A dramatic conclusion to the 2025-26 New Zealand Superstock Championship saw Whanganui’s Brad Uhlenberg reign supreme after an incredible runoff with Ethan Rees to determine the new champion.
Having made the jump over Rees as the green flag dropped, Rees quickly took over in control of the runoff, leading until the penultimate corner. Uhlenberg lunged at Rees, carting him into the fence and leaving the Gisborne car immobile. The damage to Uhlenberg’s vehicle left him barely able to limp over the finish line to seal the victory.
The crowd went wild in appreciation for the skill of both drivers and in celebration of Uhlenberg’s maiden championship victory.
It continued a rich vein of form for Uhlenberg, who had finished in third place at last weekend’s Superstock Grand Prix. Paying $17 for a victory on the TAB, a strong performance at the New Zealand Championship was not a major surprise, but he did go into the runoff against Rees as the underdog.
A victory for Rees would have completed his ‘Superstock Grand Slam’, consisting of a New Zealand championship, Grand Prix and Island title, and the highly acclaimed win at the Global World 240s. Rees would have joined a group including only Shane Penn, Simon Joblin, Dave Evans, Wayne Hemi, Jason Long, and, most recently, his father Peter Rees.
Instead, the former Stockcar 1NZ improved on his best finish at the New Zealand Superstock Championship, eclipsing his third place effort in the 2022-23 season, but ultimately fell short of his main goal.
Uhlenberg’s victory was the first by a Whanganui contracted Superstock driver since before the split of the Superstock and Stockcar classes.
The legendary Charlie Bernsten’s victory at home in 1981-82 was the last instance of a driver from the club winning the national title.
Earlier in the evening, Hayden “Lofty” Hart took advantage of his grid five start in the first finals heat to take the chequered flag, ahead of clubmate Zane Dykstra.
However, Hart’s fortunes diminished in the second heat, when he recorded a DNF, and he turned to a blocking mode in the final heat for his Whanganui teammates, targeting Wellington’s local favourite Dale Robertson in particular.
Uhlenberg won the second finals heat and found himself overall in second place, just a point behind Ethan Rees, on the subtotals heading into the third heat.
With both Asher and Peter Rees out of contention for a strong finish, it was highly anticipated that the family would have gone on the defensive to assist Ethan to a victory, but surprisingly, both ran in the final heat. Asher even won the third heat and had little interest in blocking.
After a chaotic start to the final heat, which saw Kaelin Mooney (fifth equal on subtotals) rolled, and Jayden Ward (third on subtotals) hobbling to the infield after a first corner pile up, the rest of the race played out more sedately.
Hart’s intervention to slow Robertson was the only significant and deliberate blocking move in a less eventful final heat than had played out in Nelson twelve months ago.
It allowed William Humphries to rise from fifth equal heading into the final race, to claim 3NZ after a fifth place finish in the final heat. Uhlenberg’s eighth place, and Ethan Rees’ ninth place after a poor start, were the other notable heat three finishes.
Incredibly, Keegan Levien finished in fourth place overall, again, replicating his best previous efforts at the championship.
Weather had threatened to spoil the flow of the evening with patchy drizzle, but it was the on-track action in the second tier races that proved most disruptive. An incident in the first race involving Lewis Ward and Brad Podjursky, before the top 26 contested their first heat, saw the ambulance required after the pair were involved in a nasty looking collision in turn three.
Then in the second race of the second tier, a massive hit from Brad McGee propelled Regan McKenzie up and into the lighting and sound system pole coming out of turn four, damaging the fence and leaving the pole totally dislodged.
It was a worrisome moment for the crowd on the bank, but remarkably, the club’s maintenance resulted in only a small delay before racing commenced.
The programme was constantly rejigged to ensure the Superstock action was prioritized, including a shortening of both the TQ Midget and Saloon events scheduled, with smart decision making from the club throughout the evening.
All attention now turns to Rotorua with a huge field of Superstocks expected at the Global World 240s next Friday and Saturday.
With qualifying even more challenging, it promises to be the perfect continuation of action for Superstock fans.