The first round was held at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway with seven North Island competitors coming South for the trip. Unfortunately the South island only comprised of an extra 15 cars which was a little disappointing. Qualifying was held on Saturday morning and with no surprise it was Steve Ross in his immaculate Oldsmobile Cutlass who took pole from Derin Greenslade’s Mustang and Colin Dawson’s RX7 Chev who were all under 1min.30sec. Next was Rob Lewis in his beautiful blue Batman on 1min30.9 followed by last years NZ OSCA Printstop Champion Andy Greenslade with 1min31.0. The rest of the grid saw Matt Cronin in sixth followed by the Volvo of Dave Agnew, Geoff Washbourne’s Commodore Chev, Ken Heslin making a welcome return in his Camaro Chev, Cameron Jones’s NZ GT3 winning RX7 now powered by a 13b turbo, Chris Hatton’s Toyota, Dave McNaughtan’s RX7, Allan Grant and Peter Henry in their RX7’s from the North Island, Wayne Ross’s Commodore Chev, Raymond Hart’s Skyline, Gareth McKenzie’s Toyota, Mark Crabbe’s Batman, Evan Munt’s Capri which broke a stub axle after two laps, Phil Hood in his Evo and rounding out the field was Paul Tanner with his first visit in his V8 Levin.

The first race was held on Saturday afternoon and staright away it was a clear fight between S.Ross and A.Greenslade. These two cleared off from the rest of the field but crossed the line with only 0.243 seconds separating them with S.Ross getting the chequered flag first. Lewis came through for a strong third with Washbourne behind followed closely by Heslin with Agnew, Munt, McNaughtan, Grant, Hatton and Jones the only other finishers. Those who did not finish included D.Greenslade with broken diff, Cronin (gearbox), Coleman (clutch) W.Ross (engine) and Henry (fuel).

With most fellas working hard all night to get cars fixed, Sunday mornings first race had a larger field than the day before. The grid was reversed with S.Ross and the Greenslade brothers staring at the rear with a 10 sec delay from the rest of the field. The best start was made by Lewis who got from 17th to 3rd by the first corner. There was plenty of passing over the first few laps but unfortunately both Steve and Wayne Ross got together which put them out. A.Greenslade got through to the front with a couple laps to spare but Lewis made a bold pass into the last corner to get back the lead but at the chequer it was Greenslade who won from Lewis by just 0.61 seconds with Heslin third passing Munt on the last lap. D Greenslade was next after having a little spin earlier from Hatton and Washbourne who was also recovering from a spin with two laps to go. McNaughtan was next followed by Hood, Agnew, Tanner, Grant, Coleman, McKenzie and Jones who was having wastegate troubles.

The last race was the handicap and from what Ive been told was one of the best races out of any class for the weekend. Coleman shot out to the front right from the start and made everyone chase him. A.Greenslade managed to do this the most effectively by just passing him on the last lap and crossing the line in front by 1.8 seconds. Closely following was Lewis, Munt and McKenzie holding onto a top 5 place. Washbourne was next after holding out a determined Heslin in a race long battle by just one second with Agnew right behind. Hood was after this with McNaughtan taking out the final top 10 position just getting the better of Tanner with Hatton and Grant taking out the final positions.

Unfortunately there were a number of cars with technical problems over the weekend which took out a few too many cars but you can’t predict that happening I guess. All the fellas from the North Island enjoyed their time in Christchurch with plenty of stories being told at the track and in the pub afterwards. With only four cars heading to Invercargill joined by eight South island cars we really needed to make sure the racing was close and action packed for the Invercargill fans….and that’s what happened!!!

The second round of the Printstop NZ OSCA championship took place at Teretonga Park and the weather in Invercargill was great except for a brief shower after only a couple laps of qualifying. With most drivers only getting in one or two quick laps in before the heavens opened the grid was a bit of a lottery. Steve Ross took pole with a time of 1min.05sec followed by Rob Lewis and local man Andrew Cundall in his awesome looking Silvia powered by a 2ltr turbo. Andy Greenslade was next followed by Chris Coleman, Evan Munt, Geoff Washbourne, Allan V Grant, Cameron Jones, Dave Agnew, Dave McNaughtan and Chris Hatton.

By the time race one came about the track was dry and fast. Steve Ross took the lead from pole and never looked back although Greenslade did get through to second and was never far behind. Cundall started well but a turbo hose came off so Lewis took the final podium with Munt fourth having a great race long battle with Washbourne getting up beside Munt on a couple of occasions. Just a couple seconds beheind was another great dice with Agnew getting the better of Coleman, Grant, McNaughtan and Hatton. Unfortunately Jones was still having wastegate problems and finished 11th but was to retire for the rest of the meeting.

Race two was a reverse grid race with Greenslade and Ross starting 10 seconds behind the field. Hatton took the early lead but was soon passed by Munt who held the lead for three laps until Lewis made his way through into the first corner after earlier getting passed but missing a gear and relinquishing the lead again. Ross made his way through the field quicker than Greenslade and nearly got to the chequer first but Lewis beat him to the line by 0.25 seconds. Munt crossed the line third after keeping out Cundall in a race long battle with Greenslade just getting to the line ahead of Washbourne with all four cars crossing the line within 0.96 seconds. Hatton was next with Coleman just getting the better of McNaughtan and Grant at the line. Agnew who was running well retired with a broken driveshaft.

Race three was the traditional handicap and saw Grant lead McNaughtan away from the start but was soon passed by McNaughtan who held the lead until the last lap. Next away was Hatton, Coleman and Munt with Washbourne and Cundall next followed by Lewis then Greenslade and finally Ross. Over the first five laps Munt got through Coleman, Hatton, Grant and finally McNaughtan on the last lap to take the lead. Behind was Washbourne who got Grant and Hatton but unfortunately Cundall blew another turbo hose and retired. Lewis made a big effort to get through the field with Greenslade and Ross also coming through strong. Ross and Greenslade had a slight coming together in the esses which slowed them up a bit which left Munt to take the win from McNaughtan and Lewis with Coleman just beating Greenslade to the line with Washbourne just heading Ross who dragged Grant to the line and Hatton taking the final position after a time penalty for jumping the start. The whole field was separated by just 8 seconds.

The points after the first two rounds are on the race results page and it looks like its going to go down to the wire. Lewis leads the overall points by just 1 point over A.Greenslade with Munt in third. Although there were not as many cars are initially expected the racing was still exciting and hard and fast. The South Island OSCA fellas enjoyed hosting the North Island register and are looking forward to heading North. From all the talk after the meeting the North fellas enjoyed the Teretonga track which none had ever raced on before which I am sure will be the same when the South fellas head to Pukekohe which no one has run on from down here before.

The South Island Printstop OSCA points score has Munt leading from Washbourne by just 7 points with Hatton third. Munt also leads the GT2 points by just 2 points over Washbourne with Hatton leading GT3 over McNaughtan by 19 points.