Hatcher wins stockcar King of the Mountain Champs

Jarrod MacBeth

Photo: After receiving a shunt from his cousin Blair Uhlenberg, Brad Uhlenberg utlised the added speed to introduce Bruce Williams to the turn one concrete wall during the first Superstock race of the night on Saturday.

Emilio Hatcher beat home his rivals in the biggest class of the night to win the Stockcar King of the Mountain Champs at the Plant and Fabrication Services sponsored race meeting at MG Taranaki Stratford Speedway on Saturday night.  With thirty cars taking to the track, racing was hectic and busy but Hatcher kept his nose clean in all three races to win the event by a four point margin from his nearest rival.  He got his points tally off to a great start when he won race one from grid three and then finished fifth in race two and third in race three.  It’s Hatcher’s first win of note in the Stockcar class and bodes well for him for the rest of the season.  Regular front runner Bryce Jensen was second overall, and former New Zealand ranked number two Mark Duthie was third.

The Saloon class also raced for their King of the Mountain champs and with the best field to date this season of twelve cars.  After a rugged three races, Tauranga visitor Trent Amrein claimed the top spot after recording a fourth, first and second placings.  Blake Hooper was second while Craig Korff survived a couple of on track incidents to come home third.  Usual front runner Thomas Korff had a nightmare of a night with a DNF on race one before he then rode the wall in front of the grandstand in the last race while attempting an outside pass on race leader Richard Dreaver.

The Midgets made their first appearance at the track this season with a field of ten cars, made up mostly of visiting drivers.  Whanganui racer Brent Huijs was consistent over all three races, finishing in positions four, one and two which gave him a three point buffer over Duane Hickman for the top step of the podium.  Hickman, who is driving a borrowed car currently, won races one and three but a DNF in race two saw his undoing.  Palmerston North competitor Karl McGill was third.

Youth Ministocks were divided into two groups  -  Experienced and Mentors (new drivers).  The experienced drivers were racing for the City of New Plymouth Classic while the Mentors were getting some all-important track time.  With Caleb Coxhead on a stand down, Whanganui competitor Trent James drove his car for the night and piloted it to first place in the City of New Plymouth Classic with a second place and two wins.  Regan Ogle performed well all night and finished second while Corban Swan was third.  In the Mentor group, Chase Korff won all three races.  Lukah Phillips impressed the judges and was voted Youth Ministock driver of the night.

Superstocks and Streetstocks raced on the night also.  Sheldon Arapere, Scott Williams and Scott Joblin were the drivers to carry the chequered flag in the Superstock class while cousins Blair and Brad Uhlenberg teamed up beautifully to dispatch Gisborne contracted racer Bruce Williams into an dup the turn one concrete wall.  All three Streetstock races were won by Nic Smith.

The Next race meeting at MG Taranaki Stratford Speedway is on Boxing Night, December 26th and will feature the Field Torque Taranaki Modified Champs and Ginge Hayward Memorial, the Zodiac Signs Taranaki Minisprint Champs, the Taranaki Midget Champs plus a Demolition Derby, Stockcars and Youth Ministocks. 

Racing starts at the earlier time of 6:30pm.