Words: Colin Smith
Images: Legaspeed Multimedia (Maru Goodley)
Tauranga’s Chris Cowling raced to his third New Zealand Super Saloon Car title in the space of four years at Napier’s Meeanee Speedway on Saturday night.
Cowling, at the wheel of the latest generation CB2 chassis, won the 20-lap final of the Bin Hire Co. NZ title after an early duel with defending champion Mark Osborne (Christchurch).
The podium was filled with multi-time champions as Cowling notched his third title, two-time champ Steve Flynn (Hawke’s Bay) grabbed the runner-up honours, and four-time champ Osborne was third.
Cowling and Osborne had separated themselves from the pack field during the two-day, 15-heat qualifying process, with Cowling on 64 points and Osborne on 63, earning the front row spots. They were well clear of third-placed Thomas Stanaway (Hawke’s Bay) on 56.
From the initial green flag, the front row pair ran side by side for more than a lap before the first caution.
Osborne got the better of the second start but there was another mid-pack collision. Cowling then made what proved to be the decisive move around the outside on the third start to grab the lead.
“On the third start when I got around him, there was enough track there to just pin it and hope for the best around the outside. He [Osborne] gave me just enough room,” says Cowling.
The remaining four restarts in the incident-packed final gave Cowling the benefit of leading a single file formation and he was able to put a small gap on Osborne each time. His challenge was reading the fast changing track conditions.
“The track got icy from about the third caution. I tried the bottom at one stage, but the car didn’t like it down there. I don’t normally run the top, but the cushion was nice if you were gentle coming off the corner to minimise wheelspin,” says Cowling.
Cowling says level of competition in the Super Saloons is intense.
“This one was hard. Every year the competition is stepping up. Mark’s going for five, Steve is a two-time champion as well. That’s a fair few championships on the podium.
“In qualifying we had two wins, a second, a third, and a fourth which is really good, but even then, it was only one point ahead of Mark.”
Cowling’s victory adds to a string of success for Baypark registered drivers who have won eight of the last 10 Super Saloon titles. Cowling also has four NZ Saloon Car title wins.
After an engine swap on Saturday morning Steve Flynn returned to the pace in Saturday’s qualifying races. He started from grid seven in the final and moved forward to fourth spot at half distance before passing Craig Cardwell (Auckland) for third and then Osborne for second spot, just after the sixth and final caution on lap 15.
“I was surprised so many of them stayed running the outside. It opened the door for me on the bottom,” says Flynn.
Osborne survived an impact with the turn four wall with five laps remaining but held onto his third spot.
“I probably should have moved to the bottom a bit earlier. I climbed over the berm, and it hit pretty hard,” he said.
The four-time champ isn’t sure about another campaign to chase a fifth title.
“I’m not going to use the word `retire’ but I will step back a little to help my young fella (son Ashton). And I’ve got quite a few customers for these cars [his Stealth Chassis design],” he says.
“That was actually the plan for this season, before I won at Baypark last year.”
Craig Cardwell qualified fifth and ran in top five throughout, looking like a podium contender until Flynn passed him on lap 10 and he finished fourth.
Another driver making forward progress was Rotorua’s Damian Orr who started from grid 11 to finish fifth ahead of Taranaki’s Joe Ingram, who started 15th.
Jakob Flynn (Napier) was seventh followed by a charging Steve Cowling (Tauranga), who made the final by winning his repechage. He raced from grid 18 to eighth place while Grant Flynn (Hawke’s Bay) and Manawatu racer Peter Bengston completed the top-10.
Stanaway’s race ended on lap six with a flat right rear tyre while running in fourth and Ben Harding (Auckland) ran sixth in the early laps but retired with front end damage.
Support class action included the 2026 Hawke’s Bay Super Stock Champs which was won by Rotorua’s Mark Costello by a 4-point margin over Stratford racer Brodie James with A.J. Axtens (Rotorua) finishing third.