The Ariki Ihorei of Ministox lived up to his name. (Photo: Martin Fitzgerald)
Both trucks passed their winter checks in time for young Frank’s first meeting. We left for Buxton on Saturday, and got stuck in traffic for over an hour. Thankfully Buxton Raceway let the practice session go on a bit longer so this allowed Frankie to get a few laps in.
There have been a few rule changes over the winter months so we tried a few different set ups to find out what worked best. We loaded up and went out for a meal before camping out ready for the morning.
The gates are opened, any we’re warmly greeted by Buxton’s staff, nice to see them all again and enjoy their banter.
A decent turn out of cars, and Frankie is out in the first heat. His start is a bit slow but then something clicks and he’s off to a flyer! He wins the first race of the season and it felt good!
Heat 2 goes really well. The more experienced drivers carefully manoeuvre amongst the novices and do a superb job racing around them. Frankie wins this race too.
The final is also the Buxton Gold Cup race and Frankie is defending this title. He starts off pole with Courtney Finnikin at his side, his cousin Camey Dorrell starts behind him. On the first lap Courtney rattles him around the wall and he drops down to seventh place. He perseveres and makes his way back up to the front where him and Finn have a super race exchanging hits and places.
Meanwhile, Camey 262 is catching fast, Frankie manages to hit Finn wide and take the flag followed by Finn and Dorrell.
So we couldn’t have had a better start to the season, really. Yyoung Frank wins the first championship, but hot on his tail are the new “girl power gang” of Finn, Dorrell & Witts.
Frankie
Big thanks to Chris Webster for these excellent photos of Frankie in action, and to Martin Fitzgerald for the pit photos.
