Hayden Guptill (left) and Hayden Wiiliams during the BOP Midget Car Championship. Photo / Supplied
Hayden Guptill (left) and Hayden Wiiliams during the BOP Midget Car Championship. Photo / Supplied
From roaring engines on Saturday to falling wickets - and a world record - at Bay Oval today, the Bay of Plenty was treated to an exciting weekend of sport this Easter.
Tauranga's Baypark Speedway and Rotorua's TWS Paradise Valley Speedway together brought thousands of racing fans from across the upper-North Island for the final speedway meetings of the season.
In Tauranga, 80 competitors lined up for the one-night meet to cap off the 16-event season on Saturday.
Rotorua's two-day finale was expected to draw in 2000 to 3000 spectators and competitors, and finish tonight.
Baypark track manager Willie Kay said it was a great night with a good turn-out and a crowd that kept up the excitement throughout the event.
"It was a good crowd ... they were very vocal and very excited, cheering, they really got behind the racing."
Five Bay of Plenty championships were determined, one for each of the classes racing.
New Zealand champion Hayden Williams kept the momentum going in his winning season with victory in the 25-lap Bay of Plenty Midget Car Championship. Photo / Supplied
The 25-lap Bay of Plenty Midget Car race was won by Baypark's national champ Hayden Williams.
Baypark's New Zealand champion Chris Cowling won the Bay of Plenty title by just 0.29 seconds from North Island champ Jarred Fletcher in what was said to be an exciting preview for the 2022 New Zealand Saloon Car title at Baypark next summer.
The BOP Six Shooter champs final was taken by Cole Wood and the Youth Mini Stock title was won by Rapid Hawke's Bay driver Bailey Smith.
Marc Dunn won the Bay of Plenty Stock Car title on his final appearance in the class. Next season he will compete in the Super Stock competition.
The night ended for racegoers with a spectacular fireworks display.
The organisers, however, were up long after the racing ended, cleaning up in preparation for the drum and bass concert by producers Hybrid Minds today.
The 20th anniversary 2021/22 season at Baypark Speedway will open at Labour Weekend on October 23.
White Ferns Hannah Rowe (centre) celebrates Australia's captain Meg Lanning being caught with team mates in the first match of the Rose Bowl ODI at Bay Oval. Photo / Photosport
Meanwhile, a "modest" crowd of between 200 and 300 cricket fans were at the first of three Rose Bowl series One Day International matches between the White Ferns and Australia at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui today.
Australia claimed their 22nd successive ODI victory with a six-wicket win over the Kiwis - breaking the world record for consecutive ODI wins set by the Australian men's side led by Ricky Ponting in 2003.
Oval general manager Kelvin Jones said having the games in Tauranga added a layer to the vibrancy of the city, and having the women play was good not only for the game of cricket but for the young cricket girls.
"Having high-performing players in your backyard is aspirational."
While he expected this would be the biggest crowd of the series, the live broadcast to living rooms around the country was a great way to showcase the variety of activities the city had to offer, he said.
Bay Oval general manager Kelvin Jones. Photo / File
The next games in the series at Bay Oval will be on Wednesday and Saturday, both starting at 2pm.
And Tauranga teen Talitha McEwan went home with nine gold medals in the Generation Homes Mount Swim held on Saturday.
The Mount Maunganui College student won the open and age-grade sections of the 2.8km Around Rabbit Island swim, the 1250m Around Leisure Island swim, the 500m Main Beach Swim and three distances in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Aquaknights Open Water Champs, as well as the Global Swim Series.
