New Plymouth's Duane Hickman had never set eyes on the Baypark Speedway till Saturday night when he raced to an impressive win in the Midget Car Invitation event which closed the 2011-12 season.
Hickman along with Auckland-based US racer Ricky Logan and top Western Springs midget racer Brad Mosen were the top-rated drivers in the 24-car Midget line-up but the event became a two-way fight when Mosen crashed out of the opening heat. Logan raced to victory in both 12-lap heat races - and set a track record of 15.6654s - while Hickman was second in both races.
The format put the highest point scorer on the rear of the grid for the 30-lap final with the right to choose who started second-to-last. Inevitably that put Hickman alongside Logan on the back row. After some incident-packed heat races the 30-lapper ran green-to-chequers without interruption with Hickman getting past early leader Leon Burgess on lap 13.
Logan had initially got in front of Hickman but he couldn't hold off the Taranaki speedster. "Ricky was just in front and was opening up the gaps in the traffic for me," said Hickman. "Then a gap opened up and I jumped into it. It was smooth sailing from there."
Hickman regularly races at Western Springs with his Breka-Esslinger combination and he missed the first visit of the midgets to Baypark back in January because he was racing in the South Island.
Logan, who is more often seen in a sprint car, was racing a midget on dirt for just the fourth time in his career. "I was a bit too cautious," said Logan, who hails from Little Rock, Arkansas but is now based in Auckland. "I was just ahead of Duane and I was trying to pick my way through when he got by me. I never caught him back up again. He did a good job."
Logan drove the Terminator-Esslinger usually raced by former NZ champ Michael Kendall. He echoed the thoughts of the winner about the track. "The track was real good - just about perfect for midgets," Logan said.
It looked as if Neville McNabb was third across the line but official results scored him two laps down and it was former super stock champion Jared Wade (Hamilton) who claimed third place ahead of reigning Minisprint national champ Dayne Maxwell and early leader Burgess.
The developing career of young saloon car racer Chris Cowling completed another step with a win in the Bay of Plenty championship. Decided on points over three heats, Cowling trailed Tauranga's Steve Muir by one point going into the final. Muir had vanished into the distance and won the opening heat while Cowling made a bold pass around Colin Dyer to win the second heat. While Muir's chances were ended by broken steering and Brent McClymont and Michelle Wymer fought over the third heat win, Cowling worked through the pack to finish fifth.
It wasn't without it dramas and at about three-quarter distance Cowling's front bumper was hooked with the rear bumper of Chris Taylor's car and he lost two positions. It's been a strong season for Cowling who won the touring DHL series between Christmas and New Year and also finished second at the North Island Champs. A new Pro-X Corvette has played a role in Cowling's emergence as a top saloon car racer. "This class is so competitive and with last year's car I could race in the mid-field but with this car now I can get to the front," said Cowling.
There might have been a double Taranaki celebration with Skinny Colson racing to an early lead in the final of the Sprint car championship but Tokoroa's James Dahm chased down Colson and made a well-judged pass to win his second Bay title. Colson was second and Bradley Tyrrell was third.