Speedway: Lucky Long captures Grand Prix title

WINNING FORM: Hawke's Bay's Jason Long, left, on his way to winning the New Zealand Superstock Grand Prix title at Meeanee. PHOTO/DUNCAN BROWN

Hawke's Bay's Jason Long was quick to acknowledge some "teams racing" he wasn't part of after winning the New Zealand Superstock Grand Prix title for the first time at Meeanee on Saturday night.

"I was lucky Jordan took Peter out otherwise Peter would have beaten me," Long said before the prizegiving for the Napier City Council-sponsored event.

He was referring to Palmerston North's Jordan Dare who turned the Gisborne-contracted Peter Rees around on lap 13 of the 15-lap final heat in the Grand Prix. It was a payback for a hit Rees' son Ethan Rees put on Dare's teammate Wayne Hemi earlier in the event.

A Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby prop, 24-year-old Long won the title by nine points from Peter Rees.

"I've raced in a couple of these Grand Prix events before and qualified but have never been up among the major placings. I'll probably be a bit of a target at the national championships in Palmy on Friday night. The fact I've still got the 2NZ number from last year's nationals in Stratford means I'll be an even bigger target too," Long said.

He was thrilled with the manner in which his crew dealt with a fuel issue which was identified during Friday night's qualifying heats.

"The car wasn't idling as well as it should be but the crew worked on it and did the right thing."

One of eight drivers chasing five berths in the Hawke's Bay Hawkeyes team which will attempt to retain the ENZED teams title in Palmerston North on February 4 and 5, Long said he did not want to allow that selection process to contribute to any extra pressure going into the weekend's Grand Prix.

"I just focused on doing well in the Grand Prix because if I could do that Hawkeyes selection should take care of itself."

Considering the hot form he is in it will be a surprise if Long doesn't retain his Hawkeyes berth. He won Saturday night's first top 26 heat from grid four, was sixth in heat two from grid 17 and fifth in heat three from grid 20.

Palmerston North's William Humphries was third, Hemi, a two-time winner of the title was fourth, Hawke's Bay Hawkeyes captain Steve Jude fifth and national champion Shane Harwood of Nelson sixth.

Palmerston North's defending champion Simon Joblin's hopes of retaining the title ended two laps into the first heat on Saturday night when he was forced to withdraw with a cambelt issue.

Long and Jude were the only Bay drivers to qualify from Friday night's qualifying heats in the 54-car event. Their clubmate Shane Warner joined them after he and Rotorua's Pat Westbury were the top two finishers in Saturday night's repechage.

Sixteen of the finalists will be in the mix when the New Zealand Superstock Championship resumes in Palmerston North on Friday night.

Auckland's 2NZ Hayden Guptill and Hawke's Bay's former two-time national TQ champion Duane Todd produced some polished rehearsals for their New Zealand Championship which will be raced at Meeanee on January 27 and 28. Todd pipped Guptill in the second heat with a 16.21s lap time in the process and Guptill won the third heat from Todd.

Hawke's Bay's Regan Penn won the Second Tier title at the New Zealand Stockcar Championship which ended in Kihikihi on Saturday night. Wellingtonian Josh Prentice won the championship.