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The final two Taranaki Champions of the 2013/14 season were found at Stratford Speedway on Saturday March 22nd and it was two of the fastest classes that saved their champs until last.  Of the nine contracted classes to Stratford Speedway, the Minisprints were the last to hold their scheduled champs while the Sprintcars, who only race by invitation once per season, also raced for theirs.

Seven of the eight Sprintcars that had entered the Taranaki Champs arrived at the track on Saturday.  Aucklands Paul Donovan withdrew at the last minute when he elected instead to race at Baypark Speedway in Tauranga.

Auckland driver Glenn Torpey won the championship after earning enough points from two third places in the first races to start on pole for the one race final.  Eltham’s Tony Uhlenberg placed second in the first race and won the second which put him at the top of the points chart.  He elected to start on the outside of the front row however and Torpey got the jump on him at the start and held the lead for the entire fifteen lap duration.  Uhlenberg stayed in second place to secure a podium spot and Wellington driver Stephen Taylor, who started in grid three finished third.  Taylor spent the majority of the first five laps attempting to pass Uhlenberg for second but had to settle for third after the track started to slick off and passing became near impossible.

Glenn Torpey was happy with his win and liked the track.  “It’s an awesome track and so smooth.  We still haven’t figured the shape out yet as we are used to racing on symmetrical tracks but we will come back next year if we can” he said.

Seventeen year old Taylor had the fastest car on the track during the first race which he easily from a front row start, setting the fastest lap time of the night in the process of 13.15 seconds.  A lack of good judgement saw him sent to the infield and excluded from race two by officials after he drove at race speed around the track while the pit gate was still open and push vehicles were on the track.  The exclusion cost him valuable points that saw him start further down the field for the final.

Auckland driver Daniel Thomas had a short night’s racing.  The young driver clipped the wall and rolled his car while chasing Taylor for the lead during the first race.  The damaged wing, broken axle and broken steering was enough to ensure that his racing was over for the night.

Sean Rice was in blistering form and dominated the racing in the fifteen car Minisprint class.  He broke the lap record twice, the first time in race one when he knocked one tenth of a second off with a 14.01 second lap and then again in race three when he completed a lap in 13.99 seconds.  He easily won the Taranaki champs after winning the first race from grid one, finishing sixth in race two from grid eight and then producing a stunning drive to win the last race from grid twelve.  He won the championship with forty points, five points clear of his closest rival Dylan Waite who was second.  Regular Auckland visitor Donald Kuriger finished in third place, just one point behind Waite.

Kylee Symes and Tyler Walker won the Best Pairs event for the Stockcar class, earning a combined one hundred and nineteen points over the three races.  Kelvin Good and Gary Worthing were second with one hundred and twelve points.  Bevan Phillips won all three races and with his partner Lyn Booker, the pair earned enough points to finish in third with one hundred and five.

Chris Shingleton and Matt Blinkhorne won the Best Pairs in the Sreetstock class with a combined forty seven points.  They were just two points ahead of John Young and Nigel Shingleton who were second with forty five points.  Gordon Fowler and Jonathan Price were third with twenty five points.

The support racing for the Adult Ministock class produced some close racing.  Shane Denham won two races while Josh Evershed won the other.

Wins in the large twenty eight car Youth Ministock grade went to Joshua Trott, Brad Uhlenberg and Bayley Betts.

Glenn Torpey won the Taranaki Sprintcar Champs.

Sean Rice won the Taranaki Minisprint Champs.