Images: Graham Hughes (Sportsweb Photography)
The Jayden Ward-less Canterbury Glen Eagles had their wings clipped at Palmerston North, as the Gisborne Giants surged past both the defending champions and the Stratford Scrappers to claim a maiden New Zealand Superstock Teams Championship.
The Giants were clearly the standout team of the weekend. They accounted for the most successful team in the event’s history, the Palmerston North Panthers, on night one, before disposing of three-time defending champions Canterbury Glen Eagles in the semifinal.
Their final opponents, the Stratford Scrappers, had been undefeated at last year’s championship and arrived having won three from three before succumbing to the Giants. But the men from Taranaki were no match for a dominant Gisborne lineup.
After a difficult opening night, the Great Britain Lions rallied to claim third place, while the Rotorua Rebels finished fourth, with both sides securing top-four seeding for next year’s championship.
Championship semifinals
Canterbury Glen Eagles vs Gisborne Giants
The lynchpin of the Canterbury Glen Eagles, Jayden Ward, suffered untimely mechanical issues during the warm-up laps. Problems with his gearbox saw him pull to the infield and require the intervention of the ‘three-minute bell’.
After his crew assessed the issues, Ward circled towards the starting grid, but his car was clearly not fit to begin the race.
It was a massive blow for the defending champions, who were also seemingly not prepared to start Harley Robb, who had electrical issues on the first night.
Scott Tennant made a clinical move on Tim Ross on the opening lap, walling and rolling the Giant to give the Glen Eagles a one car advantage.
On the restart, the benefit lasted mere seconds, as Josh Prentice executed a similar move on Darrel Wallace, bringing on the red lights again and evening up the numbers with Wallace’s car removed.
Asher Rees quickly found himself at the front of the field and he extended the gap over Tennant who was chasing as the leading Glen Eagle car.
The Glen Eagles then lost James Thian, who retired himself to the infield, leaving just Jay ‘Huggies’ Holtham to contend with the Rees brothers and Prentice.
Rees moved a lap ahead of Tennant, and then another, as the Giants’ victory became inevitable. The white flag dropped, and Rees calmly completed the final tour.
It was the Glen Eagles’ first loss since the 2022 Teams Championship and ended a sequence of 15 consecutive race victories at the event.
Tennant’s second place and Holtham’s fifth place netted the Glen Eagles with only 50 points as the losing semifinalist.
Rotorua Rebels vs Stratford Scrappers
With the crowd still catching their breath after the Giants’ knockout blow to the Glen Eagles, the Rotorua Rebels and Stratford Scrappers took to the track for the second semifinal.
The Scrappers made a strong start and quickly found themselves in first and second through Brodie James and Matthew Picard.
James was slowed by the Rebels’ block cars, but Picard picked up the lead. Just as the Rebels’ AJ Axtens caught up, he took a huge shot from James, which slowed him down further.
Picard was largely untroubled as the Scrappers tactics proved far superior to the Rebels. He took the white flag and just had to pass by Robbie Morris on the back straight. With little trouble, he made the move and collected the chequered flag for the Scrappers.
Minor placings for the Rebels saw them collect 60 points, enough for the third vs fourth race, a seeding for the 2027 event, and demoting the Glen Eagles to the fifth vs sixth playoff.
For the Scrappers, it was the first time that the team had even made the final of the Teams Championship since 2011.
Tier two semifinals
Palmerston North Panthers vs Wanganui Warriors
Despite not winning a race on qualifying night, the Wanganui Warriors progressed to the tier two semifinals and faced the Palmerston North Panthers.
Rebecca Barr made a jump at the start for the Panthers, but she was quickly chased down by Hayden ‘Lofty’ Hart for the Warriors.
An early red light saw Max Holloway directed to the infield by the officials, leaving the Warriors with a car down for most of the race.
The Warriors’ Zane Dykstra then walled William Humphries, prompting another red light. Despite his best efforts, Dykstra was unable to disengage from Humphries, and both cars were towed off.
With only Kaelin Mooney remaining to assist Hart, it looked like the three remaining Panther cars would have the advantage.
However, the inexperienced Panther drivers were barely able to touch Hart, and he duly completed the race win. Mooney’s fifth place finish saw the Warriors accumulate 110 points.
Baypark Busters vs Great Britain Lions
Both the Baypark Busters and Great Britain Lions were reduced to three cars after the first corner of the second tier two semifinal.
Frankie Wainman Jnr pushed Kerry Remnant to the wall, but after Remnant spun, he expertly reversed Wainman Jnr up the wall, and onto his lid. However, with the red lights triggered, Remnant could not move himself freely away from Wainman Jnr, and both vehicles were carted off.
Luke Alderdice took the lead for the Busters and looked to be cruising to a race victory, but as the final laps approached he slammed into debutant Rob Plant and ended up rolling himself over. Plant’s badly damaged vehicle was also removed.
With Alderdice out of the race, the Lions’ Karl Hawkins assumed first place ahead of Dan Pollock for the Busters, and an epic conclusion to the race played out.
Elias Dykstra, who had sustained damage earlier in the race, produced an amazing block job on Hawkins. Pollock got through the Lions’ remaining blocker, Frankie Wainman Jnr Jnr, just as Hawkins slipped past Dykstra.
Just a few seconds separated the two as they crossed the finish line, with Hawkins narrowly taking the victory. As Wainman Jnr Jnr finished in fourth place, the Lions scored 120 points, elevating them to the third and fourth place race, and a seeding for the 2027 championship.
5th vs 6th
Canterbury Glen Eagles vs Wanganui Warriors
Jayden Ward was again a non-starter for the Canterbury Glen Eagles in the fifth vs sixth playoff race against the Wanganui Warriors.
The near unthinkable happened for the Glen Eagles. Having entered the event undefeated since 2022, the Glen Eagles proceeded to lose their second consecutive teams race in a little over an hour.
Despite Harley Robb’s lead for most of the race, and Scott Tennant and Darrel Wallace combining to eliminate the Warriors’ Max Holloway, a crucial block late in the race from Kaelin Mooney on Robb saw Hayden Hart take the lead with just under two laps remaining.
Hart had a clear track after taking the white flag to subject the misery further on the outgoing champions.
3rd vs 4th
Rotorua Rebels vs Great Britain Lions
A brutal race for the bronze medal saw the Great Britain Lions defeat the Rotorua Rebels with just two finishers.
A huge hit from Brent Stewart on Karl Hawkins in turn three was reminiscent of Kerry Podjursky’s attack on Stu Smith Jnr many years ago, with sparks flying and the Brit left on his lid.
It resulted in a lengthy delay. The fence was ripped and needed repair, and the poles required replacement.
As the trackwork was carried out, the Rebels lost Stewart, who was suffering from fluid leaking from his car and a smoking engine.
Robbie Morris was then sent off for attacking from the infield earlier in the race.
The last Rotorua car running, the entertaining Dion Henderson, was smashed by both Frankie Wainman Jnr and Frankie Wainman Jnr Jnr, immobilizing the Rebel.
It allowed Teams Championship debutant Tom Bennett to complete the remaining laps untouched, with Wainman Jnr Jnr the only other car to last the duration of the race.
1st vs 2nd
Gisborne Giants vs Stratford Scrappers
The Stratford Scrappers made a strong start when Brodie James shot out to an early lead, but he made a crucial error when he left himself exposed to a big hit from the Gisborne Giants’ Josh Prentice.
It allowed Regan Penn to take the lead, and the Gisborne tactics became clear: protect their main runner at all costs. Prentice, and both Rees brothers, were instrumental in providing him with a clear path.
Matthew Picard assumed a running role for the Scrappers, but he constantly lost ground to Penn, going a lap behind, and then another.
Surprisingly, despite being laps behind, Blair Uhlenberg ran for the second half of the race, rather than focusing on attacking the Giants’ lead runner.
As the laps ticked by, Penn continued his merry way, taking the white flag and easily completing the final lap to the parochial crowd’s delight.
Asher Rees had also moved his way up to second place in the event of any late drama.
It was a thoroughly deserved victory for a team often regarded as event favourites but never quite able to previously secure top spot.