It could be interpreted as a slight exaggeration but it was still an appropriate compliment from Hawke's Bay Speedway Club president James Buckrell on Saturday night.
"You could swear Shane was still driving the car Quinn was that good. And when you consider Quinn has had no where near as much track time as his rivals it was an outstanding achievement," Buckrell said after watching former Hawkeye Quinn Ryan win the 22-car Motorworks HB Autumn Nationals Superstock event at Meeanee.
Ryan, 22, was racing the car Buckrell owns and the same one Hawke's Bay's Shane Penn drove when he won the national title twice and finished third at the nationals before his retirement. Ryan was racing in his fourth meeting of the season because he spent the past year doing engineering work in Australia.
"While I had work in Australia I also used the trip as a bit of an OE with my girlfriend and we visited Thailand and Fiji," Ryan explained.
"I came back home for three meetings in January and those were my only ones before this one."