Speedway: Bay duo nail quinella

Winner Thomas Stanaway.

Thomas Stanaway's first heat was impressive, but the Hawke's Bay superstock driver will tell you it's all about the bigger picture.

"Heaps of hard meetings in big fields and learning to cope with heavy traffic," Stanaway replied when quizzed on the key to his winning the Wiseys Pies & Bakehouse Limited Under-25s Superstock Championship at Hauraki Meeanee Speedway on Saturday night.

The former 3NZ became the first Hawke's Bay winner of the title when he beat clubmate Quinn Ryan by five points in the third annual event. Stanaway, 24, will be eligible to race in the championship again next year and is keen to become a two-time winner of the title like Rotorua's David Elsworth.

Stanaway won the first heat in the 21-car championship from grid 19, was sixth in the second from grid nine and he won the final heat from grid five. He was impressed with how the Bay drivers looked after one another in the final heat.

Stanaway will travel to the Battle of Stocks meeting in Christchurch on March 27 and 28 before returning for the East Coast Championship at Easter.

Three rolls were a feature of the championship.

Five-time national karting champion Maddison Wise of Hawke's Bay, who was racing Matt Demanser's car, rolled on lap one of heat two. Hawke's Bay's Jarrod Lindsay rolled in the same heat and his clubmate Kairyn O'Brien in the third heat.

Mechanical issues in the first heat contributed to an early finish to the night's racing for Auckland's New Zealand D1 Drifting Series driver Shane Allen, who was racing the car normally driven by Hawke's Bay's Mac Kwok.

With first, second and third placings Hawke's Bay's Jemma Palmer won the 11-car Bruce Douglas Trophy Stockcar event by a point from clubmates Grant Hollyman and Marty Cooke. The trophy was presented in memory of Douglas, a former stockcar driver who died last week after a battle with cancer.

Hawke's Bay's national Super Saloon champion Steve Flynn again displayed his class by winning all three heats for his seven-car section. With the track in tip-top condition for the saloons, Flynn and his brother Grant were able to produce some spectacular passing moves.

However, they were pipped for the driver-of-the-night award in the class by clubmate Johnny Browne, who had his best night of the season with two thirds and a 16.6s lap time.

Grant Flynn's son Jakob did well to record two wins and a second placing in the 13-strong ministock class. The Bay's top ministock driver, Regan Penn, was in Huntly, where he won the Ministocks of the Future title.