Speedway: Back to back titles for Phillips in Stratford

Jarrod MacBeth

Photo: #72 Lukah Phillips went back to back and won the Tool Hire Taranaki, Taranaki Adult Ministock champs on Saturday night for the second time.  #71 Brayden Shaw was third. Photo by Matt Julian/Contact High Photography.

Adult Ministock competitor Lukah Phillips successfully defended her Taranaki Adult Ministock title at the Mufflers NZ sponsored event at Five Star Liquor Stratford Speedway on Saturday night. 

Racing amongst a field of seventeen competitors, Phillips raced to a win in race one of the three race championship from a grid four start before coming home fourth in race two from grid eleven and then produced a great drive to win race three from grid twelve and cement her position at the top of the points table with a points haul of forty eight, enough for her to retain the title that she won for the first time last season by a margin of four points. 

Brayden Shaw recorded a second, third and fourth over the three races to take second place while Bronson Pierce was third overall.

A near full field of twenty eight Stockcars raced for both the Allan Hancock and Michael Walker Memorials. Kylee Symes nabbed the Hancock Memorial by a one point margin from Todd Duthie who was second and Haydin Barker who was third. 

Steven Read won the Walker Memorial, also by just a one point margin for Whanganui girl racer Hailey James. Symes continued his good form and was third.

It was the Mitch Vickery and Peter Bengston show in the Super Saloons, racing for the King of the Mountain Champs. 

The three heat races were won by Vickery, Bengston and event sponsor Craig Korff and the points from these set the grid for the one race final which saw Vickery and Bengston starting off the front row. 

Korff made his way though a miniscule gap at the race start to take an early lead but ran wide allowing Vickery and Bengston through to the front where the pair stayed with Vickery romping away to take the win ahead of Bengston with Joe Ingram third.

Minisprints raced for their Best Pairs trophy and after the points were tallied from the three races Craig Mason and Conrad Hall came out on top as the winners. Donald Kuriger and Bronson Pierce were second and Duane Hickman/Brad Merwood third.

Youth Ministocks completed the race program for the usual classes with race wins going to Lucas Hurley (2), Blake Luscombe and Riley Symes.

An entertaining Holiday Derby concluded the nights racing and saw all manner of caravans and boats being towed around the track and subsequently destroyed in a ten lap race. 

Daniel Reed won the race in a Holden Commodore towing a boat ahead of Matt Hill’s crowd favourite ‘snail car’, a Nissan S Cargo, also towing a boat.