ACTION PACKED 'NIGHT OF LEGENDS'
15 Nov 2009
The second meeting of Western Springs Speedways historic 80th season on November 14 saw another great crowd in the terraces eager to honour the Western Springs heroes, past and present, featuring the Radio Hauraki ‘Night of Legends’, and the Auckland Speedway Vintage Club supported Heritage Shield’s for all classes. Longtime Western Springs announcer and Speedway Hall of Famer Bill Mudgway was the guest of honour, helping out with some of the commentary on the night.
Ryan Barry dominated the two Kiwi Kidz Quarter Midget races, chased by Hayden Guptill, Ben Le Cren, and Nathan Howard.
With close to thirty cars in the pits again, heat wins in the ultra competitive TQ class were shared by Lawrence Baker, Amanda Warren, former Track Champion Ross Linklater, and Chris Gwilliam.
Eight-times NZ Sprintcar Champion Alan Wakeling set the early pace during the Sprintcar heats with seventeen cars pitside, with the #27 Ampro Tools/Koken XXX driver winning the first heat. Glen Torpey, Jamie McDonald, and former National Champ Carl Wilson shared the other three heat wins, with Wakeling the top qualifier with a win and a third in his two heat races. Wilson’s final heat win, was notable for the victory wheelstand after the race, with Wilson back on form after a tough start to his new season campaign, and his Track Championship defence. Last weeks feature winner Dean Brindle suffered power steer problems in his second heat and would have some work to do in the feature from grid fourteen, while Mark Browne’s #21 Maxim had a driveline failure that would see the popular driver unfortunately missing the feature lineup.
Chris McCutcheon won the first Midget heat early on in the night on an ideal surface, while Michael Pickens starting off his night with a win in the #54 GVI Breka in the second Midget heat from pole. A blistering13.856 second lap from Pickens would be the benchmark for the night. Matt Thompson won heat three, from impressive rookie Hayden Williams, and Lance Beale in the new Synergy V8 powered BNT Aggressor.
Pickens started from grid eight for heat four, eventually finishing third behind long-time Midget rivals Brad Mosen, and Shane Alach. The last two laps had the crowd on their feet as Alach and Mosen traded slidejobs, with Michael running right with them to the line. With a win and a third from his heats, Pickens would start the all important feature from pole, alongside Midget rookie Hayden Williams.
The F2 Midget Feature was again won by 15-year-old Midget rookie Nick Cassidy driving for the HLR Team, ahead of Huntly’s Nevan Bowman, and former Stockcar racer Rose Halfpenny. Cassidy won all three races on the night for the F2’s, making it six wins from six starts this season. Seven F2’s ran during the night.
After a fantastic opening night TQ feature, it was going to be a hard task to top it for action, but the twenty-four car feature lineup did just that on night two. Ross Linklater, keen to go one better than last week, started from pole as the top qualifier from the heats, and was challenged initially by the returning 3NZ Suzuki/Breka of Brock Maskovich, Lawrence Baker, Paul Le Cren, Gina Harris, and first night feature winner Shane O’Connor in the 1NZ Harris/Kawasaki. Linklater survived every challenge launched at him to win from a charging Le Cren, and Shane O’Connor. Jared Taylor, Chris Gwilliam, and Steve Smith made up the top six.
Jamie McDonald showed his intentions early in the 20-lap Sprintcar feature, passing pole sitter Alan Wakeling for the lead. With laps in the 12.4 seconds range, it wasn’t long before the leader got into lapped traffic. A couple of cautions closed the field back up during the race, with Alan Wakeling starting the last restart in second with a deflating left rear tyre. Wakeling was passed by Ryan O’Connor and an impressive Glen Torpey off the restart, but managed to finish fourth in the end, behind an elated McDonald, O’Connor and Torpey. It was Torpey’s first Western Springs feature podium. First night winner Brindle ended up against the pit straight wall on the last lap and was scored as a DNF, putting a dent in his Track Championship points chase.
Michael Pickens charged to the front from the front row at the start of the Midget feature, initially chased by Alach, Worboys, Shaun Insley, Williams, and Michael Kendall. Max Butterworth had paced the field to the green flag in the famous #22 Ken Mullins owned VW Midget. Michael and Alach were again happy to run the highline, while Worboys and Insley worked the drivier, but rougher lowline. The #54 was never headed, and apart from a big bicycle late in the 25 lap race, and a couple of restarts, Pickens held on to win his second feature in a row for the 09/10 Ampro Tools season, from the ever spectacular Alach, and Insley. McCutcheon, Worboys and Kendall rounded out the top six.
The end of the night featured nearly 30 vintage Speedway cars making their way around the Springs quarter mile, ending a great meeting honouring our Speedway legends.
The third meeting for the season at Western Springs is on Saturday night November 28, and sees the return of popular Americans Joey Saldana, Craig Dollansky, and Jonathan Allard for the Wynns International Sprintcar Classic. A meeting not to be missed, with the night also featuring the official 80th Birthday celebrations at Western Springs Speedway for the season.
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TRACK RECORDS FALL ON OPENING NIGHT
9 Nov 2009
The opening night of Western Springs Speedways historic 80th season saw track records fall, some spectacular crashes, and three popular Classic Hits sponsored feature victories to Shane O’Connor, Michael Pickens, and Dean Brindle, across the TQ, Midget, and Sprintcar classes.
The Ampro Tools 09/10 season opener saw a great crowd in the terraces and the VIP Corporate area, eager to watch some top notch Speedway action on the newly re-profiled Springs quarter mile.
With close to thirty cars in the pits, heat wins in the ultra competitive TQ class were shared by Darren Warren, Chris Gwilliam, Paul Le Cren, and former Track Champion Ross Linklater. The highlights of the four heats were the competitive side by side racing and former NZ Champ Paul Le Cren’s new one lap track record of 14.86 seconds in the third heat, the first sub 15 second lap at The Springs with transponder lap scoring. Le Cren also took two seconds off Bryce Townsend’s longstanding 10 lap track record set back in 2001. However, the one lap record would not last long… Linklater was the top qualifier from the heats and would start from pole for the TQ feature.
All eyes were on the Midgets though for their four qualifying heats, with hard fought wins going to the returning Matt Thompson, Michael Pickens, Carl Worboys, and Shane Alach. Like Le Cren, Pickens also broke the one lap Midget record, resetting Alach’s previous mark of 13.77 set last season, to a stunning 13.74 seconds.
Current NZ1 Dean Brindle set the early pace during the Sprintcar heats with seventeen cars pitside, winning the first heat. Jeremy Halpin, Jamie McDonald, and Alan Wakeling shared the other three heat wins, with Wakeling the top qualifier with a win and a third in his two heat races.
The F2 Midget Feature was won by 15 year old Midget rookie Nick Cassidy driving for the HLR Team, ahead of Rob Aitcheson, and former Stockcar racer Rose Halfpenny, also debuting in the F2 ranks. Cassidy won all three races on the night for the F2’s and also scored a clean sweep in all three NZ Formula Ford races on the same weekend at Pukekohe, a feat possibly not achieved ever before in NZ Motorsport.
The TQ feature would have to rate as one of the best seen in recent times, with Auckland’s regulars racing two and three wide on an ideal surface suited to the motorcycle powered machines. Linklater battled with Chris Gwilliam and National Champ Shane O’Connor for the lead early in the 15 lap race, which was then stopped when Sean Rose flipped viciously on the main straight after contact with another car. Rose was shaken but otherwise OK. O’Connor got to the front after the restart, and went on to score a spectacular race win from Linklater, and Gwilliam, with Le Cren finishing fourth. Le Cren lowered his earlier track record to a stunning 14.691 seconds during the feature.
NZ Sprintcar Champ Dean Brindle dominated the 20 lap Sprintcar feature from grid two, winning from eight times NZ Champ Alan Wakeling, and Ryan O’Connor. Brindle was awesome through lapped traffic on his way to the win, setting the fastest lap of the feature of 12.60 seconds. It was Brindles second win of the season, coming off an opening night feature victory one week earlier at Baypark Speedway. With American Jonathan Allard due at Western Springs in the next couple of weeks along with the return of 3NZ Greg Pickerill, Auckland’s Sprintcar numbers should swell to over twenty cars for the remainder of the season.
The Midget feature was up next and the fans were not left disappointed to say the least with eighteen cars taking the start. Pickens charged to the front from grid two, but the 25 lap race only lasted one corner with former circuit racer Jody Vincent getting upside down after a group of cars clashed in front of him. He was able to restart after a quick check from the Springs infield staff. Pickens again jumped into the lead from the original grid rerun, intent on running the highline, on and over the cushion at each end of the track, whereas Worboys stuck to the inside line, chased initially by Brad Mosen, Shane Alach, and Scott Buckley. Alach then made hard contact with the pit straight fence after a clash with Buckley, which started a chain reaction behind them. Matt Thompson spun in avoidance and was clipped by Michael Kendall and Wayne Green, with Kendall crashing spectacularly down the pit straight.
Worboys managed to pass Pickens for the lead after the restart, with a great move off the exit of turn two, only for Pickens to blast back around the outside on the cushion through turns three and four. That was the race. While Alach eventually retired due to damage from the clash with the wall, Pickens continued to blast the cushion on his way to another Western Springs Midget Feature win, ahead of Worboys and a charging Shaun Insley, who had moved through from grid twelve in an ex Tony Stewart Racing Spike chassis. Brad Mosen, Scott Buckley, and Michael Brunt rounded out the top six.
Next weeks second meeting of the Ampro Tools Season at Western Springs (Nov. 14) will feature the ‘Radio Hauraki Night of Legends’, with all of the regular classes on the menu for the second round of the Track Championship. A special offer for Nov. 14 only, will be free entry on the night into Western Springs for all people aged over 65 (with ID). A night certainly not to be missed! ...
Palmerston North kicks off National Midget Car Series.
Round 1 of the $130,00 2009-2010 Samsung National Midget Car Series roars into life November 21st at the Palmerston North Showgrounds. A full field of cars is expected to contest the 2nd annual Manawatu Midget Car Classic.
Defending race and NMCS champion Michael Pickens leads the field and will aiming to bring the house down once again after one of the great drives in last seasons race. Pickens stormed from the back of the field twice during that race and will be a firm favourite heading into this year’s event. He won't have things all his own way as current NZ number two Brad Mosen has a complete new car and motor package to challenge Pickens. A Hawk Chevy engine replaces his old Mopar power-plant and the Mosen team have high expectations.
Carl Worboys, last seasons runner up in the NMCS, will also be aiming to go one better this season. An early season change of chassis last year saw Carl run right up front and there is no doubt he will be at the pointy end of the field.
Lance Beale heads a line up from the HLR stable, which includes the up and coming Hayden Williams who has risen from the TQ ranks.
Jody Vincent of the Porsche series fame may also appear in the opener and will be one to keep an eye on. Former NZ Champion Matt Thompson hits the comeback trail and will be a major threat on the smooth and fast Palmerston North surface.
Former NZ Champion Shaun Insley changes to a Spike Chassis for the coming season and 5-time NZ champion Michael Kendall hops back into a Terminator chassis, which has bought him huge success in the past. Other notables to head to Palmerston North will be Bill Clarkson Jnr, Dave Gick, and Chris McCutcheon.
Stratford star Duane Hickman has signed on to the series and will be major threats after his big win in the opening night at Stratford Speedway.
A newcomer to the series is Gavin Quinn who will be piloting his Hawk powered Spike and Craig Steinbring also joins the NMCS ranks. And one to watch out for will be Brian Edwards, a minisprint star, who will assume the Wayne “Grengo” Green Breka for the NMCS rounds.
So a stellar field will be heading south to contest what will be another memorable night of Midget Car Racing. Palmerston North Showgrounds, November 21st 2009.
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Sprintcars Set To Star At Springs
3 Nov 2009
With the opening night of Western Springs Speedway’s 80th season fast approaching, Auckland’s spectacular Sprintcars are ready to do battle on the iconic quarter-mile.
A fantastic line-up of close to twenty of the spectacular 800 plus horsepower winged Sprintcars will grace the Western Springs clay for the majority of the 09/10 Ampro Tools Season, headed by returning National Champion Dean Brindle in the #1NZ Traffic Management J&J. Tauranga based Brindle is sure to be challenged at The Springs though by any number of Auckland stars.
Eight – times NZ Sprintcar Champ Alan Wakeling, former NZ Champ and defending Western Springs Track Champion Carl Wilson, another former NZ Champ Jamie McDonald, current 3NZ Greg Pickerill, and fast rising star Ryan O’Connor will make sure that Brindle will have to work hard for his wins, with Hans Boere, Daniel Eggleton, Raymond Griiffin, and Mark ‘Curly’ Browne certainly all featuring in the mix as well.
O’Connor has just spent six weeks in the US crewing for World of Outlaws star and regular NZ tourist Joey Saldana, and has come back to NZ with renewed confidence and knowledge gleamed from the trip with one of USA’s best. A rookie last season , O’Connor won his first ever Sprintcar feature at Western Springs towards the end of the 08/09 campaign, driving the Salter Motorsport/Yale Forklifts #8 Maxim. Profloors will sponsor the team for 09/10.
Carl Wilson (#56 Marley/Chesters J&J) has been racing in the ultra competitive Queensland Championship over the last six weeks in Australia, driving for a local car owner at Brisbane International Speedway, so already has more laps under his belt than his rivals, heading into the new NZ season.
Wakeling returns to action in the Koken Tools/Ampro #27 XXX chassis, and there aren’t too many that have more laps or more wins in Sprintcars at Western Springs than the ever popular ‘Wakeo’. Former International Series Champion Greg Pickerill also has many laps on the Western Springs clay and will also return to action in the Century Batteries #3NZ Maxim.
Jamie McDonald has one of the best presented teams in the sport, and after a disappointing couple of seasons affected by chassis destroying crashes, McDonald will want more wins to add to his tally at The Springs in the Makita Tools/Wynns #71 J&J machine.
Griffin (#11 Profreight/Salter Cartage Maxim) and Brown (#21 Kennys Bar & Grill/Hytorq Maxim) have both purchased new Maxim chassis’ over the winter, and looked good at practice last weekend along with Boere in the Future Cuisine #35 J&J, and Eggleton in the Vazey Trucks/Totalspan #78 Maxim.
Havard Daniels has purchased the ex Ron Salter #63 Maxim, and should be ready for opening night with his familiar #9 adorning the car, as will the returning Adam Childs in a former Daniels J&J racing as #23. Former NZ Modified Champ Allan Haigh will again race the #59 Spotlight Systems/Haigh Engineering Eagle out of Western Springs. Cromwells Jason Scott will also make some appearances in the #88T XXX, just like last season. Glenn Torpey has been one of the big improvers over the couple of seasons and will again race the familiar #4 Mitre 10 Mega Maxim.
New names to join the Auckland ranks this summer will be South Island Sprintcar Champ Karen Forsey in the stunning #48T KFR Maxim, along with Sprintcar Rookie Chris Long in a new J&J, running Woodstock Bourbon colours on the #72 machine.
Last but certainly not least, another one of the big improvers from the last couple of season’s, Jeremy Halpin will debut a new colour scheme on his #96 Eagle. Hydraulink and Porter Hire will appear on the car this season, but the biggest news for the team will be the appearance of the #0USA Maxim driven by California’s Jonathan Allard for the majority of the season at Western Springs, also running in Hydraulink and Porter Hire colours. Allard was spectacular here last season in his second visit Downunder to NZ, and won over many fans on the tour with his spectacular, no holds barred driving style. And finally, on the subject of fast Americans, also look out for Ricky Logan to also feature for the majority of the season again here in NZ, based out of Western Springs, in the Keith Simpson owned #10 Lucas Oils J&J.
All in all, a fantastic line-up of Sprintcar regulars at Western Springs for the new 09/10 season, maintaining the status of The Springs having the toughest week to week drivers lineup featured anywhere in NZ.
Meeting #1 for the 09/10 Ampro Tools Season at Western Springs Speedway is on Saturday night, November 7. Gates open at 5.30pm, with racing starting at 6.45pm.
Western Springs Speedway – Since 1929
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