South Island Saloons Kick Off In Central

Andrew Andrew

• RACE REPORTS

South Island Saloons Kick Off In Central

Central Motor Speedway

Shuttleworth Motorsport Media

Photography by Christopher Scrimgour

Images supplied by: Christopher Scrimgour

The highly anticipated Brian FM South Island Saloon Series finally kicked off at Cromwell's Central Motor Speedway last Friday night. Twenty five of New Zealand's top drivers entered the series which is in its second year, and fast becoming the premier Saloon series throughout the country. The late withdrawal of National Champion Chris Cowling was a huge blow to the series, but the caliber of drivers entered was still second to none, and all the major race car manufacturers were well represented. Heavy mid week rain threatened this meeting but the sun was shining on race day and as per usual Central Motor Speedway looked a picture.The format for the series was time trials that would determine two groups who would both run a heat race each. If you finished top five in the heats you went straight to the A Main. The C and B mains would then determine the grids for last six spots on the grid. Each car would run two hot laps for the time trials and here in Cromwell it was Christchurch driver Ryan Marsden who topped the time sheets ahead of local driver George Phillips with the brains trust of the series Peter "Dutchy" Schouten of Christchurch third. Heat one and it was Schouten who got off to a flying start in his Stealth machine, managing to pull a gap early on the field. Behind him Marsden was patient, getting into a rhythm and happy to sit behind the race leader. This would pay off for Marsden as Schouten made a slight error in turn four allowing Marsden the space he needed to pounce and take over control of the race. Marsden would then dominate the heat to take the early race win, ensuring a front row start in the A Main, Schouten managed to regroup and get home in second ahead of Tom Roberts from Auckland who looked fast up in third. The second heat race saw former New Zealand Champion Ethan Cook of Gisborne race away early, Cook looked to have his Vulcan chassis on rails early but it was only a matter of time before Phillips would have Cook in his sights and chased down the leader. Phillips would eventually take the lead and remain untouched despite Cook putting up a fight. Phillips went on to win comfortably ahead of Cook with Auckland driver Scott Lansdowne third after an entertaining battle with Ashton Osborne of Christchurch for the minors.

The C Main was the first Saloon race to bring out a caution, with both heat races being good clean fast affairs. Dunedin's Dave McCallion dominated the race from the front row of the grid, the only time he really got challenged was after his Dunedin clubmate Ryan Bennett spun up causing Lee Morris of Christchurch to make contact with nowhere to go. At the restart McCallion would power off once more to book a spot in the B Main, second was Peter Kirk of Dunedin with Billie Woodhouse of Christchurch third. Just like the heat races the B Main was a good fast race, the only caution happening on the very last lap when Morris spun up making the race pretty much a one lap sprint to the flag. Cromwell driver Phil Burgess took the race win in the one, driving well, putting his early season dramas to bed in his new car. This result would put Burgess up to eleventh on the grid for the final, behind Burgess was Riverside's Dan Black in second with Jason Gold of Dunedin third. The feature final was always going to be a battle to the tight turn one at Central Motor Speedway between the two guys on the front row, Marsden and Phillips, and it was Phillips who won the battle and gaining the advantage of clear air. Phillips looked completely in the zone, powering off to a commanding lead by mid race, a gap of the straight length back to Marsden. Phillips however would make solid contact with the wall at turn one while charging around the outside of clubmate Ivan Murdoch to put him a lap down, unfortunately for Phillips this resulted in the side panel of his Stealth coming off, bringing out a caution which he was deemed to have caused putting him to the rear of the field. Marsden would now control this race from the front but Phillips would waste no time coming through the field. Behind Marsden Schouten would fend off the challengers to build a buffer in second. With nine laps to run Lansdowne would clip the wall on the entry to turn three putting him to the infield with damage and bringing out a restart.

This restart also helped Phillips who was charging through the pack. As the green flag dropped Marsden again charged off and remained unchallenged taking out round one of the Brain FM South Island Saloon Series, Schouten drove a smart race banking second spot ahead of Willie Woodhouse of Christchurch with Phillips still managing to get up to fourth place. Six Shooters ran in support to the Saloon Series and heat one saw new driver Sophie Wills of Cromwell take an unexpected early lead which she would maintain for the majority of the race. Wills looked like a seasoned campaigner out front but as some of the faster cars in the field approached small mistakes started to creep in and with three laps to run Riverside's Jack Brown who had jumped out of Sprintcars for this event would take the race lead. Brown was chased down by Cromwell driver Luke Shearing but Shearing couldn't find a way past with Brown taking the heat one win, Shearing second and Wills credited with a well driven third place. Race two and Shearing would go one better but had to work hard for the result. Shearing's younger brother Jake would keep him honest with the pair putting on some amazing wheel to wheel racing both wanting bragging rights of the first Shearing over the line. Luke would get those rights with a win, Jake was second with Cromwell's Brian Ellison up to third. The final race for Six Shooters was again fast and clean, this time around Luke Shearing and Brown again went toe to toe, and not far behind this pairing was Jake Shearing who is really coming into his own in the grade. Luke Shearing and Brown would battle lap upon lap until Shearing gained a slight advantage over Brown racing off to his second race win of the event, Brown second with Jake Shearing third. A big field of Youth Ministocks were entered and always provide a good show. This season the grade has struggled to lay the challenge to young Cromwell driver Clay Dawson who has been in a league of his own. This race would be no different with Dawson dominating up front. Cooper Arkell of Cromwell would bring out the only caution in the race with a spin in turn two resulting in a restart. Final results saw Dawson take the win over Joshua McIntyre in second and Trent Ainsley third. Last meeting at Central Motor Speedway Ainsley bagged his first race win ever on his home track, and race two would show he was hungry for more. Ainsley had some great battles up front with his Cromwell clubmates but would manage to clear off to take a well driven race win, second and third placings went to Dylan Jones and Ashdyn Gable who both put in great drives to land themselves on the podium. The third race saw Arkell lead for the majority of it, the young Cromwell driver really looking the part out front but he knew some of the big guns were going to be breathing down his neck as the race would unfold. An impressive drive from Dawson would see him drive through from the back of the pack to eventually catch Arkell and make a pass for the lead, racing off to the flag to bank his second race win of the night. Arkell would also eventually be passed by McIntyre who is looking good in his debut season of Ministocks, McIntyre claiming second ahead of Arkell in third. A small but quality field of Production Saloons hit the track and it was the driver from Greymouth Scott Ritchie who dished up a lesson in driving to the locals, Ritchie was fast, working his way to the front of the pack in race one and banking his first race win of the event, second went to Cromwell driver James Woods with Des McTaggart of Cromwell third. Race two and Ritchie pulled out a carbon copy of race one, again spanking his rivals to take his second win of the event. Gavin Hurring of Cromwell had led a fair chunk of this race would have to settle for second with Woods third. The question for race three would be "Could anyone stop Ritchie?" and the short answer was "No" once again the West Coaster putting in a fantastic drive to make it three race wins from as many starts. Second would go to Woods with McTaggart third. The final class to run was Stockcars, and what was on show was classic fast paced, tap and spin racing more so than biff and barge, very entertaining across all three races. Race one Cromwell driver Casey McEwan was unstoppable up front, McEwan really looking fast this season in his new Robb Racing machine. McEwan dominated to take the race win ahead of his Cromwell clubmates Jacob Boulton and Brian Taniwha. Race two and it was Riverside's Shanan Knight who looked the goods, Knight battled with Taniwha early and once set free remained untouched for the duration of race two claiming his first race win at Central Motor Speedway in a number of seasons, McEwan managed to claim second with Taniwha third. The final race saw another Riverside driver upset the field, this time Luke Molloy. Molloy came off a horror debut season last year where a season ending injury put his racing on hold. He has come back strong this season and claimed his first ever Stockcar race win since entering the grade. Second in the final race was Kamryn Reedy of Cromwell with Zara Lee Tuhura of Dunedin third.

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