Blown up, to blowing them away in seven days. by Mat KermeenSeven days can be a long time in super stock racing, just ask Adam Joblin. The Palmerston North super stock driver experienced a dramatic seven day turn around when he won the New Zealand Super Stock Grand Prix at AmPro Tools Woodford Glen Speedway over the weekend. A blown engine on the other side of Cook Straight would be enough to make most drivers throw in the towel, but not Joblin. His engine let go last Friday, during qualifying of the New Zealand Championships in Nelson, but rather than give up, the engine was sent back to Palmerston North with club mate Peter Rees last Sunday. By Monday night engine builder Brian Hartley had the motor stripped out and by Thursday it was on the way back to Christchurch with family friends of the Joblin’s. “We could have packed our bags and gone home sulking after Nelson but, you need that never say die attitude in this sport. You can’t give up,” Joblin said. Forty six drivers were split into two qualifying groups, each racing three heats on Friday night. There were few surprises as drivers raced for the flag in order to collect points, the odd spin or contact in the first corner was about as brutal as it got. Big name drivers, Rotorua’s Ross Ashby, Wanganui’s Daryl Taylor, Auckland’s Kerry Remnant, Palmerston North’s Wayne Hemi and the oldest of the three Joblin brothers, Simon, all failed to qualify due to mechanical failures. Palmerston North drivers joined the 12 top qualifiers from each group in the finals after placing first and second in the repercharge. Newly crowded national champion, Shane Penn, continued his good form to start the finals with maximum points over Palmerston North club mate Chad Ace and Rotorua’s Scott Hewson. Nelson drivers’ Dale McKenzie and Thomas Stanaway, plus local Jason Smith all lost ground when spun to the back. Palmerston North whiz kid, Jack Miers, was uncharacteristically untidy, finishing near the rear of the field. Heat two was dominated by Nelson’s Jarrod Gray, scoring a comfortable victory over club mate Shane Harwood, and Adam Joblin. Ace banked more big points in fourth and Rotorua’s Lance Ashton was fifth in front of Penn and Hewson. Nelson frontrunners Blair Cunningham and Brett Nicholls both failed to finish dropping out of the running, as did Miers and Scott Joblin, meaning just 13 of the 26 finalists had finished both heats to remain in title contention. Ace went into the final heat on top with 48 points but he did not have to worry about being a target, a puncture retiring him to the infield early. He was joined by Gray, the second title contender to be parked on the grass early. Canterbury driver Nick Selfe lost valuable places off the start line when he was pushed into the wall by Hawkes Bay’s Gary Foley. Penn started just one point behind and looked in the prime position to clinch both national titles for the majority of the race. Adam Joblin (46 points) slipped into second behind heat three leader, Hewson, who had started the heat on 44 points. “I knew I was two points ahead of (Scott) Hewson so I as long as I managed to stay right behind him I was a good chance of finishing right up there,” Adam Joblin said. Well down on points, McKenzie raced for much of the race before trapping Penn in the final laps. Just when Penn looked like breaking free, Cunningham arrived and sent the national champ spinning across the infield with a heavy hit. Jack Miers delivered his best heat of the weekend to finish third behind Joblin. Harwood gave himself a chance at an overall placing, finishing fourth in the final heat ahead of Smith. Victory in the final heat, propelled Hewson into second overall behind Adam Joblin. Penn recovered for eighth place, enough to salvage third overall. Harwood finished three points behind Penn in fourth and in fifth spot was first local home Selfe. Aiming for a top ten finish, Selfe easily exceeded his own expectations. Selfe said it was his biggest achievement in almost a decade of racing, so sitting in seventh before the final heat, there was plenty of nerves in Selfe’s Christchurch Glass team. “I knew I couldn’t win it, but I thought if things went my way, I was a possibility of third, but the start put pay to that.” Selfe said the disappointment of not qualifying at the nationals was a distant memory after the thrill of Saturday night’s result. Harwood placed fourth overall and two locals, Jason Smith and Aaron Rowlands impressed, finishing behind Selfe in sixth and seventh. Had it not been for being spun to the back of the field in both heats one and two, Smith would have been a genuine winning chance. |
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