Pukekohe’s Flying Farewell continues to give the iconic 60-year-old circuit the send off it deserves following a blockbuster day of action on Saturday.
In all, a Super Trucks Scrub Session, four qualifying runs and 14 races filled the schedule for the action-rich day which lived up to its hype.
The Mazda Racing Series were the first class to take to the track for a competitive run. Rex Edwards continued his fine championship form to take pole over Leo Bult, Simon Baker and brother Terry Edwards respectively.
Come race time that afternoon, however, it was Bult who emerged victorious with a last lap pass at the hairpin on the Tauranga Automotives racer.
The age-old Ford vs Holden rivalry has been reignited at Pukekohe this weekend with the NZ V8 Utes qualifying in the morning and racing once in the afternoon.
Glenn Collinson has emerged as the man to beat this far, topping Jake Stoneman, Simon Ussher and Greg Kroeff in qualifying.
He continued his fine form come race time to get the better of Stoneman by .311 seconds. Ussher rounded out the podium place to replicate the qualifying top three whilst Phill Ross moved forward for fourth.
The Super V8s have been a spectacle to watch with all four classes showing great pace. It was V8 Open competitors Timothy Edgell and Kerry Jones who locked out the front row ahead of the immaculate Dodge Viper Tranzam driven by Robert Berggren.
You couldn’t have scripted what happened in that afternoon’s race as Jones and Edgell ran clear, the latter taking the lead early in the race.
It wasn’t to be for either of them in-fact, first Jones having mechanical issues from the lead before Edgell suffered a similar fate some laps later.
All of a sudden it was Berggren leading with Grant Brennan’s Corvette hot on his tail until the last lap board was shown. Amazingly, Brennan suffered a similar fate as Jones and Edgell and was forced out from second place with just corners to run.
This elevated Tony Anderson to second overall, and top V8 Open, and Nick Ross to third.
Two Daytona Prototypes are gracing the Colin Waite Open GT class this weekend with the Crawford Porsche of Glenn Smith getting the better of Adam Newell’s Crawford Ford in qualifying.
Mechanical issues forced the all-time lap record holder to the lane in the race however, Newell instead showing his Crawford is not to be outdone for a commanding victory over Simon Evans (McLaren 570s GT4) and Tony Austin (Porsche GT3 Cup).
The Honda Cup, Production Race Series, Pre 65s/Super Minis and Napa Central Muscle Cars were all kept busy with two races apiece.
It was Dughall Aitken (VW Golf R32) who won the first Production Race Series event of the day with a handicap start bringing the field extremely close together. Treva Smith (BMW M3) finished second and Dave Taylor (Triumph Tr7-V8) finished third.
Whilst Josh Smith (Subaru WRX) worked through the field for fourth in that race, he was able to make it into the front in Production Race Series’ final ever run at Pukekohe, topping Aitken and Smith in a thrilling final lap.
Raymond Mallin was the first of the Honda Cup competitors across the line in their opening race, narrowly getting the better of Jamie Wiggins and Chris Hughes.
A Handicap start for Race 2 saw Matt Dallimore hold on for victory in Race 2 over Chris Hughes and Steve Hughes.
The Pre65s and Super Minis have brought a touch of historic racing to the meet with the incredibly quick Chevrolet Nova of Wayne Davis winning the opening race over Corey Ross (Ford Mustang) and Jack Packer (Jaguar Mk1).
They too utilised a handicap start for Race 2 which saw Grant Crosby work through the field in his mighty Ford Thunderbird. Gil Russell was second (Holden EJ) and Brandon Weld (Ford Anglia) rounded out the podium.
It wouldn’t have been a proper Pukekohe send off without Central Muscle Cars stalwart Angus Fogg taking a win, and he did just that in his Race 1 lights-to-flag victory. Shane Wigstone was second across the line and Andy Knight third.
Race 2’s handicap start created a spectacle of an affair with the field all line-astern come mid-race. This allowed the 1B competitors a shot at success with Bruce Kett producing the goods to bring home the win. Mark Holland was not far behind in second ahead of Kayton Coughy.
Finally, Super Trucks made their much anticipated return to Pukekohe and they didn’t disappoint with 11 rigs roaring into action.
Brent Collins was the winner of the opening race to take the flag ahead of Shane Gray and David West. Alex Little’s grab on the championship did slip slightly with a DNF but he was able to return to the track for Race 2.
Only 3 laps were completed in the final race of the day, being the second Super Trucks run. Heading three-wide into Turn 1 in Super Trucks was never going to end well with a damaged barrier, slick track and a lengthy delay the result.
Proceedings did resume albeit it briefly with further drama down the back straight bringing out a second red flag with the race unable to resume due to the condition of the track.
The good news is that they’ll compete twice more tomorrow, including in the final ever race at Pukekohe Park Raceway.
It’s evident that Day 2 was a busy day on track, and there’s plenty more to come on Sunday at Pukekohe’s Flying Farewell.
