By Daryl Shuttleworth
Photos by Jo Broadhead

There is always a sense of excitement when the Debbie The Webster Super Cup rolls into town, the fire breathing Supercars of the dirt always promise a spectacle when they run at Powderworx Central Motor Speedway, and this being Round five, the second to last round it meant drivers and teams would need to be at their ultimate best to ensure they were in with a crack going into the final round of the series in Blenheim.

Heat one was a pretty straight forward sprint, giving the spectators a chance to see these machines in full flight, Terry Soper of Dunedin upstaged some more favored competition with a stellar drive, taking a race win over Kane Lawson of Christchurch and Mark Osborne in third, also of Christchurch.

Controversy surrounded race two, unfortunately Christchurch driver Hayden McKay's car surged out of turn two causing Lawson to make contact, this would put McKay out of the race and at the restart Lawson was deemed the cause and would have to start from the rear of the pack after clearly having nowhere to go to avoid the incident.

Soper would also have issues in this race as well, again looking very quick but steering dramas would take him out of the event.

Greig Johnston of Cromwell was leading but under a fair amount of pressure from Osborne and Ian Burson of Nelson, that pairing would get to have one last late crack at Johnston when a caution came out for Ian Stewart of Christchurch who spun up and Paul Power of Nelson also having dramas.

Johnston would however rise to the occasion taking the heat win with the battle between Burson and Osborne going down to the wire, Burson raced home just ahead of Osborne.

This would now lead to the pole shuffle, first up Peter Schouten of Christchurch eliminated Stewart, Schoten was then sent to the infield after being beaten by Johnston, Burson would then beat Johnston, and then also beat Osborne to face Lawson in the last shoot out to decide pole position. Lawson had a fire in the belly after the last heat and he would beat Burson home to secure pole for the twenty five lap feature race.

The feature race started at pace, the cars looked great attacking Central Motor Speedway under lights, but two laps in came the first and only caution, three cars all spin in turn two, Stewart, Power and Dale Bigwood of Blenheim all came together, all but Stewart would continue, but unfortunately for Bigwood he would head infield six laps later.

Out front Lawson skipped away to an early lead, playing into his hands was the battle forming between Osborne and Burson, this pair putting on a fantastic show, Osborne spent the majority of the race right under Bursons rear bumper, Osborne would look super fast going into turn three, then Burson would have the legs to stay ahead pulling out of turn four, all while Lawson was hammer down.

Lawson also negotiated lapped traffic well and raced home to secure a popular race win, reward for what had been a tough day at the office, Burson snuck home in second, just ahead of Osborne in what was an entertaining feature.

Six Shooter Rolling Thunder

Central Motor Speedway would also be running the Six Shooter Rolling Thunder, an event put together that would run over two nights with two groups running five heats each, then a dash and a twenty five lap feature.

The Six Shooter Grade got some great sponsors onboard to make for some decent prize money, Creighton Sandblasting, Straight Up Building Invercargill, BMac Sheetmetal, Alpine Auto Centre Wanaka, CK Catering Dirt Track Cafe and Powderworx all got onboard for this event.

Just seventeen cars entered it possibly would have been more of a spectacle if all cars were in together rather than the two groups, however lower group numbers meant all six heat races on the Friday night went without caution, this is testament to the drivers competing in this event, keeping the racing fairly clean and enjoyable to watch without constant stopping and starting.

Heat one saw Danny Livingstone of Invercargill drive away from the pack, a sight that become familiar over the other two heats of the night, Livingstone handled the very greasy track conditions well banking his first win of the event from his son Josh Livingstone of Riverside in second and Kane Jemmett of Christchurch third.

The second race saw Danny Livingstone again unstoppable, starting from mid pack and cruising away on what looked like a casual Friday night cruise, Livingstone would come home the winner by almost six seconds to Riverside clubmate Daniel McIntosh in second with Samantha Sandford of Cromwell third.

Livingstone would again make easy work of it in heat three for this group, this time starting from pole it was pretty much a full blown conclusion from the outset, how much could Livingstone win by in this race, almost seven seconds was the answer, three from three for the Big Man from Invercargill after night one, second in this race was Paul Smith of Auckland while McIntosh would place third.

Heat one for group two saw another Riverside driver take control early, Luke Shearing was dominant and battled his way to the lead taking the race win from Kirk Hawkins in second and Corey Duckmanton in third, both of Ruapuna in Christchurch.

Shearing had to work a bit harder in heat two for group two, he would battle with Hawkins and eventually slip past Hawkins on lap four, from there it was plain sailing t the finish and a second win in as many races for Shearing, Hawkins taking second ahead of Cromwell's Blair Smith.

The final heat of night one for Group two saw Christchurch driver Andrew Gregge get off to a flying start but both Ben Smart of Cromwell and Shearing would soon mow Gregge down and make a pass, Shearing would snatch the race lead and like Livingstone in Group one, would make it three from three after night one, Smart would place second with Gregge third.

The top five cars after night one were Danny Livingstone, Shearing, Hawkins, McIntosh and Josh Livingstone.

As day two rolled out the big question would be who could stop Livingston and Shearing and it only took one heat for one of these drivers to face their first incident, and the start of a day to forget.

Danny Livingstone had a couple of rear grid draws and would have to work hard to keep the points lead he had worked hard for on night one. Livingstone got off to a solid start in heat four for his group making a couple of early spots, but in lap six Livingston would head infield with mechanical issues and have to watch on.

Jemmett was strong in this race and would take the maximum points on offer, Josh Livingston second with Mason Whelan of Riverside third.

The second group would roll out and Shearing had a starting position towards the rear of the pack also, he would however work his way through the pack and still bank a solid third place to keep his position at the top of this group, Blair Smith would bank the race win ahead of Duckmanton in second.

The final heat for both groups saw group one roll out and a chance for Danny Livingston to regather some points but Livingston's race finished very promptly when he looked to clip the wall going into turn one he then got fired into the wall at turn two and took a very wild wall ride resulting in his weekend being done and dusted, gutting considering the dominance he showed on the Friday night but I'm sure he will take plenty of positives from his performances.

Once the race restarted Whelan took control up front and despite getting early pressure from both Jemmett and Josh Livingston, Whelan would hold on and take his first win of the event, Livingston banked second with Jemmett third.

The last race for group two saw Shearing again rise to the occasion, another race win which would ensure he would start the Six Shooter Dash from pole position. In this race Shearing was calculated and patient and looking like the man to beat with the twenty five lap feature approaching. Second in this heat was Smart with Hawkins third.

The dash was an attempt to shake up the starting order but again Shearing was too good, ensuring he would take pole for the feature, Livingston second, Hawkins third and McIntosh fourth.

The feature rolled out on track just as the lights came on, and the track was looking very glossy, this would be a great test for these drivers ripping around Powderworx Central Motor Speedway, as the race went green Shearing and Livingston shot out early, Shearing holding a slight advantage early in the race, up until a caution on lap three where Cromwell's Ryan Baker and Auckland's Paul Smith would have a coming together in turn three, both ending up in the wall, both cars would return to the grid but Smith would soon pull out of the race with damage.

This would be the only caution of this feature, once the green flag dropped Shearing bolted, pulling away to a commanding lead over the chasing pack, the only question was did he go too early, would he fade late in the race, simple answer was no, Shearing would tear apart the opposition, lap upon lap and eventually take the feature race win by almost seven seconds in what was a terrific display all weekend. Second would go the way of Smart who looked good in just his second meeting back since a two year break and Hawkins was solid in third place.

Central Otago Saloon Championship

Saloons were racing for the Central Otago Saloon Championship, and a good field of cars were entered for the event. Heat one started in spectacular fashion with Dunedin's Aaron Andrews suffering damage early when Darren McLeod of Riverside looked to miss a gear down the back straight almost coming to a stop before Andrews hit him hard from behind, Andrews bonnet flipping up and over his car, both cars would continue on.

The pace was very fast and Willie Woodhouse of Christchurch was in control up front, being chased hard by Mike Verdoner and Jason Gold both of Cromwell. With three laps to run Verdoner took a big dive into turn three, attacking Woodhouse, but spun up leaving Gold with nowhere to go but directly into Verdoner putting both cars out for the rest of the event with damage.

Woodhouse would go on to win this race from the restart with Ashton Osborne of Christchurch second and Barry Taylor of Cromwell third.

The next heat for Saloons saw Osborne stretch his legs in his new Stealth machine, Osborne raced off to a six second victory over Phil Burgess of Cromwell in second and Andrews in third.

Heat three saw McLeod come unstuck early, in lap one he spun in turn three leaving Taylor a victim, clipping McLeod but puncturing a back tyre putting Taylor out of the race. As the cars re gridded Taylor parked the wrong way on turn three directly in front of McLeod showing his frustrations on what had been a solid day for Taylor in the first two heats. It was great to see some on track theatre play out.

The race would restart and again Osborne would get to the front of the pack and end up banking his second win of the event, Burgess second and Ivan Murdoch of Cromwell third.

That win would give Osborne the Central Otago Championship, second was Murdoch with Woodhouse third.

Youth Ministocks

Youth Ministocks ran for the second night in succession, night one Joshua McIntyre of Cromwell won all three heats and went out in heat one on night two and did exactly the same, Thomas Scott of Cromwell was second in race one with Lucee Scott also of Cromwell third.

McIntyre would take his fifth win of the weekend in race two of the day but this time was made to have to work just a bit harder with Christchurch driver Dylan Johnston getting more confident and faster each time he rolls out on track, McIntyre would win, Johnston second and Lucee Scott third.

The final heat was where McIntyre's winning streak would come to an end, but not without a fight. McIntyre and Johnston put on a fantastic display of driving both testing each other lap upon lap, McIntyre applied a tonne of pressure but Johnston did not falter and would claim his first race win of the event, McIntyre second and Thomas Scott third.

Overall results from the weekend saw McIntyre first, Johnston second and Lucee Scott third.

Six Shooter Rolling Thunder

Sprintcars also ran in support on the Friday night event, a smaller field of cars were entered as a number of cars were running at Ruapuna the following night.

Cromwell's Josh Buchanan was the dominant force in the grade taking all three race wins.

In heat one he beat home Grant Molloy of Riverside in second by eleven seconds, Dean Miller of Cromwell was third.

In heat two Buchanan took another eleven second win over Millar in second this time, and Stockcar driver Steven Thompson of Dunedin third on debut.

Buchanans third race win was a little tougher, this time having to chase down Jason Scott of Cromwell who was running his LS3 Chev trial engine machine, Scott looked as if he might grab a win against the higher horse powered machines but Buchanan snuck by to claim win number three, Scott placed second with Steve Scoles of Cromwell in third.