IT WAS a challenging afternoon at Oceanview Speedway on Sunday, but two more 2015-16 championships were decided.
On the hottest day of the summer so far, water truck driver Sam Doyle probably turned more laps than any competitor trying to keep some moisture in the track.
The feature event was the West Coast Sidecars, and 12 combinations from as far away as Auckland and Invercargill faced the starter.
All had raced in the NZ Grand Prix at Palmerston North the previous night.
After a series of heats, six bikes lined up for the four-lap championship decider.
The 21B combination of Andrew McNamara and George Olsen got the early lead.
On the final lap, 78P Paul Humphrey and Patrick Larsen made a desperate bid with an inside pass going into turn one, and the Palmerston North combination held on to take the chequered flag.
However, Humphrey and Larsen were judged to have made the pass inside the pole line and the result was reversed, handing the title to McNamara and Olsen.
The 34V pairing of Aaron Rose and Amelia Stanley took third place.
The other championship on offer was the Ray Purdy Memorial for Production Saloons.
Jason Pointon took the first race in 71V, but after that it was the John Caird show.
Caird finished second in the first race in the 53V machine and won the remaining two to take the silverware.
John Huijs (73V) trailed Caird in the latter two races to finish second overall, with Pointon third. The second round of the Elite Mechanical Stockcar Cash Challenge saw Dion Mooney (6V) cement his points lead with two wins and a third placing in the opening heat, which was won by 89V Blair Lockett.
The action, though, centred around 44V Josh Neilson as he fired 255V Seatton Hay into the wall at the southern end.
Hay repaired his car and tried to repay the favour in the Grand Slam, losing a piece of his bumper in the process.
Minor placings in the Stockcars were shared between 78V Mark Johnston, 42V Steve Read, 87V Shane Kells, 4V Tony James and Lockett, but no one could match Mooney as he prepares for the New Zealand Stockcar Champs at Huntly in a fortnight.
Midgets also made a rare appearance at Oceanview.
Local driver and former New Zealand TQ champion Peter Huijs (21V) took the second race, but racing was book-ended by 11S Ricky Paul.
Youth and Adult Ministocks rounded out the programme, as 53V Dylan Smith took two wins in the Youth class, with 77P Jamie Tinetti and 65S Connor Glasgow winning the other races.
In the adult grade, wins were shared by 48P Brandon Jurgeleit, 77S Craig Mason and 58S Bayley Betts.
With a busy few weeks ahead on the national speedway calendar, racing at Supercheap Autos Oceanview Speedway will take a back seat, and the next meeting is on Sunday, February 14.