Images: Graham Hughes (Sportsweb Photography)
Having patiently waited a week for the conclusion of the Global Invitational “World 240s” Superstock Championship, fans were treated to a masterclass from Woodford Glen contracted Jayden Ward at The Toolshed Paradise Valley Speedway in Rotorua.
The Canterbury Glen Eagle star was comfortably the best driver in the finals field, and after finishing on the podium in three previous World 240s championships, the former New Zealand Stockcar champion finally clinched a deserved maiden World 240s victory.
From a favourable grid five start in the opening finals race, Ward efficiently made his way to the front of the field and held on to collect the chequered flag.
He then faced a more ominous task of starting both heats two and three from grid 18.
However, a third place finish in heat two, and fourth in heat three, saw Ward amass 73 points and win the championship by five points over his Glen Eagle teammate, Scott Tennant.
Tennant himself was in imperious form. The top scoring qualifier from exactly a week ago, Tennant achieved his best finish at the World 240s, having finished in third place last year.
Seventh place in heat one (starting from grid 18, his least favourable grid of the evening), a race win in heat two, and a fifth place finish in heat three saw Tennant score 68 points for the evening.
Both drivers are set to feature heavily for the Glen Eagles at next weekend’s Superstock Teams Championship in Palmerston North and based on their performances in Rotorua, it will have the other teams hoping to avoid an encounter with the triple defending teams champions.
William Humphries finished in third place, continuing an excellent season.
Humphries was provisionally the winner of the Superstock Grand Prix in Stratford, before a late adjustment to the results and subsequent runoff loss for first place, and he picked up 3NZ at this season’s New Zealand Superstock Championship in Wellington.
Aucklander Cody McKee finished in fourth overall, ahead of third heat winner Dale Robertson.
Netherlands’ Rick Wobbes was the highest overseas competitor in eighth overall, just ahead of the most successful non-New Zealand competitor in the event’s history, Frankie Wainman Jnr.
The night began with an entertaining “last chance” repechage race.
Owing to the withdrawal of last year’s winner, Josh Prentice, an additional spot in the finals beckoned for the fourth-place finisher in the repechage, in addition to the originally planned top three in the race.
Stratford’s Carl Shearer (who started the repechage from grid 3) led for the final two-thirds of the race and took the chequered flag, and he was closely tailed by Luke Alderdice (grid 2). Polesitter Caleb Ashton was less successful, retiring to the infield after just a few laps.
The final two repechage places interchanged over the duration of the race, before being snatched by Dan Hunter (grid 15) and Ryan Hunt, who had started on grid four but made a poor start and made his way back into the top four on the final lap.
Great Britain competitor Liam Gilbank had briefly threatened to add another foreign competitor to the finals field.
Hawkes Bay Hawkeye Brett Loveridge, who was close to a top four spot for most of the race, put in a cheap shot on a Great Britain competitor after the chequered flag fell, and deservedly was excluded for the rest of the evening. Fortunately for Loveridge, the timing of his penalty appears to allow him to race next weekend in Palmerston North.
Following the usual prelude to the opening race of the World 240s, the first heat roared into action with a huge incident on the back straight on lap one.
Rotorua’s Dion Henderson was sensationally catapulted and lodged between a group of unfortunate drivers, with nearly a fifth of the starting field on the infield with barely a lap completed.
Incredibly, it did not spell the end of Henderson’s night, and after repairs to his roll cage and engine, he returned to contest the full allotment of races later in the evening.
The remainder of the first race saw Ward gradually move his way through the field, eventually slipping past Cody McKee to take the lead on lap nine. McKee finished second, ahead of a pair of repechage beneficiaries, Luke Alderdice and Ryan Hunt.
Notably, James Clarke was by far the biggest mover in the heat, gaining 17 spots and finishing in fifth place. Humphries moved up from the very rear of the field to finish in 11th, and Tennant also made up ground with his seventh place from grid 18.
Clarke’s night then came unstuck on just the second lap of heat two, losing a tyre and, effectively, any chance of continuing the streak of Gisborne contracted drivers winning the World 240s championship.
Tennant had to work hard for his victory in the second race, making a crucial pass on former New Zealand Superstock champion Todd Hemingway as the race progressed. His 46 points accumulated after two heats were only behind teammate Ward’s 50 points.
Luke Alderdice (43 points), Cody McKee (40 points), Rick Wobbes (39 points), and William Humphries and Alan McRobbie (both 38 points) captured the key drivers to watch during the third heat.
During Rotorua’s opening night of the season, visiting Baypark drivers went on the attack against the locals, to the particular irk of Dion Henderson.
With Alderdice up on points, Henderson saw his chance to exact his revenge, effectively blocking the Mount Maunganui driver out of contention in the third heat.
It was an otherwise uneventful final heat, perhaps unsurprising given the most celebrated teams racing event of the season takes place in just a week’s time.
Ward and Tennant sliced through the field, staying clear of any trouble. Humphries settled for second place in the race, unable to catch the fast finishing Dale Robertson, but it mattered little to the overall standings.
Ultimately, Ward and Tennant were a class ahead of the rest of the field, and the pair, alongside the ever consistent Humphries, secured a memorable podium at this year’s event.