Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Speedway: Crossfit's ideal fix for Bay driver Quinn Ryan

By Shane Hurndell
Sports reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
24 Feb, 2018 12:00 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Hawke's Bay superstock driver Quinn Ryan will be a fancied starter tonight. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay superstock driver Quinn Ryan will be a fancied starter tonight. Photo / Paul Taylor

IF you reckon Hawke's Bay superstock driver Quinn Ryan is looking fitter and sharper you're not alone and you're spot on.

Ryan, 23, has hooked into crossfit and he is adamant it assists his racing.

"I haven't done as much lately because of work. But it does help my racing and I wouldn't race if I wasn't fit enough," former Hawkeye Ryan said on the eve of tonight's 22-car Hawke's Bay championship at Meeanee.

"I got involved in crossfit when I was in Australia two years ago because my partner [Michelle Hellyer] was into it. You're right ... it definitely assists with my endurance behind the wheel."

At last month's Judgment Day event in Hastings which attracted more than 300 competitors from throughout the country Ryan combined with former Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby hooker Jamie Muir to win the intermediate men's pairs title. Speedway will be his main focus tonight as Ryan, a fifth-season driver in the superstock class, chases his first Hawke's Bay title.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I've had seconds and thirds before in this championship so it would be good to get the big one," Ryan said.

His form to date this summer suggests he must be a serious contender. In fact many fans were surprised Ryan, a member of the 2016 Hawkeyes team which won the ENZED Teams title in Palmerston North, wasn't selected for the Hawkeyes' attempt at a three-peat in Palmy earlier this month.

"Because of my work commitments, and I didn't want my car smashed up, I didn't make myself available. But I will put my hand up next year," Ryan, who runs his own Q & R Welding and Fabrication business, said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Although New Zealand champion William Humphries, of Palmerston North, is among the visitors Ryan believed there is no reason why Hawke's Bay drivers can't fill all three berths on the podium.

"As long as we all work together it can happen."

Ryan was the best of the Hawke's Bay drivers at last weekend's North Island championship in Palmerston North with a fourth placing. At the New Zealand Grand Prix in Rotorua in December which another former Hawkeye, Tom Stanaway, won Ryan was fourth.

He also finished fourth at the recent World 248s in Palmerston North coming from grid 11 in the winner-takes-all 25-lap final. Ryan was among the unlucky drivers at the Auckland-hosted nationals last month.

"The car is going good because we spend a lot of time on maintenance and I've got a good crew," Ryan said before listing the nucleus of the crew — his father Jason Ryan, Robert Vivers, Fraser Brown, Daniel Haggerty and his main sponsor, Hawke's Bay Speedway Club president James Buckrell.

Ryan, like so many of his main rivals, had the best possible introduction to speedway with four seasons in the ministock class during which he won the Ministocks in Paradise event in Rotorua, the most prestigious ministock title in the country. In addition to his Hawkeyes title in the superstock class other highlights include winning last summer's Autumn Nationals title at Meeanee, second and third placing in the Under-25 Nationals at Meeanee and winning the 2014 Eastland Invitation title in Gisborne.

Ryan is in his second season racing the car Buckrell owns. It is the same car Hawke's Bay's Shane Penn drove when he won the national title twice and finished third at the nationals before his retirement.

"I'm pretty comfortable with the car ... there's only a few more little things I need to do. I've got to thank Shane [Penn] for all the tips he gives me about set-up too," Ryan said.

After tonight's meeting Ryan's attention will turn to the Under-25 Grand Nationals, the Autumn Nationals, the East Coast Championship and a couple of out-of-town meetings including Ohakea's Harrisville at the end of the season when he gives all of his crew a drive. He agreed his schedule wouldn't be possible without his stable of sponsors — BJs Bakery & Cafe, J Ryan Contracting, Q & R Welding and Fabrication, Paint Spot, HRPP, Revolution Electrical, Mag & Tyre Hastings and Steve Jude Motors.

"I must give a big shout out to Barry and Carol Buckrell too. They are senior citizens but they still follow us all around the country," Ryan added.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tonight's other major attraction will be the North Island Production Saloon Championship. It has attracted 24 starters including Hawke's Bay champion Jason Pointon, from Whanganui.

Other fancied starters from out of the Bay include Whanganui's Grant Loveridge and Gisborne's Antonio McKay.

Hawke's Bay's best hopes include Tanga Walsh who finished second in last month's New Zealand Grand Prix in Gisborne, Denton Hodgkinson, Brent Redington and Brendon Zachan. Other classes in action will be streetstocks, ministocks, saloons and super saloons.

A demolition derby will end the meeting.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

New Black Caps coach's home is Hawke's Bay

08 Jun 02:55 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

On The Up: Inside the provincial football team beating big city clubs

04 Jun 05:00 PM
Sport

2025 King's Birthday Honours List

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
New Black Caps coach's home is Hawke's Bay

New Black Caps coach's home is Hawke's Bay

08 Jun 02:55 AM

'Hawke's Bay and Havelock North in particular is home for me.'

On The Up: Inside the provincial football team beating big city clubs

On The Up: Inside the provincial football team beating big city clubs

04 Jun 05:00 PM
2025 King's Birthday Honours List

2025 King's Birthday Honours List

'Heart of gold': Super Rugby star's moving tribute to slain teen

'Heart of gold': Super Rugby star's moving tribute to slain teen

30 May 12:00 AM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP