One-hundred-and-three drivers will compete in the TWS World Invitation Superstock Championship at Paradise Valley Speedway this weekend. Photo / Sportsweb Photography
One-hundred-and-three drivers will compete in the TWS World Invitation Superstock Championship at Paradise Valley Speedway this weekend. Photo / Sportsweb Photography
This season has been as busy as ever at the Paradise Valley Speedway, but this weekend is the event many have been waiting for.
The TWS World Invitation Superstock Championship, also known as the World 240s, is the Rotorua Stockcar Club's premier event and this year's edition has attracted 103 drivers, including six from Great Britain.
Paradise Valley Speedway secretary Sonja Hickey said the event was first held in Palmerston North in 1987, but it had been Rotorua's baby since 2005.
"It needs to be a big enough track to host that many drivers and there's a lot of organisation that goes into it as well," Hickey said.
"The most drivers we've had at the event was 87 last year, so 103 is a big increase. It's the second largest gathering of superstocks that we've ever had in New Zealand."
She said there had been a resurgence in the superstock class in recent times, which contributed to the boom in numbers this year.
"Some of it is also [that] the New Zealand Superstock Champs were held in the South Island this year, in Christchurch. A lot of the North island drivers can't afford to go to that so they target this event instead."
A bit of carnage is part and parcel of superstock racing. Photo / Sportsweb Photography
The top three drivers from the New Zealand Champs, Jason Long (1NZ), of Hawke's Bay, Peter Rees (2NZ), of Gisborne, and Simon Joblin (3NZ), of Palmerston North, will be battling for top honours in Rotorua today and tomorrow.
Another one to watch is Great Britain's Frankie Wainman Jnr who has stood on the podium seven times at past events, including three wins.
"Of the Rotorua drivers, there's Bryce Steiner, who has been on the podium before, Lance Ashton is another one that's likely and there's Damian Orr and Dale Stewart. There are four or five that could easily do quite well," Hickey said.
Such hotly contested racing promised to provide a highly entertaining couple of nights for spectators.
"The vibe out there is terrific. I put a tag and share post up on our Facebook this week and in the first five hours it had 26,000 hits.
"It's going to be massive, I would be surprised if we didn't have more than 8000 people here on the second night."
Drivers are split into four groups and tonightthey will race in three heats each. The top four from each progress to the finals night tomorrow , along with five of the overseas drivers who automatically qualify. Last year's first and second tier winners, Simon Joblin and Pat Westbury also pre-qualify for finals.
TWS World Invitation Superstock Championship drivers' groups
Red Group:
Elias Dykstra (5M), Shay Hambling (6H), David Hughes (16W), Jason Brown (19A), Richard Gaskin (22W), Blair Uhlenberg (28S), Scott Joblin (52P), Peter Bengston (58P), Clive Stanaway (62R), Nick Fowler (66R), Eddie Dodson (72R), Lance Elsworth (77R), Mike McLachlan (84B), Dylan Towler (96M), Aidan Eustace (97H), Mark Costello (98M), Des Curry (106R), Bryce Steiner (118R), Asher Rees (126C), Maddie Wise (136B), Karl Hawkins (175GB), James Kirk (331G), Benji Sneddon (471P), Wayne Hemi (591P).
Green Group: Sean McKenzie (4H), Keegan Levien (5W), Shane Davis (7W), Gavin McClinchie (10M), Lance Ashton (23R), Heath Lochhead (24R), Graeme Barr (32P), Robbie Mabey (33R), Ken Hunter (37R), Michel Willemsen (39P), Nick Vallance (45G), Zach Glenny (47B), Bevan Humphrey (54P), Randal Tarrant (66B), Darcy Meurant (82R), David Elsworth (87M), Alex Hill (95N), Scott Redfern (96H), Calyn Clarke (98R), Hayden Chapman (247A), Stacey Macken (344A), Jordan Dare (581P), Tyson Wootton (717H), Jayden Ward (971C).
Blue Group: Peter Rees (2NZ), Stefan Roigard (8H), Adam Groome (9B), Alan McRobbie (10R), Glenn Clarke (12R), AJ Axtens (14R), Malcolm Ngatai (19C), Brendon Ashton (21R), Mitch Vickery (26S), Ricky Dykstra (28P), Ryan Hunt (29M), Rebecca Barr (34P), Ross Ashby (38M), Ethan Levien (46W), David Hunter (52A), Richard Hart (67P), Damian Orr (81R), Thomas Stanaway (87B), Dale Stewart (94R), Quintin Butcher (98B), Aaron Alderton (218H), Barry Hunter Jnr (336R), Dan Hole (371P), Dan Holland (555R), Jayme Hemi (571P).
Yellow Group: Jason Long (1NZ), Nik Kiser (5S), Dave Moore (7H), Brett Hyslop (10P), Karl Pegg (15A), Kerry Remnant (19M), Zach Lawrence (22B), Scott McEwen (25M), Grendon Beazley (31R), Scott Miers (36P), Quinn Ryan (46B), Matthew Hand (58C), Adam Joblin (62P), Steven Flower (63R), Jeremy Sinclair (64R), Scott Penn (77P), Lionel Hemming (79R), Jared Wade (85K), Dale Robertson (89W), Gary Hunter (93R), Ethan Rees (127G), Russell Hunter (138R), Matt Nielsen (147M), David Lowe (722P).
Overseas Drivers: Frankie Wainman Jnr (515GB), Lee Fairhurst (217GB), Frankie Wainman Jnr Jnr (555GB), Bob Griffin (166GB), Ben Riley (422GB).
Other Pre-Qualifiers: Simon Joblin (3NZ), Pat Westbury (65R).
