Stars revved up for national champs
More than 150 will take starting line in race to be crowned speedway champion
The New Zealand summer of speedway began in earnest last night at Rotorua’s Paradise Valley Speedway with the Rotorua Stockcar Club hosting the first of 13 national titles to be decided around the country over the coming weeks.
It will be a record-breaking affair at the TWS New Zealand Superstock Championships with an unprecedented number of racers from across the country taking part.
More than 150 will line up for the chance to be crowned champion, many more than the previous record of 118 four years ago.
A capacity crowd approaching 10,000 people is expected to converge on the city for the three-day extravaganza, which begins with the Superstock Shakedown tonight, essentially a practise session for drivers.
On Saturday, the Village Green at the Rotorua Lakefront will become a Superstock Super show between 10am and 2pm, with entertainment, merchandise, and all the race cars undergoing their pre-race checks.
Heading the entry list is the current 1NZ Randal Tarrant. The 27-year-old from Hawke’s Bay won the 2020 event in Whanganui.
Despite some major engine woes in the past fortnight, he is back to full strength to take his place on the grid at a track he feels suits his race package.
“It’s going to be massive,” Tarrant said.
“A big weekend. I cannot wait to get there. It is going to be the hardest championship ever to qualify for, so that is the main goal.
“It will be special to be the defending champion, with everyone wanting to come and say hi, and they will be looking at what our team is doing. I’m really excited to be part of it.”
Qualifying races tonight will see drivers seeded into six groups, with just the top four scorers from each group guaranteed a spot in the finals field which will feature just 26 drivers.
A last chance race for the last two grids will happen Sunday night before the action-packed three-race finals series to find the 2021 champion.
Not surprisingly the home track contributes the largest number of drivers with 35 entries and hopes are high for a strong showing.
Dale Stewart has come closest in recent times, with a fourth-place at the Auckland hosted event three years ago.
He debuted an immaculate new superstock just five weeks ago and has already been on the pace, with a win and two other top-four finishes in his six starts at Paradise Valley.
Former World 240 winner Bryce Steiner is another local hope.
He had mechanical troubles to start the race season but now has those ironed out, while Damian Orr has continued his strong form from last season with three wins and six top-four finishes on his home track this season.
Orr was the only Rotorua driver to qualify for the NZ title last year and he is looking forward to chasing the big one on his home track.
“I’ll just be trying to treat it like any other meeting,” he said.
“Trying to relax, then just pick off as many passes in each race and hopefully make the finals. But everyone else will be doing the same, so it’s not easy.”
Rotorua last hosted this event 10 years ago, and Rotorua Stockcar Club secretary Sonja Hickey says planning for the event has been under way for just over two years but began in earnest just as Covid disruptions hit in March 2020.
“There was plenty of uncertainty as to whether this would happen at all, and we lost six weeks of venue work,” she said. “But the team have pulled together and upgrades have increased capacity by installing some reserved seating and removed the top grass sloped area and installing four more rows of terracing.
“We have also remodelled the embankment on turn one and installed another 356 reserved seats.”
More than 100 volunteers will be on hand to help the smooth running of the event.
“It is great to be able to help other organisations like Lions and various other sporting clubs who man gates, park cars and clean the venue. To have their support for our meetings is imperative,” Hickey said.