back straight on lap three, and Maskovich took a hard tumble in the same spot on the penultimate lap while battling with Morrison for second.
From deep in the pack, Aucklander Corbin Anderson raced forward from grid 18 and finished fourth ahead of Travis Buckley, who almost matched Anderson’s advance with his run from grid 17 to fifth.
The final of the third annual Hokey Ashby Memorial Super Stock contest was a race of bumper work and changing fortunes, with seven different drivers running in a podium spot at some point in the 12-lapper.
Early leader Elias Dykstra lost time when he was taken to the wall by Rotorua’s Robbie Mabey, and the next leader was Dan Pollock, who had a couple of laps in front until he was slowed.
National champ Todd Hemingway had lost ground in the early laps but climbed the order to hit the front on lap six. He put his best defensive skills on show to deal with several attempts to slow his progress before claiming the memorial win for the second time.
Regan McKenzie was another driver making moves towards the front, starting tenth and grabbing second in the closing laps ahead of Brendan Ashton.
Baypark racer Ryan O’Connor broke through to celebrate a Sprint Car feature race win after a consistent string of top placings over the past two seasons.
O’Connor controlled the 20-lapper from the start and was the only driver to dip into 13-second lap times in the feature race as he cleared out to win from Ayrton Hodson (Katikati) and Tauranga’s Rodney Wood.
A 28-strong field of Youth Mini Stock drivers from throughout the North Island contested a three-race points contest, with race wins going to Baypark’s Alex Wood, Aucklander Tiana Chatfield and Rotorua’s Dylan Heard.
The overall winner was Gisborne’s Zac Chiles, scoring 75 points from fourth, third and second placings to beat Chatfield by four points.
The remainder of the international Midget Car action, including the sixth annual Bay 51 feature race, was unfortunately cancelled due to unfavourable conditions on Tuesday, 30 December. Heavy rain fell on the track the previous day, with further rainfall forecast overnight.
Header Image: Jessica Barnes / Blissful Photography
