Motorsport: Speedway gets set for fiery start but dust has to settle

The Vodafone Springs Speedway track. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The speedway season begins with a Guy Fawkes spectacular at Vodafone Springs Speedway on Saturday night and all eyes will be on the re-constructed track.

Major work was done on the surface at the Auckland track over the winter with a new type of clay used to try to keep dust down while also producing good racing

Promoter Greg Mosen admits it might take a little time for the track to settle and for competitors to get used to it.

"The track is still fresh so we have a settling in period," he said. "We just have to keep working it.

"We have this banking, which is all very new to the place. We have never had that before like it is now.

"It will be interesting to see who runs low and who runs high and what that means for the racing."

Much of the early focus will be around the selection of the New Zealand team for December's international series with drivers out to stake their claim for a spot.

"Dean Brindle and Jamie McDonald were partnered with Jonathan Allard last year in the New Zealand team to take on the Americans," Mosen explains. "Right now we are in the process of reselecting that team. They are showing their wares to the selectors in order to be re-selected.

"We have got some other contenders like Michael Pickens and Daniel Eggleton knocking on the door.

"About five or six guys rose to the occasion last year and they're all ready to be selected so we have some depth there."

The midgets class will be equally hard-fought.

"We have seven or eight guys capable of winning a feature," Mosen says. "Michael Pickens, Hayden Williams, Brad [Mosen], Shane Alach, Brock Maskovich, Michael Brunt, Leon Burgess - all those guys could just win it at the blink of an eyelid."

Racing begins at 6.15pm and will feature a fireworks display later in the night. Dale Budge