Jamie Hamilton won the Five Star Liquor North Island Superstock Championship over the weekend. Photo/ Cookies Photography
Jamie Hamilton won the Five Star Liquor North Island Superstock Championship over the weekend. Photo/ Cookies Photography
Gisborne contracted driver Jamie Hamilton won the Five Star Liquor North Island Superstock Championship at MG Taranaki Stratford Speedway over the weekend.
Jamie is always in the mix near the front of the field, and at this event, everything worked in his favour for a successful weekend.
After qualifying fifth in his group on Friday night, Jamie started the first race of the three heat finals on night two in the best way possible when he won the race from a grid four start.
He went on to place third in heat two from grid 17. In the third heat, there was plenty happening on the track, as drivers were using their bumpers to attempt to affect the outcome of the championship.
Scott Joblin spun New Zealand champion Asher Rees, after which Rees turned his attention to Wayne Hemi, giving him a couple of decent shots to slow his progress while Ethan Rees went after Jordan Dare. While all of this was going on, Hamilton kept his nose clean and finished fifth from a grid 20 start.
Asher Rees takes a shot at Wayne Hemi to slow him down during the final heat. Photo/ Cookies Photography
Once the dust had settled, points showed that Jamie was the new North Island champion, with him having a four-point margin over Kihikihi racer Matt Nielsen. Local driver Hamish Booker drove well all weekend and came home third.
The Mountain Motors King of the Mountain champs, which was the second-tier event for non-qualifiers, was won by Palmerston North driver David Lowe. Whanganui racer Kaelin Mooney was second ahead of his clubmate Gerry Linklater, who beat Max Holloway and Brett Loveridge in a four-lap run-off to claim his spot on the podium.
There were several other classes also racing over the weekend. On Friday night, Streetstocks raced for the Kettle Construction & Handyman Taranaki champs. After three tough races, Nic Smith, driving a front-wheel drive Toyota Camry, and John Young, driving a Ford Falcon, were tied on points for first place, and a four-lap run-off was used to determine the winner.
John’s Falcon was no match for Nic, who drove away to win Taranaki Title. Haydyn Fox, driving a Mitsubishi FTO, finished one point behind the pair in third place.
Local Saloon drivers were joined by several visiting competitors from Wellington. The class was racing for the Mountain Motors King of the Mountain champs and round two of the Taranaki champs (round one was held earlier in the season).
Wellington racer Amy Eckersley found her groove on the Stratford track and was very quick, winning two of the races, including passing former national champion Thomas Korff in the last race for a good win. She placed fifth in her other race, amassing enough points to win the King of the Mountain champs by a two-point margin from Bradley Korff.
Andrew Tippet was second. When these points were tallied with round one points, Bradley Korff and Andrew Tippet were tied for first place in the Taranaki champs. Korff beat Tippet to take overall victory, while Thomas Korff was third.
Regan Ogle, who just last weekend won the Youth Ministock Spectacular, found himself in a familiar place on the podium when he won the Repco Taranaki Youth Ministock champs.
Clean and fast racing all night saw him snare the title by one point from Corban Swan, who beat Rhyan Dobson in a four-lap run-off for the minor placings.
The next event at MG Taranaki Stratford Speedway will be held over the coming weekend and will feature the Signright New Zealand Midget Championship and Peter Kuriger Engineering New Zealand Minisprint Grand Prix. Racing will take place on both Friday and Saturday nights.
