{"id":235722,"date":"2026-01-16T03:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T03:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/235722\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T03:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T03:42:08","slug":"baypark-hosting-83rd-new-zealand-midget-car-championship-decider-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/235722\/","title":{"rendered":"Baypark hosting 83rd New Zealand Midget Car Championship decider this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe performance and technology have evolved massively across nine decades but the principles of a lightweight, single-seater, open-wheel car with a front engine for oval-track racing remains at the core of Midget Car competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe modern-generation Midget Cars have evolved into precision racing machines, typically with highly-tuned four-cylinder engines developing up to 400hp in a car weighing no less than 487kg (weighed including the driver).\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be the third time Baypark Speedway has played host to the New Zealand title, although the previous two events were staged at the original venue, which closed in 1995.<\/p>\n

Two other past champions feature on the entry list. Auckland\u2019s Brad Mosen is seeking his third 1NZ crown \u2013 his most recent achieved in 2024 \u2013 while Baypark\u2019s Hayden Williams won in 2021.<\/p>\n

Among the most experienced drivers chasing success is Baypark\u2019s Brock Maskovich, who has two runner-up finishes at the national title in the past decade, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exciting competitive theme in Midget Car racing in the last three seasons has been the emergence of a `young guns\u2019 contingent of talented teenage and early-20s racers.\u201d<\/p>\n

This group comprises Baypark\u2019s Luke McClymont and Travis Buckley, Kihikihi\u2019s Mitch Fabish and Auckland racers Alec Insley and Ben Morrison. And the latest young guns addition is Kihikihi racer Regan Tyler, who finished second in the NZ TQ Midget Car title last season.<\/p>\n

\" Two of the young racers expected to be in title contention this weekend are Aucklander Ben Morrison (97) and Tauranga\u2019s Luke McClymont (6). Photo \/ Stuart Whitaker \/ The Write Angle<\/p>\n

McClymont and Fabish have already achieved notable successes, with North Island Championship and NZ Grand Prix victories respectively.<\/p>\n

The South Island has a strong quartet of contenders. Christchurch racer Jeremy Webb is a six-time national champ in the motorcycle-powered TQ Midgets as well as a three-time South Island Midget Car champ.<\/p>\n

Fellow Christchurch racer Ben Morgan has already showcased his speed on North Island tracks in the last two seasons, while Jay Chadwick (Christchurch) and Nathan Wilkie (Nelson) both have top equipment and strong results in the south.<\/p>\n

\u201cOthers ranked among the leading contenders are Baypark\u2019s Corbin Anderson and hard charger Aaron Hodgson, along with Aucklander Ryan Baker, who is a former runner-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality of the field assures a wide-open title fight and there is one certainty \u2013 it will be an entirely new podium celebrating on Saturday night, as last season\u2019s national title at Western Springs was swept by US and Australian visitors and this year\u2019s event is an entirely domestic contest.”<\/p>\n

Two nights of preliminary racing and a last-chance B-Main will determine the 22 qualifiers for the 25-lap championship race on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\" A four-strong contingent of South Island racers chasing title success includes Christchurch\u2019s Jeremy Webb (8), a six-time New Zealand champion in the TQ Midget class. Photo \/ Stuart Whitaker \/ The Write Angle<\/p>\n

There will be Super Saloon and Six Shooter support races on Friday night with Sprint Cars, Six Shooters, and Youth Mini Stocks on the Saturday programme.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Midget Car title is part of a sequence of premier NZ Championship events hosted by Baypark Speedway. Last summer it was the NZ Super Saloon Car Championship, and the next NZ Sprint Car Championship is scheduled for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

Racing starts at 6.30pm both days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe performance and technology have evolved massively across nine decades but the principles of a lightweight, single-seater, open-wheel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[136558,71935,3944,18239,94155,187,139378,117,111,43,139,69,1961,4767,80],"class_list":["post-235722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-83rd","tag-baypark","tag-car","tag-championship","tag-decider","tag-hosting","tag-midget","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-this","tag-weekend","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}