PRECISION DRIVING THRILLS

WELCOME BACK: Saloon racer Ethan Cook (76G) took his new car out onto the track on Saturday night for the first time, and what a thrill to see his three-wheel driving style again as he charged around the corners. An already hot saloon class made up of excellent local driving talent just got a lot hotter. Picture by Cookies Motorsport Photography

The “winged warriors” in their highly charged “modifieds” on Saturday night raced for the first time on the Gisborne Speedway Club's banked track, and looked as if they'd been racing on it all their lives.

They put on a great show of precision, wheel-to-wheel driving that thrilled the sizeable crowd at the Eastland Group Raceway.

Auckland's Jamie Fox, driving 11A, came out on top in the Tradezone Gisborne Modified Championship, with first, second and third placings across the three heats.

Runner-up was 1NZ Luke Brown, from Pokeno, with a first, a second and a fourth.

Brian McPhee, from Wellington, driving 5W, was third.

Speedway club secretary Aaron Lum said the modifieds were exciting to watch.

“We're certainly looking forward to seeing them again next time they come here,” he said.

“They seemed to handle the banked track really well, with some nice outside passing at times, which is fairly difficult to do.”

The Waikato Raiders took out the three stockcar teams races, but not without some serious hitting and blocking from the Gisborne Gladiators.

Clinton Cheetham for the Raiders in 361H crossed the finish line first in the first race, and Kacey Cheetham (97H) took the line honours for his team in races 2 and 3.

Bryce Simpson (98G), Trevor McArthur (128G) and Sam Murray (94R) were always in the front-running mix for the Gladiators and Bruce Harding (8G) did his best to disrupt the opposition, as always.

“The Gladiators, in their first outing together, put up a good fight against the national champions”, Lum said.

Brent Durston (77G) took out the Keith Allen Appliances Streetstock Champion of Champions title, and deserved it with a consistent, hard-charging performance.

He finished with a win, a second and a fourth to secure top spot on 86 points, followed by Brent Reddington, from Hawke's Bay, on 83 points and Bob Fraider (31G) third on 78.

Anton McKay (17G) had a good night in the production saloons with two firsts and a second, with Blake Dear (37G) close behind with a win and a second.

The saloons were a treat yet again as Sean Robertson (16G), Hamish Moore (85G) and Bailey Curtis (221G) resumed their rivalry. The reintroduction of Ethan Cook (76G) in his new car added extra spice to that class.

Robertson had a first and a second, Moore two firsts and a third, Curtis two thirds, and Cook two seconds.

Cook was leading Race 1 only to have a tyre blow after six laps.

Shaun Kingi (707G), Michael Schwass (15G) and Stuart Priest (77G) featured in the stockcars.

Dylan MacGregor (17G) banked a win and two seconds in the TQ midgets, and Rob Gomm (24G) finished with two thirds and a fourth.

The youth ministocks racing was a credit to the youngsters involved.

Corbyn Wilson (44G) had a great night with a win, a third and a fourth, while Koby Gooch had a win, a second and a fourth. Both had their families cheering from the pits.

Speedway observer Brenden Gooch felt the youth ministock races were a highlight of the night.

“Out-of-town racing has improved the performance of all the Gisborne drivers in that class,” he said.

“I also thought the last of the streetstock races was a highlight, where Bob Fraider — in his first time out in the car he got from Shaun Kingi — came from the back to get third, and from that he took a place on the podium.

“It was good to see Ethan back in the saloons as well, and Hamish Moore showed how well he is driving.”

Lum said it was a good meeting overall.

“We were rapt the weather played its part in the end. We really appreciated the support from our fans.”

The next meeting at the track will be on December 17, and Santa will be there.