Speedway: Veteran hands HB title to young gun

Steve Jude completed a Hawke's Bay trifecta with his third placing in the East Coast superstock championship on Friday night. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke's Bay superstock driver Thomas Stanaway couldn't have been happier with the way clubmate Regan O'Brien delivered a payback on Saturday night.

The previous night regular stirrer O'Brien took Stanaway out in the final heat of the East Coast champs at Hauraki Meeanee Speedway. Although Stanaway finished the race he lost the title he had won the previous season and finished second overall.

On Saturday night Stanaway, 24, started the third and final round of the Hawke's Bay champs five points behind another clubmate, Quinn Ryan. O'Brien held Ryan up in the first heat which Stanaway won and Ryan finished 10th in.

Stanaway went on to finish second and third in the next two heats of the 12-strong class and capture the title by six points from Ryan.

"I had plans to catch up and overtake Quinn and Regan made my job easier. I didn't have a chance to see Regan after the meeting but I better shout him a drink or two at our next event," Stanaway said yesterday.

"I don't mind what Regan did to me on Friday night. I'm stoked with two podiums from the weekend. The Hawke's Bay title is an early birthday present," added Stanaway who turns 25 on Friday.

Hawke's Bay's 1NZ super saloon class driver Steve Flynn, 2NZ TQ driver Duane Todd and Mount Maunganui's 1NZ saloon car driver Steve Cowling all finished the weekend with two titles. Flynn retained his East Coast title in a seven-strong field on Saturday night beating his brother Grant by two points and on Friday night won the Hawke's Bay title.

Todd beat 16 rivals for the East Coast title on Saturday night and travelled home with the Hawke's Bay title on Friday night. Cowling beat Stratford's Thomas Korff by one point in a 17-car tussle for the East Coast title on Saturday night and won the Gold Cup on Friday night.

Other Hawke's Bay competitors to win titles were Jemma Palmer, who won the 19-car, six-heat East Coast stockcar championship, Regan Penn, the 46-car East Coast ministock championship, Magpies prop Jason Long the East Coast superstock championship less than five hours after turning out for Hastings Rugby and Sports and 29 hours after returning home from an overseas rugby stint and Troy Devery and Pete Steigenberger the East Coast sidecar championship.

Among the visitors in a 22-strong streetstock field were Mitch Lavender from Dunedin and Ashburton's Simon Bland who is contracted to the Wanganui track. Bland has raced at all 24 of Speedway New Zealand's affiliated tracks.

Todd's cousin Craig Todd, a former two-time national champion rolled in the first TQ race on Friday night and won it from the restart. Clubmate Johnny Browne found himself up the wall on lap two of the first super saloon heat on Saturday.