01/12/2025
This past weekend we travelled to Wellington Speedway for the annual Tama Memorial meeting—an event we look forward to every year. The hospitality is always outstanding, and the calibre of drivers never fails to impress. This year was no exception, with a quality field of 21 competitors making the trip to the capital to honour Tama and to fine-tune their setups ahead of the New Zealand Championships, now only a month away. The format saw us split into two groups for a pair of points-gathering heats, with the feature grid determined by points.
Heat 1: We drew grid 7 for the opening heat. The track looked a touch rough but very fast, and that assessment proved accurate. Unfortunately, we encountered brake issues early in the race, so the focus quickly shifted to simply bringing the car home. A vibration also developed during the second half of the heat, adding to our concerns.
Heat 2: With the reverse-grid format, we started off grid 4—an advantageous position. Despite the ongoing brake limitations, the aim was again to finish. The vibration, however, had other plans. We launched well, getting the jump on the 47GM to move into third and immediately began challenging for second. Toward the end of the race, the 3NZ slipped underneath, and while drag-racing him the engine began to sputter and backfire intermittently. With two laps remaining, we made the decision to retire to the infield.
Given that neither the brake issues nor the vibration could be resolved at the track, we withdrew for the night. Despite the challenges, we took away valuable information and were pleased with the car’s feel as we edge closer to the New Zealand Championships.
A huge thank-you to our generous sponsors—your support makes weekends like this possible. We encourage everyone to support the businesses that support speedway:
Herb Morgan Tyres Auckland
Racer Products
A1 Automotive
Absolute panel and paint 2010
Powderworks Onehunga
Lindsay Building services
Our next scheduled meeting is at Stratford on the 13th of December for the Taranaki Chaos & Ginge Memorial. We’re hopeful we can iron out the engine gremlins before then and put in a strong final run ahead of the NZ Champs
📸: Tyler Hill Photography
