A win in the final heat got Cody Lockett on the New Zealand Stockcar Championship podium. Photo / Troy Adamson
A win in the final heat got Cody Lockett on the New Zealand Stockcar Championship podium. Photo / Troy Adamson
Last weekend, Zane Dykstra broke a 16-year drought when he placed third in the New Zealand Superstock Championship at Meeanee Speedway.
Just six days later, Cody Lockett became the first Whanganui driver since Dion Mooney in 2016-17 to stand on the New Zealand Stockcar Championship podium placing third out ofa field of 200 cars at Stratford, completing an outstanding week for the Wanganui Stockcar and Speedway Club.
Nineteen Whanganui cars entered the championship, but after qualifying on Friday night only Lockett had made it through to the finals field, finishing second in his group.
With only three cars per group qualifying directly, it was a night of cut-throat racing where a slight mistake, spin or mechanical drama could quickly propel a driver out of contention.
Kaelin Mooney was the most high-profile casualty to fall victim to Speedway New Zealand flat right rear tyre rule in his second qualifying heat.
Competing for the lead with Palmerston North driver Wayne McNabb, Mooney was a mere 40 metres from the finish line when the race was stopped, and when he was found to have a punctured right rear, he was sent to the infield and excluded from the race, costing him any chance of qualifying directly.
The news was worse for current 1NZ Josh Walsh however as a collision with the wall and then a coming-together with another car left him unable to continue racing to defend his title.
After a check-up at the hospital, Walsh was back on site on Saturday night where he was helicoptered into Stratford Speedway with the New Zealand Championship trophy, which would be going to a new home.
Saturday night’s racing began with two repechages, from which the top three drivers would be added to the 30-car field to contest the championship, and Mooney was unable to advance from the first of these, along with reigning 2NZ Scott Tennant (Auckland).
The second repechage featured a massive Turn One pileup just seconds after the start which eliminated seven drivers including 3NZ Gary Lonergan.
Wanganui driver Callum Sturzaker drove his way to the lead, and despite plenty of attention from Waikato peddler William Whyte, Sturzaker held on to take the win and join Lockett in the three-heat finals series.
Cody Lockett turned on one of the drives of the night in the first championship heat, starting on Grid 29, but picking up an amazing 22 places to finish in seventh place, cutting his way through the field of the best cars in the country with ease.
Sturzaker finished the first heat in 12th place, having started from Grid 25, so he too made significant progress from back in the pack.
Lockett improved to fourth place in Heat Two, after starting 14th, whilst Sturzaker finished seventh from Grid 10.
After two heats Lockett was in fifth place on 51 points, just five points behind points leader Sheldon Arapere (Wellington) with Logan Peat (Auckland), Kyle Rowe (Palmerston North) and former NZ Superstock champion William Humphries (Palmerston North).
Tension was high as 27 cars came out to contest the final heat, with Lockett starting from Grid 3, Sturzaker ninth on the grid, Rowe 17th, Arapere 27th and Peat 28th.
Lockett was almost immediately into the lead before the race was stopped after four laps to remove the stricken car of Stratford driver Mark Woods.
However, the Wanganui youngster showed maturity as he retained the lead to the finish line, with Sturzaker in second place just behind him.
Further back, Rowe, Peat and Arapere were making progress through the field, and there was a nervous wait as the final placings and points were confirmed.
After several minutes, the final placings were confirmed, and Peat’s heroic drive through the field from 28th to 4th placed him a solitary point ahead of Lockett, tied with Rowe.
Lockett finished on 81 points and picked up 3NZ just a point ahead of Arapere who simply wasn’t able to pass enough cars in the final heat.
Former 3NZ Gary Lonergan (Auckland) presents Cody Lockett with the 3NZ panel from his car. Photo / Troy Adamson
A four-lap run-off was held to decide the championship, and when Peat squeezed Rowe’s car onto the grass from the start before taking a 30m lead it looked as though the title was heading north.
There was one more controversy to come as the red lights came on and Peat was sent to the infield for coming to a stop after he had pushed Rowe below the pole line, contrary to the run-off rules which were reinforced with the two drivers as they headed onto the track.
As a dejected Peat drove to the centre of the infield, Rowe completed the remaining two laps well below full speed, making sure he didn’t puncture a right rear tyre.
Lockett, son of Wanganui Vulcans Stockcar Team stalwart Blair Lockett was understandably delighted to have proven himself at the national level, having turned in a series of impressive performances over the last season and a half and his success is no surprise for those who have followed his progress closely.
His car is always immaculately prepared and maintained and he has a very smooth and composed driving style which was certainly evident over the weekend in Stratford.
Kyle Rowe is no stranger to Wanganui speedway fans being yet another graduate of Youth Ministoocks and having regularly raced at Oceanview Speedway over several years.
Rowe’s car is an older Rees chassis, but clearly, he and his team are getting every bit of speed they can out of it, whilst Rowe, like Lockett, is a very smooth driver who makes few mistakes.
Sturzaker’s drive in the final heat left him in sixth place overall, whilst Mooney took some consolation from the weekend winning the Tier Three championship.
But it was Cody Lockett bringing home a trophy and a New Zealand number, to the delight of local Club members and supporters.
Speedway in Wanganui is in excellent health, and hard work done over several years is now starting to pay off with a new breed of racers coming to the fore both locally and nationally.
