Driver :Scott Lane
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1st Modified Super Dirt Cup Waikaraka Park
1st Auckland Modifed Champs Waikaraka Park
1st in the King of the Coast Greenstone Speedway Greymouth.
2nd at the Easter Nationals Woodford Glen Christchurch
Unfortunately the last meeting of the season at Waikaraka Park 19th April for the Modifieds was cancelled due to rain.
After having the good run down in the South Island in late March and after a bit of a break we were all looking to the final night to complete the season with a successful night at the Park for the Auckland fans.
The season started a little later for us while the final completion and preparation of the new car was finalized.
It all proved worth waiting for when the new car rolled onto the track, what a great job, it looked great, and has since proved it goes well too!
Although the weather got the better of us on the final night, we feel we have got the better of the valve problem that caused some problems late last season and during the first few meetings this season.
All in all it¡¯s been a great season, complete with the usual ups and downs, but the ups have dominated and we have come through the season with the car in good condition having avoided any roll overs or major bumps.
New Years Eve at Huntly was a great send off to 2007, complete with fireworks, great weather and the new Hi-Q car starting to show its real potential. Especially your win Scotty in the last race. It was a great way to finish the year.
The trip down to Wellington in January for the National Champs was very enjoyable.
Our 7th placing was a good result considering the first race DNF and damage suffered.
Good on you Scotty and the crew for digging in and making the most of the situation.
Spectators certainly had their fair share of action and racing due to the extraordinary time it took to complete the first two races. From start to finish it took approx 35 minutes to complete each of these two races.
It was unfortunate the current 1NZ, 2NZ, and 3NZ all were involved in major incidents and could not complete all three races. Congratulations to hometown hero, driver Tama Arapere for becoming 1NZ this year.
Although Scotty did not bring back any silver from the nationals he certainly made up for it by being the lucky winner of the large 40inch TV in drivers draw on Friday night.
Winning that TV was certainly a turning point, keep watching it Scotty, the season only got better from there, with the wins in the Dirt Cup, Auckland modified Champs, and the successful South Island trip.
Looking to next season it all looks good. Without the big job of building a new car this winter, the crew will be able to spend time quality time on the car doing some fine tuning and improvements which we hope will launch us to a successful start to next season.
To Scotty, Lanie, Big Al, Kerry, Dave, David, Trevor, thanks for a great job done this season, and keeping the Hi-Q Components flag flying fast and the right way up!
South Island Trip Easter week.
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Congratulations to driver Scotty Lane and the crew
For taking out the hat trick
1st in race one, two, & three
Sat 22nd March 2008
Modifieds - Easter Nationals
Woodford Glen Speedway ¨C Christchurch
1st in the Modifieds King of the Coast ¨C
Sat 29th March 2008
Greenstone Speedway
Greymouth
Easter Nationals ¨C Woodford Glen
Following on from an enjoyable trip last year to Woodford Glen and Greenstone
Speedway tracks, the Hi-Q car has recently came back from some successful racing
on these tracks over Easter.
Car owner and driver Scott Lane and pit crew members Big Al and Kerry, set off on Thursday before Good Friday to tow the Hi-Q car down to Christchurch first for the Easter Nationals Meeting at Woodford Glen Speedway Christchurch.
This trip is a bit of a long haul but well worth the effort and great oppportunity to catch up and race against some fellow Modifed drivers and on some different tracks.
The Hi-Q car chassis, new this season was built in Christchurch, by Trevor of Race Works. Trevor last year relocated his race car building business there from Auckland. The visit was a good opportunity to see Trevor and Sarah from Race Works, and
no doubt a chance for Trevor to assess how the car was performing.
Arriving in Christchurch Friday afternoon and racing starting at 7.00pm it was not long for Scott to unwind from the long drive down, before putting his racing gear on and doing the business on the track. Fortunately Scott and the crew have been doing this for some years now, and prepare the car well in advance and make sure
everything is just right. However it is good to know they are human and do run out of gas occasionally. (heard they ran short of getting to Taupo on their LPG tank on the way down.)
The Easter nationals featuring the visiting Modifieds is a two night meeting, with accumulated points over the two nights determining the winner and places.
Speedway tracks always are a challenge to visiting drivers, and Woodford Glen local drivers especially on the first night showed their experience and local knowledge of the track counted.
Friday night consisted of 3 races with a feature race at the end of the night.
Local drivers Glen Leech, Natasha Rodgers, and Mike Gourley each finished within a top three in several races during the night. Glen Leech finishing with top points for the first night. Current 2nz John Jackson visiting from Strafford had a good night wining the first race and came second in the feature race.
The Hi-Q car had a mixed night on Friday, finishing 5th in the feature. Through the nights racing Scotty certainly didn¡¯t hang back in wanting to test the car on the track and the local drivers to the limit, and in the process was unlucky to be involved in a couple of bumps and tangles setting him back in the field on points.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, these experiences together with a few small set up changes, set the Hi-Q car up for an excellent night on Saturday. Any confidence the local drivers may have had from the previous night was quickly blown away, as Scott drove three immaculate races in the Hi-Q car, to win race, one, two and three. The track was working well, and Scotty was able to display his exciting driving style, and move out and get the car working fast and hard leaving the locals with very little options but to follow in his wake.
It was unfortunate that a heavy rain shower mid way through the meeting caused the closure of the track and the end of any more racing. This left the pole shuffle shot out and the Modified feature race not completed.
Officials totaled the points for the races that had been raced over the two nights, and this placed local driver Glen Leech first, and Scotty Lane and John Jackson second equal.
We hope some Christchurch customers were able to take the opportunity to come out to the track and see the car on Saturday at its best, I am sure they would not have been disappointed.
West Coast Speedway King of the Coast
On Saturday 29th March the car went over to compete in the West Coast Speedway King of the Coast meeting at Greenstone Speedway, Greymouth.
On the Friday night prior there had been heavy rain and it was marginal the meeting would run. With the help of a couple of Helicopters in the morning to dry the track off, the meeting was held in the afternoon.
The car visited this track last year at this time but had to withdraw with engine problems after the first race. Scott and the crew were keen to get back there this year and do well.
Do well they did, winning the first and third races and a third place in the second race.
This placed them first place for the meeting and King of the Coast for the Modifieds.
Well done on a successful trip, Scotty, Lanie, Big Al, and kerry.
The season is just about over, there is one more meeting for the Modifieds 19th April at Waikaraka Park, Auckland.
So we wish Scotty and the crew a successful meeting.
Hot on the success of the Modified Super Dirt Cup the Hi-Q car
driven by Scott Lane won the Auckland Modified Championship in front of a huge crowd at the Waikaraka Family Speedway.
It was a big weekend for the club which was hosting the Super Stock Teams Nationals qualifying and the Auckland Ministock Championship on Friday night and the Auckland Modified Champs, and the Super Stock Team
National run-offs on Saturday night.
Both nights turned out turned out a great display of cars and racing. The weather couldn¡¯t have been better.
On Friday night Bradley Lane, son of Scott lane, competed in the Ministock Championship and showed he is learning the craft well by wining one of his group races and finishing forth in the main feature Auckland Championship race. This was a great result for Bradley, placing him the first Auckland car and amongst some good company of talented Ministock drivers from around the country.
The Auckland Modified Championship consisted of three, 15 lap races
with the winner being the one with the most points from the three races.
The new Hi-Q car has been showing some great pace and setting some very fast lap times this year but has been plagued with a problem of bending valves.
The Hi-Q car arrived to the track beautifully prepared as usual. The crew had repaired the valve damage that had occurred late in the feature race of the
Modified Super Dirt Cup.
It was not long before the full line up of 12 Modifeds competing, lined up
for the first race. Amongst the ¡®winged warriors¡¯ competing for the title were
local hero Jamie Fox, and 3NZ Paul Blakeley. Jamie Fox was looking
for a good night following some recent disappointing results due to damage and mechanical problems.
Race One
The Hi-Q car started second row on the grid, and was off to a flying start, and it was not long before Scott took the lead and stretched the lead out.
The engine and the car setup performed perfectly and Scott was able to drive the car to its full potential, displaying his well known driving style using both the inside and outside of the track as required to hold the lead and win race one.
Race Two
The Hi-Q car started middle on the grid and the race ran with out incident and Scott manage to get in the groove and masterfully work his way to the front, take the lead, and stretch it out for back to back
wins.
Race Three
Starting further back again on the grid , the Hi-Q car had some work to do in this race to keep out of trouble and to gain as many places as possible to hold its excellent position so far in points. It seemed too good to be true that we would have three clean races without major incident and it proved true.
This 15 lapper was a heart stopper, as the competition intensified the cars were driven to the limit inches from each other. There were numerous close calls and nudges. The most serious took out two cars on the Grandstand straight, Scott in the Hi-Q car only just missed getting caught up in the aftermath.
This race was a challenge for all the drivers to hold concentration and get into rhythm with all the starts and stops from Yellow flags. Scott showed great patience and managed to take the opportunities as they presented themselves to work his way up to third place and to hold position after losing some handling of car due to steering damage from an earlier incident.
The third place in race three combined with the two previous wins in race one and two to give the Hi-Q car 1st place and the Auckland Championship. Congratulations to Scott and the Crew for a great result.
Saturday 9th February
A large field of Modifieds competed for the Modified Super Dirt Cup last Saturday at Waikaraka Park Auckland.
The cup consists of three races, the first two races determine the top six cars to shoot out for the top six grid positions for the feature 25 lap final third race.
After setting the fastest lap time during race one the Hi-Q car had to retire after damaging the front suspension.
In the second race the Hi-Q car showed great pace again, this time finishing second place.
Thanks to the crew who worked frantically to weld and repair the damage to get the car back on the track.
In the 25 lap feature race in which the winner takes all, driver Scott Lane in the
Hi-Q car started 8th position on the grid after missing out on the top six shoot out because of not finishing the first race.
This proved
no handicap for Scott, who quickly worked his to the front and took an impressive lead over the following cars.
It was not long before
the Hi-Q car was lapping the rear of the field. This provided some anxious moments as Scott carefully weaved his way through. Just as Scott was putting some distance on these cars the pace of the Hi-Q car seemed to ease, giving the chasing cars opportunity
to catch up.
In second place the Dixon Transport car driven by Mark Dixon made impressive gains on the Hi-Q car as the last eight laps unfolded.
Scotty Lane supporters had their hearts in their mouths during the last few laps, as Scott battled to get the most out of the fading engine (a bent valve problem). Dixon threatened to pass the Hi-Q car as the two cars rounded the last bend before the finishing straight, we leapt to our feet with anticipation and then great excitement as Scott held the lead to take the chequered flag.
Congratulations to Scott and the team for a great win, well done.
Thanks also to
Trevor from Race Works for coming up from Christchurch to assist also.
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 Driver Scott Lane with the Dirt Cup and daughter Samantha |
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 Drying the track at Greenstone Speedway |
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Car Photos available from
www.speedwaynz.com