Aerobatic show at speedway | Taranaki Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Taranaki

With two weeks of racing to make up for, there was no shortage of roll overs, pile-ups and gutsy racing as two Taranaki championships were fought out at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night.

With 21 visiting cars arriving across all the classes, Stratford had no choice but to race hard. Taranaki's new superstock champion, Phil Ogle, held off the pack, including Palmerston North's Phillip Gargan and Wellington's
Dale Robertson who took the first checkered flag for the championship.

Craig Korff meant business with his new saloon and flew in the 8s car to win the Taranaki championship for the season. Fourteen saloons lined up on the grid for the first race, which quickly saw Stratford's Dean Patterson and
Dave Hinton on the infield after contact was made on turn three.

Pit crew members clinched their teeth and turned away as 30 stockcars made their way to turn one in the first race of the Allan Hancock Memorial, which was sure to cause absolute havoc, but all 30 cars made it around without a hitch, a rare sight in stock car racing. Eleven visiting drivers, including 3NZ Kane Hargreaves, tried their luck at winning the memorial, but Stratford drivers were quick to put an end to that with Tony Zendher (69s) winning the memorial. Kelvin Good (57s) ended up upside down during the second race for the memorial,
which had the crowd cheering for more - and their wish was the driver's command. Lyn Booker (89s) made his way up the wall in the second race, but didn't quite make the flip and first-year stock car driver Todd Duthie (21s) also got up close and personal with the wall.

There was no shortage of flips and acrobatic performances in the modifieds either. Merv Julian's (72s) display in the air ended in a five car pile-up after Roger Furness (5s) lost it on turn one. Bunter Pierce lived up to his high paced name, winning two races of the night, only a nose in front of Stratford's Mark Dixon (4s) in race three.

After returning home from the New Zealand midget championships in fifth place, it was a rare sight to see Duane Hickman in any position other than first over the weekend. Lydia Dickinson won the first race of the meeting ahead of Duane, but it was Greg Jones (42s) who held off the field in race two.

Once the track dried out, spins began to disrupt the racing and Duane fell victim, T-boning Neil Willans (24s) on turn three. Duane raced to the checkered flag in race three, Greg Jones placing second, a good night for the 42s driver.

It was a large field in the youth ministocks, with 32 competitors vying for the checkered flag. Visiting drivers Jacob Free (36w) from Wellington and Aimee Barnes (92v) from Wanganui made their presence known but the Stratford
drivers did well to keep at them bay. Blair Uhlenberg, who was celebrating his birthday, also celebrated the night with a second and a third. Both Regan Gernhoefer and Hamish Booker held  out to win race two and three, respectively.

Stockcars: Race 1; 1. 84s H. Barker 2. 59s W. Gargan 3. 79s S. Hurliman. Race 2; 1. 6w P. Gaskin 2. 79 S. Hurliman 3. 33s T. Walker. Race 3. 1. 69s T. Zehnder 2. 124s A. Dodunski 3. 45s D. Reade

Saloons: Race 1; 1. 9s W. Barron 2. 8s C. Korff 3. 29s J. Macbeth. Race 2; 1. 16s T. Korff 2. 4s A. Cook 3. 8s C. Korff. Race 3; 1. 28s J. Young 2. 8s C. Korff 3. 24s D. Hinton

Modifieds: Race 1; 1. 67s R. Pierce 2. 1NZ J. Jackson 3. 4s M. Dixon. Race 2; 1. 4s M. Dixon 2. 55s P. Ward 3. 226s B. Luscombe. Race 3. 1. 67s R. Pierce 2. 4s M. Dixon 3. 55s P. Ward

Superstocks: Race 1; 1. 89w D. Robertson 2. 947s R. Collingwood 3. 282s P. Ogle. Race 2; 1. 27p P. Gargan 2. 99s C. Hose 3. 947s R. Collingwood. Race 3; 1. 282s P. Ogle 2. 99s C. Hose 3. 25s W. Moss

Midgets: Race 1; 1. 75s L. Dickinson 2. 95s D. Hickman 3. 15s D. Hughes. Race 2; 1. 42s G. Jones 2. 15s D. Hughes 3. 75s D. Hickman. Race 3; 1. 95s D. Hickman 2. 42s G. Jones 3. 5s D. Gorrie

Youth ministocks: Race 1; 1. 36w J. Free 2. 28s B. Uhlenberg 3. 46w K. Levien Race 2; 1. 62s R. Gernhoefer 2. 92v A. Barnes 3. 28s B. Uhlenberg Race 3; 1. 82s H. Booker 2. 26s M. Vickery 3. 58s B. Betts