Speedway: Big turnout fuels Taipa action

Taipa's Rob Weal shown here racing in the B-grade saloon class at Taipa Speedway on Saturday. Weal also claimed the coveted Percy Poharama Memorial Trophy in the men's C-grade (driving Carole Teixeira's car) over the weekend. Photo / Debbie Beadle

'Shades of the past!" were the first words which sprung to mind for Carole Teixeira on being asked to describe the two days of high-octane racing at Taipa Speedway over the long weekend.

The motorsport enthusiast wasn't just referring to the presence of some vintage racing machines in grades rarely seen in the Far North, including the historic midgets and stockcars. She noted the numbers crowding into the track, both as competitors and punters, represented a return to halcyon days.

"A roaring success! We couldn't fit all the cars in the pits," she said. The 150 competitors who had registered for the annual Percy Poharama Memorial meet "came from far and wide", while the Far North weather was ideal, allowing all of the 110 races scheduled on the on the two-day dance card to be completed.

The most intense racing came in the super saloon showdown, the main event of the annual two-day extravaganza deservedly taken out by Warkworth's Scotty Lansdowne.

"He's a very well respected driver," said Teixeira, noting Lansdowne was a regular racer in the QBW event. Also pleasing for organisers was seeing an estimated 18 vehicles contesting the stockcar title, a grade which has been in decline over recent season.

Local racers came to the fore in the C-grade men's trophies with both the MacKenzie Cup, and the Percy Poharama Memorial trophies going to Taipa's Rob Weal (42T), while in the men's production grade, the Coulston Memorial Trophy was won by Whangarei's Fraser Blacklock (81r) while the Swifty Memorial Cup went to Auckland's Steve Hannon (22t). Kawakawa's Wendy Scott won the women's C-grade title, while Whangarei's Dylan Wrathall-Epiha won the Cortesi Family Trophy for junior drivers.

The Warren McIntyre Stockcar Points Trophy went to Baldwin, with Barnes in second and Petersen in third, while Scott, along with Whangarei's Sharyn Campbell, stood out in the ladies' production class.

In the super saloons, Kaikohe's Max Andresen put his newly rebuilt Ford engine through its paces against arch rivals Keith Wilson, Phil Mainland (from Christchurch) and wife Shirley, with Wilson eventually proving too strong and claiming five wins by the end of the weekend.

Teixeira said it would not have been a proper speedway meet without a couple of tumbles.

The first of these saw quarter midget driver, Auckland's Harrison Martens, somersaulting into the bank on turn one on Sunday morning but walking away unhurt. The second on Sunday afternoon was more serious with Kaikohe's 13k Michelle Clark going over the handlebars and having her ATV roll over her.

Clark was diagnosed with fractured vertebra and bruising.

- Taipa Speedway is preparing for the annual prize-giving and dinner on Saturday, July 16, and the AGM on Sunday, August 7.