The stars of tomorrow
Wanganui Youth Ministock racers and WHS students Jemma Barnes and Trazarn Ryland-Annabell (former student), at the Christmas market with their cars, promoting the Oceanview 5000.
Supercheap Auto Oceanview Family Speedway takes a break over the Christmas holidays. But when racing resumes on Friday and Saturday, January 13 and 14, the speedway stars of tomorrow will be on display.
To celebrate Wanganui’s place as the Home of the Ministock, the Oceanview 5000 will see up to 100 young racers ply their trade at Oceanview Family Speedway.
In the early 1990’s Darryl Taylor was worried about falling competitor numbers at Oceanview. He decided there needed to be a low-cost, easy-to-build car, and the idea of a scaled-down Stockcar appealed.
He looked at possible donor cars (being a Wrecker helped!) and worked out that a Datsun or Toyota would be ideal, plentiful and cheap. They also had a simple design and enough power. Plans were drawn up on the basis that the car should be easy enough for someone to build in their shed. The engine and running gear was laid out on the workshop floor, and by trial and error a proportional design was created over many hours and a few refreshments.
The first cars cost Darryl around $800 to build, and he now says “I never expected them to take off like they did”.
Take off they did indeed. The Youth Ministocks class is now one of the most populated in New Zealand speedway, and is a fantastic starting class for young men and women aged 12 to 16 years.
As well as learning to drive in a safe, controlled environment, young competitors learn to maintain their cars, learn how to approach sponsors, and learn to cope with the ups and downs that motorsport inevitably provides.
And it’s a great way to transition into other speedway classes once they are too old to continue race in the Youth Ministocks class. Jayden Ward and Asher Rees have both won New Zealand Stockcar titles after serving apprenticeships in Ministocks, and there are dozens of former Youth Ministock competitors amongst the top performing competitors in the Superstock, Stockcar and Minisprint classes in particular.
Friday night at the Oceanview 5000 will see qualifying for the 15-16 year old age group, whilst the younger competitors will race the first three of six heats where they will accumulate points. The Stockcars will be running as the support class; this meeting is all about the youth!
On the Saturday night, qualifiers in the senior division will run two sets of timed laps, in tiers, according to their qualifying performance. There will then be a Top 5 Shootout, which will be similar to the Top 10 Shootouts in the V8 Supercars. The fastest lap in the Shootout will put that driver on pole position for the 15-lap final.
The Saturday night racing also features the running of the West Coast Production Saloons. This class has turned on some excellent racing this season.
The Oceanview 5000 has been organised by a committee comprising members of the Wanganui Stockcar and Speedway Club’s committee, and members of the Youth Ministock fraternity including a number of competitors. It has been great watching the young people not only come up with ideas, but breathing life into them.
Events like this are not possible without generous sponsorship. The Oceanview 5000 committee thanks our main sponsor, Lightning Race Gear for their support. Other local businesses supporting the event include Workplace Health and Safety Australasia, Holdaways Brake and Clutch, Emmetts Civil Construction, Adrian Barnes Electricians, Elite Mechanical and Engineering and PAUA Print.
By Tony Stuart
River City Press 22/12/16