 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
26/01/2010 Joblin Motorsport – Website Update
Two in a row for Scott
It has been an exciting two weeks here in the Joblin Motorsport camp. After being disposed of in the final heat of the North Islands, the tables were turned for both the World 240s in Rotorua and the Global Challenge in Palmerston North.
World 240 Superstock Championships – Paradise Valley Speedway – Rotorua
Qualifying
72p Simon Joblin had a reasonably clean run through qualifying to finished top equal on points for his group with Rotorua stalwart 515r Stan Hickey. A race win and a couple of top 4 finishes easily secured his place in the top 26 finals.
52p Scott Joblin however, made tough work of qualifying. In both the 1st and 2nd heats, the 52p Hotter Engineering car was caught up in trouble on the opening laps, dropping to the very back of the pack both times. Luckily he was able to claw his way back to at least score a handful of points. A change in fortune for heat three saw Scott blitz the field, claiming his 1st race win for the weekend. A DNF to certain qualifier 18n Shane Harwood in the final heat, saw Scott sneak into the top 6 by the skin of his teeth.
Finals
After a Saturday wash out, Sunday was to be D-Day for both Joblin Motorsport Superstocks. The omens of qualifying seemed to be following Scott into the 1st finals heat, as he was caught up in an opening lap skirmish, which resulted in a flat left-rear tyre. The 52p Ford powered Gill chassis was still able to circulate, but was still just under 2 seconds a lap slower than the leader. In the end Scott was able to bring the 52p car home in 19th spot, from a mid-field start.
Simon, on the other hand, continued his good from qualifying. The 72p Superstock powered its way from the rear of the pack to finish in 4th, just behind 46 Joe Faram.
Oh how the fortunes changed for heat two. After both Joblin Motorsport Superstocks started near the front, it was to be a certain orange tank in the form of 85h Jared Wade that would inevitably effect the whole outcome of the meeting. After Wade was spun early, he went into attack mode, and in his sights were set on both 52p and 72p. Scott managed to escape a few attempts from 85h Wade before he turned his attention to Simon. The 72p Fletcher Easysteel car however wasn’t so lucky. He did manage to keep Wade at bey for a number of laps, but in the end it was a wall crunching hit in turn 1 that ended Simon’s race, and ultimately his weekend.
While all the focus had turned to the battle between 72p and 85h, Scott had pushed his way to the front and took a convincing heat win. With only 11 finishers in heat two, Scott was still in with a slim chance at a podium finish, and sat in 7th position on points, 8 behind the joint leaders 84gb Tom Harris and 4b Joe Faram.
Simon sat the final race out as he recovered from his walling from the 85h Tank, who ironically was also parked in the pits after being excluded from the rest of the meeting by the race referees.
The final heat race was a torrid affair, with cars going in all sorts of directions. Scott started from way back on grid 23 and had a huge task ahead of him if he was to make inroads on achieving a podium finish. After 10p Peter Rees was eliminated early on by 135r Scott Hewson, the next best Palmy hope was Scott. 58p Peter Bengston and 591p Wayne Hemi showed again why they are champion teams racers, as they destroyed all the major title threats in what was an awesome display of hard hitting. As the major title contenders fell by the weigh side, Scott had sped through the field into 2nd place. Scott patiently waited until the last corner before pushing his way past the leader 23h Lance Ashton to take the heat win, and ultimately the 2010 World 240 Superstock Championship by just 2 points.
It was a big win for Scott, who emulated his brother Simon’s win in the same championship a few years earlier. After a horrid first heat, luck of the draw finally went in the way of the 52p Hotter Engineering car. He later received his official invitation the race at the Brisca World F1 Final in Coventry, England, and if accepted, will become the third Joblin to have a crack at the all-elusive World F1 title.
248 Global Challenge – Robertson Holden International Speedway – Palmerston North
Only one Joblin Motorsport Superstock made the trip to Palmerston North for the second International event in as many weeks. The 2010 248 Global Challenge was the next event on the race schedule. Simon still wasn’t quite 100% from Rotorua the week before, and decided to take a rest before two massive weeks ahead of him. A depleted field of 35 Superstocks from the original entries assembled to do battle at Arena Manawatu.
Qualifying was scrapped due to the lack of numbers and the racers went straight into the three finals heats. Scott started the 1st heat on grid 9 and got away to a comfortable start. After a few red light stoppages, the 52p car quietly slipped past the front-runners and into the lead. As the dusty track got slicker and slicker, Scott managed to pull away and take a comfortable race win, continuing on from his previous success.
The same wasn’t to be said for the second heat. From the rear of the grid, the 52p Hotter Engineering Superstock was caught up in an opening lap mishap. 23v Scott Duncan was spun at the front of the pack and left rolling backwards towards the wall, unfortunately the two Scotts got hooked up in the turn two wall. The 52p car was able to get free, but lost over half a lap on the pack. As the laps wound down, Scott circulated well, picking off a number of cars. As he crossed the finish line he was able to clinch 10th spot from 31b Andy McCabe.
Heading into the final, Scott was 3rd equal on points with 7p Shane Penn, with 1nz Malcolm Ngatai and 559gb Craig Finnikin leading on points. The 52p Superstock started from grid 12 and had a lot of work to do to catch both 7p Penn and 1nz Ngatai who started off the front. Ngatai was spun in the 1st turn, which allowed Scott to take a tight line on the inside. After just two turns Scott was up to 3rd place, and began chasing down 7p Penn at the front. The 52p machine hauled in the “Blue Bullet” before Penn slammed hard into the turn 3 wall in what looked like a throttle-jamming problem. Scott inherited the lead and never looked back, pulling away from 591p Wayne Hemi lap by lap.
It was a fantastic ending to an unbelievable past two weeks for Scott. Two major titles in two weeks! As the team prepare for what will be a massive two weeks, both Simon and Scott know they will be marked men with extremely large targets on their backs. But as they say ‘that’s superstock racing’, and you can’t predict the unpredictable.
A huge thanks to all of the loyal Joblin Motorsport supporters out there. We hope you have thoroughly enjoyed the racing so far and look forward to seeing you all at the New Zealand Champs in Kihikihi, and the Teams Champs in Palmerston North. There will be free posters available as of this week, so come down to the driver signing session at Kihikihi and meet the team.
15/01/2010 Joblin Motorsport – Website Update
Welcome to the new and improved Joblin Motorsport website. It has been a busy and hectic off-season here in the workshop for both drivers and crew alike.
Simon’s old Kuriger car was sold and has been replaced by a brand new Keith Gill Motorsports chassis, identical to the 52p car. It is still powered by the same Toyota V8 that has brought Simon so much success.
Scott and the 52p Superstock had a pretty quiet off-season, with only engine delays holding up proceedings. The big Ford V8 had a complete overhaul after last years engine dramas
The Joblin Motorsport Team will be travelling in style this season thanks to Dennis Brown Transport and the team at Hotter Engineering. The Isuzu transporter has been modified to carry both cars and a wide range of spares, and looks sharp with its sign written backdoors.
This year we welcome on board Allied Petroleum and ASD Custom Graphics to the Joblin Motorsport team. Andrew at ASD has provided us with some awesome looking racecar artwork, which can be found on both the transporter and the 2009/10-season merchandise. We would also like to thank our existing sponsors, whose generous support each season allows the Joblin Motorsport Team to be such a formidable force in New Zealand Superstock racing scene.
The Season So Far
It was the worst possible start for Scott and the 52p Superstock. After completing only 5 short-lived laps around the Stratford oval, the Ford V8 power plant let go once again. The engine was immediately stripped down and sent back up to Ron at Motor Preparations in Otorahonga.
The brand new 72p Superstock made its debut at the Hawkes Bay Superstock Champs in Napier, and was immediately on the pace. After a dubious 1st race exclusion for failing to stop immediately on a red light, Simon made good use of the bumper in the 2nd heat to come through the field from the rear to finish 5th. Simon started the 1 race final from near the back of the grid after the heat 1 DQ. Some slick driving and a well set up car saw Simon fly through the field into 2nd place behind 7p Shane Penn. After narrowing the gap to just a single car length, Simon began to back the car off after his oil temperature became alarmingly high. 7p Penn went on the win ahead of Simon in 2nd and 7b Shane Mellsop in 3rd. It was a very pleasing result for Simon and the team considering they had only fully finished the car earlier that morning.
The next meeting on the calendar was Boxing night at Palmerston North. Both cars were scheduled to race, but after a few late dramas at the dyno, only the 72p car arrived at Robertson Holden Speedway on the back of the transporter. In the 1st race Simon led all the way to take his maiden victory in the new car. The 52p Superstock arrived at the track soon after and was immediately scrutineered for racing, although they were unable to fix the miss-firing issues found at the dyno. Both cars showed were right on the pace and came home for a well earned 3rd and 4th placing in race 2. In the feature race, the 72p car got into trouble early and dropped a lap after being caught behind a parked car. Scott however, powered his way through the field and began bearing down on 10p Peter Rees, who at one stage held a comfortable lead. As the white flag came out for 10p Rees, Scott was within a single car length. Heading into the final two turns, the 52p Superstock had a big lunge at Rees for the lead, but wasn’t quite able to make it stick and had to settle for 2nd place.
The Taranaki Superstock Champs in Stratford was the next meeting on schedule. Both cars set an electrifying pace all night and headed into the final race 1st (72p) and 3rd (52p) on points. However, the locals weren’t going to let the title slip through their hands, and moved into attack mode for the final heat. Scott managed to survive the onslaught and brought the 52p Superstock home mid-field, which was enough to claim 2nd place overall. Simon on the other hand wasn’t quite so lucky. After taking blow after blow, he finally got his revenge in the form of 22s Brent Pascoe. The 72p Superstock launched into Pascoe at the end of the straight, sending the 22s car in to a wild spin. The share force of the hit loosened an oil line on Simon’s car, causing a small fire. Unfortunately the 72p car came half a lap short of claiming the title.
The 1st major championship of the year, the North Island Superstock Champs, was held at Napier’s Meeanee Speedway. Qualifying night couldn’t have gone any better, as both cars finished top of their group. The new 72p Keith Gill machine repeated the previous form shown at Meeanee with a 4th and two 2nd place finishes. Scott in the 52p Hotter Engineering car put on a dominant display and finished the night with a 2nd and two wins.
Finals night was almost as spectacular. Simon convincingly won the 1st heat from a grid 9 start, after chasing down 31p Andy McCabe for the lead. Scott, after getting caught up in the wall during the opening laps, fought back to finish 7th from a grid 12 start. It was the 52p Superstock that showed some domination in the 2nd heat. From the very back row, Scott clawed his way through a star-studded field to finish 3rd behind 10p Peter Rees and 4b Joe Faram. Simon on the other hand finished down the field in 12th after fellow club mate 31p Andy McCabe (who was a lap down) spun Simon heading into turns 3 and 4. After a quick tally up of points, Scott was in the box seat lying 3rd on points with a grid 4 start. Simon was also not out of contention sitting in 6th position, but with a mid-field start. But it all turned pear shaped in the final heat. First to go was the 72p car. Simon was squeezed wide heading onto the start/finish straight in a 3-car battle. After momentarily riding the wall, the 72p Fletcher Easysteel machine cartwheeled in astonishing fashion down the front straight, landing heavily on its roof. Simon walked away, but the car was not quite as lucky. Soon after the restart Scott was in the thick of the action, challenging 591p Wayne Hemi for the lead. That was until 16b Steve Jude had a pop shot at the 52p car exiting turn 4. Scott jumped on the clutch sent 16b Jude heavily into the wall and onto his lid. Unfortunately the 52p car was stuck under the stranded Jude car, and after stalling it while searching for reverse, it was unable to be re-fired.
It was a disappointing end to a weekend that started with such promise. Although the team didn’t quite come away with a desired result, both drivers stamped their mark on an action packed event, and are undoubtedly a force to be to be reckoned with in upcoming events. Huge thanks must go to SJ, Steve, and the team at Suvic Engineering for the use of their workshop and general assistance throughout the weekend. Its people like these that make Speedway such an enjoyable sport to be involved in.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||