Speedway: Third title for young driver

Fans of Hawke's Bay stockcar driver Randal Tarrant were asking the question on Facebook during the buildup to Saturday night's speedway meeting at Meeanee - could Tarrant win a third consecutive title there?

"I politely asked them to remove the question ... I like to keep things low key," Tarrant said.

However he agreed his days of keeping things low key have probably ended and he is likely to be a marked man next season after winning the 23-car Kuru Cup Classic. The 19-year-old apprentice mechanic with Ruataniwha Automotive in Waipawa became the youngest winner of this title as he did with his wins in the Hawke's Bay and East Coast championships during his previous outings on his home track.

"I had a plan and I stuck to it. It was good to beat another Mauler too," Tarrant said after he beat fellow Mauler Brett Loveridge in a run off for the $700 first prize which he will put in his travelling fund.

In the four-lap run off, Tarrant had the early lead but Loveridge put him into the wall. However Tarrant recovered and turned Loveridge around before taking the lead on the third lap which he held until collecting the chequered flag. Rotorua's 2NZ Damian Orr was third.

Earlier in the night Tarrant and Loveridge helped the Maulers win an entertaining teams race against the Orange Roughies. It was a memorable final night of the season for Bay drivers who captured all the major titles up for grabs.

Steve Jude won the 27-car Autumn Nationals Superstock event. Jude, who started off grid three in the 15-lap winner takes all final, turned Rotorua visitor David Elsworth around on the eighth lap and took the lead. Although Elsworth was gaining all the time Jude managed to hold on to the lead.

Wellingtonian Dale Robertson was third. The Hawke's Bay-based Palmerston North-contracted national champion Shane Penn was rolled out of contention on the second lap.

Hawke's Bay's Ian Mudgway was a popular winner of the David Jones Motors Gold Cup event for saloons. A second placing in the final heat was enough to give him the title by one point from Kihi Kihi's Rossco Cresswell. Stratford's Mark Hinton was third.

Former ministock driver and motocross rider Zac Lawrence, who will join the superstock ranks next season, won an entertaining 11-car caravan derby which lasted 10 minutes and created plenty of carnage.