Former 1NZ Dale Ewers will don the Nelson Tigers colours yet again at the New Zealand Superstock Team's Championship in Palmerston North. Photo: Phillip Rollo.

Tigers hunt teams title

0
1953

The Nelson Tigers are hungry. The team hasn’t won the ENZED New Zealand Superstock Teams Championship since 2010, with the title residing in Palmerston North on a fulltime basis these days.

But things could be set to change this weekend with the Nelson Tigers squad confirmed for the two-day championship featuring more notable omissions than inclusions, highlighting the club’s unbelievable depth. Although as selector Daryl Peterson points out, picking a team isn’t just about who has had the best season individually, it’s about who can perform a certain role to get the most points. “It’s not just about having five hot rods out there,” he says. “You’ve got to be able to adapt to different roles. A lot of people say ‘why don’t you pick this person?’ But it’s a team thing so we have to pick what works better for the team.”

The team still includes a former 1NZ in the form of experienced campaigner Dale Ewers. “He’s really the backbone of the team these days and he’s the most experienced guy we’ve got.” Dale will be joined by Jared Gray, Brett Nicholls, Shane Harwood and Blair Cunningham – a group with plenty of experience in the teams arena.

While the two-time defending champions Palmerston North Panthers will be hot favourites to win their third title in a row Daryl says you have to treat every race like it’s a final, because of the knock-out nature to the format on day two.