Gisborne’s MTF Awapuni Speedway wins at New Zealand Speedway Awards

Speedway NZ Life Member Peter Kuriger presents the award for Most Improved Speedway of the Year to Gisborne Speedway Club secretary Samantha Hughes. Photo / Jeremy Ward – Shot360

Gisborne’s MTF Awapuni Speedway won big at the annual New Zealand Speedway Awards in Auckland on Saturday.

The venue was named Most Improved Speedway of the Year at the awards dinner, which took place at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau.

Gisborne Speedway Club president Sam Hughes credited the award to the club’s tireless volunteers.

“It’s pretty special to our volunteers who have put in a lot of hard work and a lot of donated time, labour and machinery,” he said.

The facility has undergone significant upgrades over the past five years, most recently the addition of new seating along the back straight and a new toilet block.

While tough economic times made it challenging for competitors to get cars on the track, crowd support hadn’t wavered, Hughes said.

“Our gate numbers have been up … we’re very lucky that we’ve got the support that our community gives us.”

Five Gisborne competitors were also named as top three finalists for Competitor of the Year awards across the nine racing classes.

These were Josh Prentice and Ethan Rees for the Superstock Competitor of the Year, Ethan Cook for Saloon, Brittany Carpenter for Stockcar and Koby Gooch for Youth Ministock.

While they didn’t win on the night, Hughes said being selected as a finalist was still a massive achievement, given there were around 5000 competitors between the classes.

“Our competitors are definitely moving up in the world.”