Two new records set at Ruapuna speedway

Press, 23 February 1987, Page 9

Two new records set at Ruapuna speedway

The visiting Auckland sprintcar driver, Lyndon Kendall, was the star of Saturday evening’s meeting at Ruapuna Park speedway, when he set two new track records and equalled another to win the Invitation Series raced over four heats.

Kendall, who has recently returned from racing successfully in Australia, had too much style and speed for the remainder of the field. Relegation in two races prevented him from winning all four. From the opening heat Kendall showed that he was the driver to beat as he put his yellow V 8 powered machine into the lead on the opening lap. As he was opening up a handy lead on the opening laps, a great race developed between Foxton’s Warren Anderson, driving his newly acquired sprintcar, and the local driver, Mike Allan. On the fourth lap, after the two machines had raced nose to tail, Allan finally got passed down the Pit straight. Anderson lived up to the nick name, "Wildman” and tried to pass Allan in the Town bend. Both cars spun as they were about to enter the front straight. Anderson was excluded for barging and Auckland’s Barry Butterworth filled third place behind Kendall and Allan with the position remaining the same until the chequered flag. Kendall’s winning time of 93.2 seconds bettered the existing record by 3.2 seconds. The second race followed a similar pattern with Anderson and Kendall battling for the first seven laps. By backing his car hard into the corners, Anderson just managed to keep Kendall out as he tried inside passing movements on each lap. On the seventh lap, as

Kendall and Anderson raced side by side into the Prison bend, Kendall knocked Anderson off line to allow himself enough room to take the lead. This action brought Kendall his first relegation of the meeting. Anderson was awarded the race in a new record time for ten laps with Kendall second and Allan third.

Kendall was an easy winner in the third race and equalled the lap record on the penultimate lap, with Allan second and the current New Zealand champion, Bruce Hobbs, third. Hobbs missed the first two races as he and his crew spent time rebuilding his Gambler machine. In the final race, which was delayed 30 minutes due to an electrical fault, Kendall won but was relegated a place after he was judged to have gained the lead by racing inside the poleline. Allan was awarded first place with Kendall second and Hobbs third.

This left Kendall a clear winner of the series with 28 points, Allan was second on 23 and Butterworth, Hobbs and Alan Palmer tied for third place with 10 points each.

With the South Island three-quarter midget title to be decided on Wednesday evening there was some close racing in this section. Dick Webb, Bob Leask, Geoff Stone and Chris Beach all had good results. Graeme Fineran was in fine form and was unlucky not to win the opening event after a great passing movement on Mark Williams on the final lap. .His machine slowed right on the finishing line, dropping him back to third place. Results: — Sprint cars.— Race 1: L.

Kendall (Auckland) 1, M. Allan 2, B. Butterworth (Auckland) 3. Time: 93.2 s (six-lap record). Race 2: W. Anderson (Wellington) 1, Kendall 2, Allan 3. Time: 103.5 (10-lap record). Race 3: Kendall 1, Allan 2, B. Hobbs 3. Time: 77.0. Race 4: Allan 1, Kendall 2, Hobbs 3. Limited sprintcars.— Canterbury championships, heat 1: W. Pierson 1,1. Stack 2, C. Creedon 3. No time. Heat 2: D. Leversedge 1, W. Dodge 2, Stack 3. Time: 126.2.

Midget cars.— Handicap race 1: M. Williams 1, G. Roxburgh 2, G. Fineran 3. Time: 106.8. Handicap race 2: S. Everett 1, Fineran 2, Williams 3. Time: 107.1. Feature: Fineran 1, Everett 2, B. Denson 3. Time: 104.5.

Three-quarter midgets.— Handicap race 1: G. Stone 1, C. Beach 2, B. Leask 3. Handicap race 2: D. Webb 1, Leask 2, Stone 3. Time: 131.2. Feature: Webb 1, S. Duff 2, Beach 3. Time: 53.8.

Solos.— Heat 1: T. Chapman 1, M. Hollows 2, J. Mauger 3. Time: 53.8. Heat 2: J. Monk 1, A. Fisher 2, M. Jamieson 3. Time: 54.8. Heat 3: B. Stockton 1, S. Morice 2, B. Ritchie 3. Time: 52.9. Heat 4: Fisher 1, B. Wright 2, Jamieson 3. Time: 55.5. Heat 5: Chapman 1, Stockton 2, Morice 3. Time: 55.2. Heat 6: Hollows 1, Wright 2, W. Madden 3. Time: 55.2.

Semi-finals, race I.— Chapman 1, Ritchie 2, Fisher 3. Time: 73.5. Race 2: Hollows 1, Stockton 2, Monk 3. Time: 73.4. Final: Hollows 1, Chapman 2, Stockton 3. Time: 74.4. Sidecars.— Handicap race: T. Gough and S. Barry 1, W. Turner and L. McMahon 2, P. Quinn and S. Egan 3. Time: 82.5. Feature: Turner and McMahon 1, Gough and Barry 2, A. Solly and A. Simpson 3. Time: 76.2.