Pickens wins NZ Midget Grand Prix

In an action-packed night of racing at Western Springs Speedway it was Michael Pickens that came away with the spoils, taking a dominant win in the 35-lap New Zealand Midget Grand Prix and also taking victory in the inaugural Midget Triple Crown series, of which the event was the final round.

Pickens was top qualifier after winning both his heat races and lined-up alongside his long-time rival, America's Jerry Coons Jr. The pair battled across the opening three laps until a caution for a spinning back-marker. After the restart, Pickens cleared out while Coons became involved in a battle with Brad Mosen, before the American made a small mistake, riding over the wheel of a back-marker, forcing him wide and, after another dose of contact with Hayden Williams trying to re-join the race, slipped outside of the top ten places.

Pickens continued to extend his lead throughout lapped traffic, eventually lapping the field as high up as sixth place in a simply dominant display, which saw the four-time New Zealand champion also taking his fourth NZ Midget Grand Prix title, more than any other driver has achieved in the history of the Grand Prix. He lead home Mosen, some half a lap back, with Australian driver Nathan Smee rounding out the podium spot. But there was drama at the finish with Jerry Coons Jr. and Hayden Williams coming together in the final corner, the pair both ending their races in the concrete wall less than half a lap from home.

This meant that Pickens took out the Triple Crown series, with young up and coming driver Shane O'Connor in claiming second for the series and Coons Jr. taking our third.

The TQ action saw two feature races, one as part of a rained out meeting, while the other was held in memory of long-time TQ driver Shane Turner. The opening 15-lap race went in favour of Dylan McGregor who was chased home by the Baker brothers, this time Ryan leading home Scott. The Shane Turner memorial was run with a slightly different format that saw the quickest drivers starting at the back of the field. After a tumble that took care of the previous feature winner McGregor as well as current national TQ champion Craig Todd, it was left to Troy Kete to take a popular victory.

With the New Zealand Sprint Car championships taking place in Christchurch, it was a small but strong field of Sprint Cars that took to the Western Springs track, with American Ricky Logan showing all his class to take a strong victory, while Jeremy Halpin, who was having his first run of the season, took second and teenager Daniel Rogers took the final podium spot.

The next meeting at Western Springs, running on February 11, features the Barry Butterworth memorial race for Midgets.