Brad Neiman showed no signs of winter blues as his driving clinic helped himself and team-mate George Watson to victory in the youth ministock pairs on Saturday night.
The opening night was rained off a fortnight ago, and showers around 5pm had organisers fearful that racing could have been delayed for a further two weeks. Thankfully the rain stayed away as the drivers produced plenty of excitement for the Tahuna Holiday Park Speedway crowd.
The main event of the night was the youth ministock pairs and no one showed more driving nous than the young 17n driver. Brad finished on the podium three times in as many races, finishing first place in the final race of the night. His racing partner George was consistent throughout the evening finishing fifth, eighth and ninth place, as the two accumulated more points than any other pair.
Keightly Teece and Roydon Winstanley were the other ministock drivers to raise the chequered flag on the night.
Club president Kris Carpenter was thrilled with the huge numbers in this particular class as it feeds through into other areas when the drivers turn 17 years old. “We’ve had the youth ministocks in for quite awhile now but it’s just now that we’re starting to see them feed through to the other classes. It’s taken awhile to get them hooked but now the 12 year olds are staying in it until they’re 17 and then moving into another class.”
The Coca Cola Fireworks Night was concluded by the announcement of a predictable Nelson Tigers line-up for its Challenge Cup clash with the Palmerston North Panthers in two week’s time. Shane and Carey Harwood, Blair Cunningham, Jared Gray and Ian Clayworth will all don the tiger shell for the event. The Challenge Cup occurs biannually and it is currently held by the Panthers, says Kris.
