Rotorua Rebels put it on the line

Rotorua Rebels have a cause - to bring home silverware.

Super stock car racing can be brutal, but the Rotorua Stock Car Club's 2017 team heads to Palmerston North for this year's super stock car teams championship this weekend full of confidence.

They had the same feeling last year, said team manager Nick Beazley who is in his second year in charge, but somehow this year it's different.

''Last year we had a lot of confidence but there were a lot of naysayers, a lot of people bagged us because we were going down as a bunch of nobodies, but we came sixth - so sixth out of 12 is pretty good in my book,'' said Beazley.

''This year we are going down a little bit more clued up as to what job each person has to do and the confidence is through the roof.''

Just one of last year's team - Damien Orr - is making the trip this time.

''A lot of the guys who raced last year have had motor issues or decided not to put their hand up this year,'' said Beazley.

The oldest and most experienced driver this year is captain Bryce Steiner.

''The rest are very young for super stock racing and that seems to be the way it's going in super stock racing - if you look at the [Hawke's Bay] Hawkeyes and the [Manawatu] Mustangs and some of the other teams, they are all very, very young guys.''

David Elsworth has returned to the Rebels' fold after a stint racing out of Tauranga's Baypark Speedway, and joins brother Lance in the team.

''Dale [Stewart] came out of [the less powerful] stock cars where he was a successful driver and did a lot of teams racing for the Rotorua Rascals [stock car team], and Damien Orr, he's the same - he's got a lot of podiums in the stock car class.''

Rebels' members took the chance to test out their team driving skills at last weekend's Bay of Plenty Super Stock Championship meeting at Paradise Valley Raceway, helping teammate Steiner to the title.

''They guys just had a bit of a trial with their cars. In race one and two, Dale has just had a new engine put in and needed to run it in so he was running, the two Elsworth boys were practising a bit of blocking and so was Dan [Holland].

''For the third race we pretty much knew who was ahead of Steiny and who we had to slow down - and I'm sorry to say it was one of our good mates Ken Hunter.''

Former super stock driver and three-time national super saloon champion Mark Osborne has come on board as coach.

''On Saturday night at Paradise Valley, he came over and helped sort out the tactics for the third race and look what happened.''

Selecting Steiner as captain was a no-brainer, said Beazley.

''He's the most senior driver and also commands respect. Everyone in our meetings automatically focuses on him and listens to him because he's been there and done that, so he's the logical captain as far as I'm concerned.''

As if super stock racing wasn't already intense, the Rebels have been drawn in the same qualifying group at Baypark Busters - with each team sure to want to put one over on their local rivals.

''There are a lot of guys in there who are mates of the Rebels - they are a great team, but our guys are ready to put it on the line,'' said Beazley.