Racecar chassis on the line

BIG PRIZE, BIG RACING: The Gisborne Speedway Club will host one of the meetings of the season tomorrow night when 28 superstocks battle for a $26,000 prize. Gisborne’s James Clarke (29G) has been racing well and will be right among the action. Picture supplied

ACTION aplenty beckons at the Gisborne Speedway Club track tomorrow night when a $26,000 Rees Racecars chassis goes on the line for the top prize in the Rees Racecars Superstock Challenge.

The 28-car line-up for the challenge has “wow factor” written all over it with the new 1, 2 and 3NZ cars and drivers here.

Asher Rees (1NZ), Josh Prentice (2NZ) and Ethan Rees (3NZ) will be tough nuts to crack across the three-race series to decide the title, and when you throw Peter Rees (10G) and Tim Ross (144G)  into the mix the series has a distinctly “Gisborne Giants” feel to it.

Now add the other hard-charging talent of James Clarke (29G), Sam Hughes (77G), Regan Penn (235G) and Ben McArthur (328G), and it really does look like a dogfight.

In the field are: 1NZ Asher Rees, 2NZ Josh Prentice, 3NZ Ethan Rees, 5M Elias Dykstra, 7H Thomas Slater, 8G Dave Downs, 10G Peter Rees, 15R Paul Mabey, 16B Brett Loveridge, 18M Joe Carter, 19M Kerry Remnant, 29G James Clarke, 66M Dylan Towler, 77G Sam Hughes, 81R Damian Orr, 87G Brodie James, 89G Tyler James, 94R Dale Stewart, 99M Todd Hemingway, 118R Bryce Steiner, 144G Tim Ross, 147K Matt Nielsen, 235G Regan Penn, 328G Ben McArthur, 338R Carlo Putaranui, 461B Brett Kelly, 638R Robbie Morris and 117H Tyson Wootton.

“I’m expecting some very fast racing, with plenty of contact, especially in the final heat,” said the club’s superstock representative Trevor Mullooly.

“We may get a few more cars by tomorrow night.

“But we’re very happy with the turnout we’ve got. It’s going to very good racing.”

Mullooly said everyone had been looking forward to this meeting after it was rained off twice, and was also affected by Covid.

“The drivers cannot wait to get into it.”

He said the prize Peter Rees had put up was without precedent.

Rees has made himself ineligible to win the major prize.

The Roseland Tavern Stockcar Classic brings out the best in drivers and is another of the club’s more coveted trophies.

Drivers from Mount Maunganui, Huntly, Kihikihi, Rotorua and Whanganui will be here to battle it out with the local cars.

The Gisborne contingent in the 21-car line-up includes Shaun Kingi (707G), who has been in terrific form lately in his first season in the class.

Mr Consistent Trevor McArthur (228G) has never been far from the pointy end of the action, and neither have Bryce Simpson (98G), Jordan Fleetwood (77G) and Jason Jones (11G).

They are sure to give former Gisborne wheelman Jonny Morley, racing out of Rotorua, a right royal welcome home.

The drivers at this stage will be: 8M Ryan Aiken, 9K Chris Shingleton, 11G Jason Jones, 16H James Marshall, 18R Jayden Steiner, 25G Allan Giddens, 48K Ben Downie-Boyte, 52R Ashleigh Herbert, 69G Jayden Jarvis, 71G Ethan Bruce, 77G Jordan Fleetwood, 85G Brittany Carpenter, 98G Bryce Simpson, 98R Jonny Morley, 118R Joel Steiner, 164G William Kaa, 212V Blair Reeves Smith, 228G Trevor McArthur, 707G Shaun Kingi, 717G Adrian Bruce and                                                 979H Shaun Jury.

The PFM Production Saloon Best Pairs tomorrow night should produce some real entertainment too.

On the entry list are: 6G Kris Langford, 8H Korina Martin, 11G Kayle Priestley, 14E Sam Martin, 14R Wayne Warrender, 17G Antonio McKay, 33G Joel Whitley, 48G Seth McKay, 53G Brendan Land and 444R Dan Weston.

Look for Seth and Anton McKay to shine in that class.

Depending on who they get paired up with, they should be strong contenders for the title. The rest of the programme includes streetstocks, youth ministocks, and races for a number of ‘Classic’ stockcars. The gates to the Eastland Group Race open at 5pm and the first race starts at 6pm.