Midget Triple Crown
Saturday 28th January 2012
| Auckland driver upsets favourite pairing By Mat Kermeen  Auckland midget driver Shane O’Connor proved the old saying, to finish first, first you must finish at AmPro Tools Woodford Glen Speedway on Saturday night.With American super star Jerry Coons Jr and Kiwi wonder kid Micheal Pickens both starting from the front row, O’Connor, would be forgiven for thinking he was up against it in round two of the prestigious Triple Crown series. “We were always going to have a very tough battle on our hands,” O’Connor said. A high drama start to the Value Cars Warehouse 35 lap feature turned the race on its head before it had really began. Pickens had spun out after contact with Coons Jr while leading local chance and South Island Champion David Kerr had crashed out. The American was deemed the cause of the accident, having to restart at the back of the pack while arch rival Pickens, helped himself to a healthy lead. O’Connor settled in second place ahead of Stratford’s Duane Hickman but it was the veteran Graham Standring who was on the charge moving up through the field. There was no doubting who the large crowd wanted to win, getting louder for every lap Pickens ticked off but just when it looked in the bag tragedy struck, the Auckland based driver forced to retire with an engine problem. “Obviously we were leading then there was a massive problem in the motor. I’m not exactly sure what it is yet but it’s disappointing,” Pickens said. All of sudden O’Connor had the lead with just three laps to go and he made no mistake, claiming victory ahead of Standring and Scott Buckley while Coons Jr finished fifth. “It didn’t go our way tonight but that’s racing, it’s just great to come down to the South Island and put a show on for the fans,” Coons Jr said after the feature. |
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