Speedway: Bay drivers looking good

Regan O'Brien (52B) completes an inside passing move on Hawke's Bay clubmate Mac Kwok during Saturday night's qualifying heats in the North Island Superstock Championship. Photo / Paul Taylor

At least six qualify for NI final at Meeanee

FROM the time Hawke's Bay's Marty Cooke had the first drive of his new superstock he knew he was on to a good thing.

"It was a good car to start off with ... it had all the good bits," Cooke, a first season superstock driver after 15 years in the stockcar ranks he continues to race in, said.

The Hastings horticulturist's first impressions were backed up big time on Saturday night when he became one of six Hawke's Bay drivers to qualify for last night's championship races in the 41-car BJs Bakery & Cafe Hastings North Island Championship at Hauraki Meeanee Speedway.

"The car was awesome," Cooke said after qualifying fifth (the top seven in each of the three groups plus the first five placegetters in last night's repechage qualified) in his 13-strong Yellow Group with an eighth placing in heat one, second in heat two and seventh in heat three.

He is racing the car which was previously raced by Hawke's Bay clubmates Garry Foley and Ricky Kuru. When asked if he was confident of reproducing Saturday night's form last night Cooke replied:

"Yes ... I just have to go hard and keep the car pointing forward."

Eight points ahead of Cooke and first equal among the qualifiers in their group were clubmate Quinn Ryan, a third season driver in the class, and Palmerston North-contracted former Bay driver Shane Mellsop.

"I was pretty stoked with that. I was nice and calm and in the right head space," Ryan, who finished third in all three of his heats, said.

He agreed the six Bay qualifiers, and the chance of more from the repechage, should have been enough to get a Bay driver on the podium last night. Other Bay drivers to qualify on Saturday night were veteran Murray Long (sixth) and fellow long-serving Hawkeye Steve Jude (third) from the Orange Group and Quinten Butcher (fifth equal) and former 3NZ Thomas Stanaway (seventh) from the Blue Group.

The youngest of the Bay's entrants and one of the province's best hopes, 18-year-old Jarrod Lindsay, did well to finish third from grid 10 in his first Orange Group heat. However diff issues prevented him from starting the next two heats.

Another of the Orange Group's Bay starters, Matt Demanser, was unlucky to lose his bonnet on the first corner after starting from grid one in his first heat. This resulted in officials removing him from the race and proved a bad omen for the remainder of his night as mechanical issues forced him to retire in heat two and he finished 10th in heat three.

The best hit on qualifying night saw Aucklander Brad Ridland put Rotorua's Paul Vasey up the wall in the first heat for the Orange Group. However while Vasey recovered to win the second heat and qualify fifth Ridland's night's racing ended with the hit.

Three Joblin brothers, Simon, Scott and Adam, were among nine Palmerston North-contracted drivers to qualify on Saturday night. With those numbers, and at least another couple expected from the repechage, the chances of a Palmy driver occupying the top spot on the podium for the fifth consecutive year were high.

Hawke's Bay's Trent Palamountain won two of the three heats in a 22-strong ministock class. His clubmate Steven Martin won two of the three heats in a seven-strong saloon class and Hawke's Bay's Darren Melling and Ben Yeoman were among the heat winners in a 13-strong streetstock class.

• Last night's second night of the championship finished too late for today's edition. A report from night two will appear in tomorrow's edition.