Currie's too hot for rivals

SHANE HURNDELL
It was hard to believe Auckland midget car driver Steven Currie was making his first appearance at Meeanee in seven years on Saturday night.
Currie displayed all the signs of a seasoned regular at ZM Meeanee Speedway with a gutsy outside passing manoeuvre on the 30th and final lap of the Art Deco Classic to pocket the first prize of $1500.
"I knew if I held my time and didn't charge too hard I could run with the leaders. Fortunately I was able to get on the outside at the right time in that last lap," said Currie who started on grid seven in the 16-car Classic field.
Currie, 29, got around the country's second ranked driver and fellow Aucklander Shaun Insley, who had lead for all previous 29 laps of the race and had pipped Currie in the first race of the 21-car Steak Out Napier Auckland Midget Invasion.
"I've always liked Meeanee. Before I left the TQ class seven years ago I'm sure I won the East Coast championship here," Currie said.
"I missed the last midgets visit here five years ago and after tonight's successful meeting I'm sure they will be annual visits now, part of a five or six meeting circuit out of Auckland, so I'll be back next year to defend the title," he said.
In addition to some classy passing moves and lap times around the 14.9 second mark, the midget drivers also provided a fair share of thrills and spills. Hawke's Bay's Jimi Quin flipped over seven times during the first lap of the Classic.
Quin wasn't injured but was forced out of the race and his previous best placing during the night was a third. Stratford's Gavin Quinn flipped out of contention on lap 18.
Hawke's Bay TQ driver and Maraenui golf club professional Duane Todd produced one of the best drives of his career to win the Efficient Moving and Storage feature race for his class.
Hawke's Bay-based Palmerston North-contracted Super Stock driver Shane Penn again oozed class as he won two of his three races. He took one-and-half laps to come from fifth on the Indian File grid to first place as he won his second heat.
Once again there was plenty of action in the stockcar class. Mike McLachlan spent time up the wall while fellow Bay driver and regular entertainer Regan O'Brien put a huge hit on Andrew Powell.
Former TQ driver Darren Warren was the most successful driver in the new Kiwi Lite class with two wins from three starts including the feature. Former national champion Bill Towler, Wayne Melling and Gisborne's Brendan Gooch all had turns with the chequered flag in the streetstock class.
* Three Hawke's Bay ministock drivers featured among the major placegetters at meetings outside of the province on Saturday night.
Bede Anderson had a win in Palmerston North while James Hughes-Lock collected two firsts and Ryan Hurndell a first and a second in Wanganui. For Hurndell it was his first taste of chequered flag glory and his placings completed a memorable night for the Thirsty Whale-FPG-sponsored team.
Fellow team member Regan O'Brien won the stockcar feature at the Meeanee meeting where teammate Tony Darroch had a memorable tussle with Hawke's Bay clubmate Keith Hingston.