By Daniel Neville

Finals night for the 2025 TWS World Invitation Superstock Championship took place in front of a massive Saturday night crowd at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway on January 25th with the only disappointment being the rain that had threatened all weekend finally arriving with some races still to run. Thankfully the main events were completed in time and new champions were found with the Gisborne track benefiting in both. 

After a hectic Friday night of qualifying where 17 cars and drivers were established and added to the 7 pre-qualifiers. There were still 2 more to be added via the last chance repercharge which was first up on the programme. 

As well as the main event there was the second tier Superstocks in Paradise sponsored by Barclay Engravers with the winner of the event gaining automatic entry to next year’s finals. Also the Kokpit Media third tier was also on the programme for those who didn’t fare so well during the qualifying stage. The second part of the Rees Race Cars Aotearoa Ladies Stockcar Crown also took place with 3 more action packed heats to decide this year’s champion. Add to that the winged warrior Modifieds and it was another great event as it is every year, apart from the soggy end.

On the front row for the repercharge is was all Hawkes Bay front row with 99b Jacob Buckrell and 9b Adam Groome leading them into the turn one after the green flag dropped. It was Buckrell who assumed the as many others got caught up in the turn 1 chaos. Unfortunately for Groome the 9b car lost it’s brakes and finished up on the infield with a few others that didn’t complete the first lap. From near the back of the grid the veteran 10g Peter Rees made his way up to third in an impressive display but overcooked it and spun out while challenging for the second spot.  As the laps ticked by 19m Kerry Remnant was taken out by 235g Regan Penn with a few others getting caught up in the incident. It was 48n Brett Nicholls who benefited from that slotting into second place and following Buckrell across the finish line with both adding their name to the finals field. 

The traditional gridding up of the top 26 took place on the back strait with driver interviews and photos happening there too. There was also the call of “Lady and gentlemen, start your engines” which this year came from Bryce Steiner who the last Rotorua registered driver to win the event back in 2015.

On the front row for heat 1 were 175gb Karl Hawkins and 777h Dan Pollock with plenty more lining up behind them. The massive turn 1 push saw 29g James Clarke up the wall and down again with part of his wing missing. Midway through the race defending champion 9g Jamie Hamilton was spun with a few others copping damage as the battles ensued. Towards the end 5w Keegan Levien was running in second but rode up over the front of 20uk Liam Gillbank and rolled spectacularly. Sole Christchurch finalist 14c James Thian took the win from 5g Josh Prentice, who put in a huge drive from grid 25, with 1gb Tom Harris third. Heat 2 saw many dreams of winning go out the window in the first few laps and 3 time winner if the event 515gb Frankie Wainman Jnr was one of those, getting tipped over by heat 1 winner Thian. Another red light was needed when 581p Jordan Dare lost his right front wheel which bounced high but thankfully came back down on the track. After the 15 laps it was 127g Ethan with the heat win from 808c Scott Tennant with 156p Trent James third. Points before the final heat saw Rees and James tied at the top Prentice running third from 808c Scott Tennant with 58m Stefan Roigard rounding out the top 5.The third and final heat was on from the start with 127gb Austin Moore was spun and finished up on the front of Roigard’s car, the race was stopped with Moore given the opportunity to extract himself but unfortunately ended up reversing off sideways and tipped over and out of the race There wasn’t a lot more in action department apart from Trent James getting taken to the wall by 66a Randal Tarrant and also Wainman and Levien renewing their rivalry from last year. Todd Hemingway in the 1nz took the heat win from 94r Dale Stewart and with a third from Prentice the World 240’s title was finally his after being on the podium in previous years. Second overall was Ethan Rees with Tennant flying the flag for the South Island in third overall.

TWS World 240s Finals Points

The Superstocks in Paradise second tier was hotly contested with most of the repercharge field in this event. A busy heat 1 went the way of 46b Quinn Ryan who narrowly missed being in the main event after finishing third in the repercharge. Heat 2 featured a huge moment for 95r Daryl Williams who was squeezed up and over in a huge way by 55c Darrel Wallace. The win went to 38v Zane Dykstra with 166v becoming the points leader with a couple of top 6 finishes helping him to get there. Unfortunately that was all she wrote for this championship, no thanks to Mother Nature. Hart was the overall winner from 29m Ryan Hunt with 144g Tim Ross completing the podium in third.

Barclay Engravers Ltd 2nd Tier Points

The Tier 3 championship was meant to be run over 4 heats with driver partaking in 3 of those races but again the weather interfered and only 3 were able to go ahead. 15v Ryan Marshall took the heat 1 win from 307s Matthew Picard with 351r Paul Vazey third. Heat 2 was won by 272a Seth McConchie from 3nz Shane Harwood with 5m Elias Dykstra third. Heat 3  was won by 99s William Hughes as the wet stuff started to fall. Overall Harwood was the best of good things in first overall from Hughes with Dykstra completing the podium in third.

Kokpit Media 3rd Tier Points

The Superstock consolation group had just 2 races with wins going to 193r Gary Hunter and 96w Brad McGhee.
 

The Ladies finished off their championship in style with the remaining 3 heats. The opening race was on a slippery track with the first lap claiming 82a Azaria Simpson when she was pushed up onto the bonnet of 17n Zoe Hughes ruling both both cars out. Defending champion and points leader 189r Milla Theobald was spun and took a few hit while recovering as 85g Brittany Carpenter took the heat 3 win which promoted her to the top of points tally. Heat 4 was another first corner cruncher with most surviving it. Theobald was taken to the wall by 252c Payton Wilson with 15r Kendall Reid taking exception to that finishing off the Christchurch car with a big hit. In a change if fortune it was Simpson who took the win which caused a shake up in the points. Carpenter and 144r Kendyll Ashton were joint leaders before the final heat with 121c Shinnae McNally in the third spot. The 6th and final heat saw Theobald spun up almost straight way as Carpenter assumed control of the race. The race run it’s course pretty much with Carpenter taking the race win and the championship as well. Ashton finished second in the race and the championship too with McNally earning the third podium spot through sheer consistency.

Rees Race Cars  Aotearoa Ladies Stockcar Crown Points

The Modifieds only managed 2 outings because of the weather. Heat 1 went to 9s Jason Kalin from 71s John Jackson with Fox in third. Come race 2 was all over for 53h Barry Hunter who shed his right rear wheel before even reaching the pit gate. When the dust settled it was 18h Paul Fergusson who took the win from 68h Cody Hata with 9s Braith Kalin third. 

Things quieten down a bit for the next meeting which is the Cooke Roofing Club Night on Friday January 31st with racing from Stockcars, Streetstocks, Production Saloons, Ministocks, TQ Midgets and Six Shooter with racing underway from 7pm.

Modifieds Teams Points

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Lap Data

Photos On: www.speedwaynz.com