Few major race meetings leave even seasoned commentators driving home with a genuine sense of excitement, but the Maple Fern Jerseys South Island Saloon Car Championship at Aotea Electric Riverside Speedway in Invercargill delivered exactly that last weekend.
Let’s be honest – last year’s New Zealand Saloon Championship in Dunedin became a debacle, and several National and Island title events over the past few seasons have been clouded by controversy.
That history left a degree of apprehension heading into this championship.
Yet, by the time the final flag fell, it was clear this event had delivered.
Despite feeling like a championship that could have boiled over at any moment, the conclusion was marked instead by camaraderie and shared elation among all involved.
So why did the championship feel as though it could have boiled over?
Firstly, Aotea Electric Riverside Speedway does not race at night due to the absence of lighting. That places significant pressure on the track crew, who must prepare and maintain a surface exposed to a full day of heat with minimal moisture.
Getting that balance right is an art- a fine line between a greasy, overwatered surface and one that is dusty and almost impossible to race or see on.
In that context, considerable credit must go to the track crew, both in the lead-up to the event and on race day itself.
It must be acknowledged that the track was not at its best in the early stages.
The surface blacked up, became slippery, and tested both man and machine. Predictably, there were murmurs from the pit area; Complaints that it was a one-lane track, that passing was impossible, that it was “typical Riverside”, with the familiar criticisms resurfacing once again.
Yet, when three leading drivers could race three-wide through turns one and two in the championship final without a single touch, it was clear the surface was doing its job. That moment showed the track was far from unworkable, and we should credit those responsible for delivering a surface capable of producing racing of that caliber.
Eighteen cars were entered for the event, including the best South Island cars, Hawkes Bay’s Grahame Strong and defending South Island Champion Rodney McIndoe of Gisborne.
They were split into two groups, each group running two heat races to determine a grid for the twenty-five lap feature.
There was an early stoppage in Heat 1 of Group 1 when Dunedin’s Leo Bennett suffered drivetrain issues, putting him out of the event after just seven laps.
At this point, the race leader was Aaron Andrews of Dunedin, who was looking very comfortable out front. However, prior to Bennett stopping, Andrews’ car was smoking from the right rear. It was noticeable that something had given way, and the rear guard was resting on the rear tyre, resulting in a retirement for the race leader.
From this point, Strong took over the lead of the race and had to drive defensively to hold off Christchurch’s Corey McQuillan, who was all over him, and Central Motor Speedway’s Mike Verdoner, who had started well down the order.
Strong would hold on for the win over McQuillan, with Verdoner third, all three cars separated by half a second across the line.
The second heat for Group one saw Verdoner chase down McQuillan, who was the early race leader.
Verdoner made a move on Lap 9 of 12 and remained unpressured to take a hard-fought heat win and put himself on the front row for the final.
McQuillan again drove a solid race but had to settle for second once more, while Andrews got his title chances back on track with a solid third, but not finishing the first heat proved costly.
Group Two was stacked with talent, including reigning champion McIndoe, former New Zealand Champion Ryan Marsden of Christchurch, former 2NZ George Phillips of Cromwell, Blayr Findlay of Dunedin in an ex Chris Cowling 1NZ machine, and local favourite Graham Williamson. This group was a lottery.
Findlay started on the front row of the first heat of the group and never looked threatened, a race win in the books first up for the southerner. McIndoe, who started second, battled hard with Marsden, prevailing for second, leaving the former 1NZ third. At this point, the track wasn’t offering much as far as passing was concerned.
Group Two’s second heat was a great race.
Williamson got off to a brilliant start and challenged Phillips for the lead on Lap 5, managing to slip past before starting to pull out a gap. The roles then switched, Phillips soon reeling Williamson in a couple of laps later to re-take the lead.
Williamson looked assured of a second placing, but got stuck behind a back marker in the form of clubmate Justin Blackmun. This allowed Phillips to skip free of anyone else in the pack, while Williamson would watch McIndoe, Marsden and Findlay all race past him, dropping down to fifth.
Phillips claimed the Heat 2 win, ahead of Marsden and McIndoe.
That set the scene for the twenty-five lap feature.
The front row would consist of Verdoner and McQuillan, ahead of Findlay and Marsden on Row 2, while of McIndoe was going to have any chance of retaining his title, he would have to do it from Grid 6, a big ask for the defending champion.
As the green flag dropped, it took until Turn 1 for the dramas to unfold, with Williamson spinning up and Paul Carr spearing into the wall at pace, causing sizeable damage to both cars, the South Island Champs dream over within about twenty meters.
The grid reformed and finally got a full lap in before another big smash, this time Findlay and Phillips, two of the top contenders, coming together in Turn 2. Phillips rotated, and Strong, with nowhere to go, hit him hard, ultimately ending his night. Findlay and Strong both continued.
This race finally took shape, and both Verdoner and McQuillan were soon swallowed up by Marsden, who found his groove hard up against the Riverside wall.
The former champ was flying, pulling away from the pack with ease, racing out to a handy buffer.
Behind him, McIndoe joined the party with Verdoner and McQuillan, the three cars battling for position lap-in, lap-out.
The three wide moves around half the track sent the crowd into a frenzy.
As the three cars raced side-by-side down the back straight, McQuillan got the big squeeze and was spat out behind Verdoner and McIndoe into Turn 3, one up the inside, one around the outer.
Dunedin’s Calvin Todd then spun in Turn 2, Invercargill’s Jeff Richardson spinning in avoidance, seeing Marsden’s lead diminish under caution.
At the restart, the expectation was that Marsden would again pull away, but this time around, he was challenged by McIndoe with just five laps remaining.
The defending champ would take over the race lead, a remarkable comeback after starting down the order.
As the laps counted down, Marsden would be pressured by Verdoner, allowing McIndoe some breathing space, but not for long as Verdoner passed Marsden and had the leader in his crosshairs.
Verdoner edged closer, lap by lap, but McIndoe could sense his second South Island title.
On the very last lap, Verdoner was only half a second off the lead, but McIndoe contended well with lapped traffic and, for the second year in a row, take the South Island Saloon Championship off to Gisborne, not that the South Island fans seemed too bothered as McIndoe had the crowed up on their feet cheering for what had been a race for the ages, a brilliant performance, and a fitting champion.
Verdoner threw all he had at this final, and another lap may have changed the result, but a second placing was testament to his performance, well driven all day, while Marsden would have wished that last yellow flag never came out, having to be content with third place.
McQuillan is another very notable mention. If he could build a fourth step on the podium, he would certainly have deserved to be standing alongside the place getters in what was a podium and meeting to remember for all the right reasons.