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Vickery Snares Taranaki Superstock Title

Jarrod MacBeth

After destroying his opposition last weekend to win the Gary Adamson memorial for the best stirrer, Mitch Vickery proved that he can both use his bumper and race fast when he showed a clean pair of heels to win the Taranaki Superstock Champs at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night.  Vickery was in a class of his own and dominated the twenty one car field that included top racers Peter Rees, who is a multiple winner of National Titles, his son Ethan and Aucklander Bernie Fox.  Vickery nailed his car setup for the tricky track conditions where grip was lacking and moved through the field a credible ten places to finish fifth in the first heat from a grid fifteen start.  He then made it the front spot on lap three of heat two after a grid five start, staying there until the race end and then won heat three from grid eleven after passing Ethan Rees for the lead on lap three.  Vickery’s finishing positions ensured that he won the event by a large margin of five points from Hamish Booker who was second.  Booker had won the first race before placing fourth in race two and seventh in race three.  Nik Kiser claimed third spot to make it a top three finish for local competitors.  Vickery was surprised that no one targeted him in the third heat.  “I was expecting to have a lot more people challenging me in the final after mixing it up last week to win the Adamson Memorial.  This is the one trophy I wanted to win this season as it is one of the more sought after club trophies.” He said.

Also up for grabs on the night was the Taranaki Midget title and a strong field of eleven competitors lined up to contest the event.  Michael Kendall was the man at the front of the field in the first heat and he led from start to finish for a convincing win and an excellent start to his championship bid.  Chris Bagrie won heat two after leading for the entire duration of the race and then again won in heat three.  However, it was Jimmy Greenough who was the most consistent driver on the track all night.  His three second places secured his spot on the top of the podium and ensured that his name will be etched on the trophy for the first time in its seventeen year history.  Greenough is a top competitor who is often near the front of the field and with luck going his way on the night he came home a well-deserved winner.  Chris Bagrie finished in second place, just one point behind Greenough while Michael Kendall was third.  Duane Hickman, who usually features in these events suffered an engine issue (the bolts connecting it to the car came loose) and he didn’t complete all three races.

Former New Zealand Modified Champion John Jackson was in top form and recorded two seconds and a first place in the nine car field to win the Modified City of New Plymouth Classic.  Blair Luscombe was second after recording a first and two fourth places while current New Zealand ranked number one, Richard Pierce was third.

A large field of thirty two Stockcars raced with wins going to Mason James, Shane Denham and Kylee Symes, the latter running another car up the wall to claim the victory on the last lap.  There was a lot of action withing the class, including a spectacular roll over by Andrew Dodunski in Race two.  Saloon race wins went the way of Jarrod MacBeth, Daniel Hinton and Craig Korff while Shaun Dickie won two races in the Minsiprint class and Lydia Dickinson the other.

A destructive Caravan derby ended the night’s events.  Thirteen competitors destroyed each other’s cars and trailers in only six laps.  Matt Hill won the event after his car was the last one mobile that still had a drawbar and axle attached behind it.