Autumn Nationals - Meanee Speedway - Napier

The 72p Superstoc travelled to Napier for the annual running of the Superstock Autumn Nationals. Everything was going to plan after the first two qualifying heats as Simon finished top on points. This meant the 72p Fletcher Easysteel car had the luxury of starting the Top 10 Shootout last. The track conditions suited the car perfectly as Simon claimed the fastest time to start the 20 lap Feature race on pole

The Feature race was a cracker. Simon was slow to get away off the start which allowed 16b Steve Jude to jump into the lead. The 72p car battled hard with 16b for the majority of the race, frantically searching for a way past. With just 6 laps remaining Simon finally found away past and snuck into the lead. It was to be short lived however. With only 4 laps to go Simon began to slow with a flat LR tyre. 16b Jude regained the lead and went on the win, while the 72p car was pipped on the last lap by 16r Mark Osbourne for 2nd place. Overall it was a great nights racing for the team.

Placemakers Series - Grand Final - Palmerston North

Both Simon and Adam travelled down to Robertson Holden International Speedway for the Final round of the Placemakers Superstock Series. Simon was sitting in 3rd place in the series, while Adam was back in 6th. The 72p car was in striking distance of snatching the overall win, but he would need a lot of help along the way. It was also going to be an interesting night as both cars were running new Goodyear trial tyres on the rear. The weather caused havoc early on in the night with rain putting a damper on proceedings.

With a full field of 36 Superstocks, there was always going to be a fair amount of carnage. This was increased in the first race by the falling rain, making the track extremely wet and slippery. Simon struggled with the wet conditions and finished well back in heat one. Adam, again driving the 32p Graeme Barr car, managed to survive the majority of the race. Just as he looked safe to secure a top 10 finish, the LF wheel detached heading down the grandstand straight, causing his first DNF in 12 races

After a front axle change for Adam, and a number of setup changes for the 72p car, the weather finally cleared for heat two. Simon looked strong in the drying track conditions until he came across Championship leader, and rival 39s Michael Willemson. The 39s car made a tactical spin on Simon, causing him to loose valuable places and drop back to 12th. Adam started the race from the very rear of the field, slowly moving forward lap after lap. The 32p car made immense for the first heat DNF by finishing just in front of Simon in 11th place.

Adam started heat three from grid 2, while Simon was back on grid 10. The 32p car cleared away at the start and jumped out to a healthy lead. Simon wasn't so fortunate as he got caught up with a number of tangling cars. The 72p car was sent flying across the infield and back onto the the track, only to be collected by a number of oncoming cars. Unfortunately Simon was unable to refire the car, and watched the rest of the race from the the infield. Adam was also in the thick of things at the front. He punted and spun 39s Willemson in turn 1, before being pushed wide by 58p Peter Bengston with only 3 laps remaining. 58p Bengston and 95p Darren Gray snuck though the inside which dropped the 32p car back to a 3rd place finish.

Simon ended the series in 3rd, while Adam slipped back to 8th. The final 20 lap Grand Slam race was also action packed. Simon made immense for a disappointing night by leading the race from start to finished. Adam also looked strong and jumped up to 3rd after lap one. However it all turned pear shaped when 58p Bengston climbed over the top of the 32p car while exiting turn 2. Bengston was launched onto his side and into a spectacular roll, while Adam was sent spinning towards the infield. He managed to refire the car and continued on. It was to all come to an end a few laps later though as the 32p car suffered a flat RR tyre while passing the 37b car of Gary Foley. Adam again retired to the infield for the 2nd time of the night.

End of Season Function

The Eltham Fire Station hosted Joblin Motorsport's End of Season function on Saturday night. The evening was just a small token of the teams appreciation to all those that had given up their time to help and support us throughout the season. We were fortunate enough to have a very special guest speaker in the form of national speedway identity Barry Brown, who, accompanied by his partner Carey, flew down from Auckland to help us celebrate a successful year. Barry gave us a great insight into his action filled life of speedway. The night was MC'ed by the one and only Trevor 'Gordon Ramsey' Dent, who had many a story to tell about certain members and crew. Many thanks to Colleen and Karen Dent for the beautiful dinner they prepared, and to all that attended the evening, especially those that travelled long distances.

End of Season Review

It’s definitely been a season of ups and downs for the Joblin Motorsport team. We’ve had wins, losses, flat tyres, engines failures, huge rollovers, more flat tyres and more engine failures.

For Scott, it’s been a season of two halves to say the least. It’s quite easy to sum up his season. If he managed to keep air in all four tyres and not blow up the engine, then he would pretty much win every time.

Obviously the highlight of Scott’s season was winning the two World titles in consecutive weekends. With the help of a few Palmerston North cars, he managed to survive a brutal final heat at Rotorua to win the World 240s. It was an incredible feat considering he finished dead last in the 2nd heat, and was only 7th on points heading into the final. He also made hard work of winning the Global Challenge a week later in Palmerston North. After winning the opening heat, he again finished well down in heat 2, only to sweep the field and win the final heat, and the championship.

Simon also had a pretty up and down season. The new car was immediately on the pace when it debuted at Napier early on in the season. He was in the running to win the North Island Champs before he ended up barrel rolling down the start/finish straight in the final heat. Ironically, after almost 10 seasons of racing, it was the first time ever Simon had ever been upside down!

A major highlight of the season was both Simon and Scott representing the Manawatu Mustangs at this years Superstock Teams Champs. Although they were a little disappointed not to have qualified for the main finals, they silenced a few critics by helping the team come home 3rd overall, and teaching a few seasoned campaigners a thing or two along the way. Just ask Kerry Remnant how hard they can hit!!!

There were high hopes of bringing home some silverware at the NZ Champs in Kihikihi, however you could say this is where it all started to go downhill for the team. Simon was lucky to even make it through to the finals after an ignition issue caused him to miss the last qualifying race. Initially he failed to qualify, but was able to take the place of 87r Pat Westbury, who withdrew after his rear axle snapped in half.

After just three laps in heat 1, both the chances of Scott and Simon grabbing a podium finish were cut short by flat tyres. The night didn’t get any better for Simon, who failed to finish two of the heats. Scott again fought back after the opening race dramas and managed to finished 4th equal overall.

From then on, nothing seemed to go right for both cars. If it wasn’t mechanical issues causing problems, it was flat tyres. Scott’s season came to an abrupt and costly end at Wellington, when he blew a hole in the bottom of the engine. Simon was pretty consistent throughout the latter part of the season, although the odd flat tyre and mechanical issue hindered the outcome of many results.

There are a number of people and sponsors we would personally like to thank for all of their help and support during the 2009/10 season. Without the following people and companies we wouldn't be able to race week in week out like we do.

Many thanks to our Sponsors:

Hotter Engineering

Fletcher Easysteel

Dennis Brown Transport

Stratford Automotive Centre

Keith Gill Motorsport

Lloyd Gernhoefer Agricultural Contractor

Decus Industrial and Domestic Painters

Pipes NZ Ltd

Allied Petroleum

Norlings

ASD Custom Graphics

Monster Promotions

Also special thanks to the following:

Bruce and Puk - Roberston Holden International Speedway

Drivers, Crew and Management - 2010 Manawatu Mustangs Superstock Team

Keith Stewart - Engine Dyno

Ron, Selwyn and the team - Motor Preparations Ltd - Otarahonga

Graeme and Sallie Barr - Superstock 32p

All of the crew for both 52p and 72p

The fans for all of your generous support

Stay tuned for further updates throughout the offseason with regards to Scott's trip to compete in the Brisca F1 World Final in the UK