Panthers scrape into semifinal

It took a spectacular drive by the Palmerston North Panthers in their second race against the Auckland Allstars to avoid the embarrassment of crashing out in qualifying at the Teams' Champs last night.

The Panthers scraped into tonight's semifinal and will meet the outstanding team last night, the Nelson Tigers, while the impressive British Lions meet the Waikato Wanderers.

The race with the Tigers will be eagerly awaited as both teams looked the two strongest at the Teams Champs, with loads of pace and strong no-quarter-given blockers.

With the possibility this event is the swansong for Tigers drivers Brendon Higgins and Daryl Peterson they will be desperate for a win. The Panthers won their first race against the Wanderers, but had Wayne Hemi relegated a place for putting his front wheels on the grass. The Panthers had already had Peter Rees disqualified for going on the infield to hit a Wanderers driver.

Scott Miers said the loss left them just one option against the Allstars, to finish in all four top positions and take 185 points.

"After the first race we knew we needed to just take them all out and go flat out from the start," Miers said. "We had to do whatever we needed and if they were in the way we were going to smash them out of the way."

It was an outstanding drive by Hemi, possibly his best in the four years of the Panthers' unbeaten run that led them to scoop the points and secure what had looked an unlikely semifinal after the Wanderers loss.

Miers had special praise for Hemi. Each time the four Panthers came around to pass Keven Roberts Hemi spun him so all four had a clear run.

"I think everyone can now see just how good Wayne can be. That's what he does at Auckland (Teams Nationals) and why he is the star up there."

Miers sat out the second race because of a small electrical problem and Rees, Hemi, Peter Bengston and Shane Penn were all ready to go.

The Tigers were impressive in smashing the Canterbury GlenEagles but against the GlenEagles Dale Ewers came off the grass to put Brad Rosewarne out of the race with an enormous hit.

The Tigers had no problem in their second race, easily beating a disappointing Rotorua Rebels 155-40.

The Wanderers may have benefited against the Panthers but their winner- take-all race with the Hawke's Bay Hawkeyes was a classic. In the end, Lance Ashton managed to stay clear of the mayhem for long enough to win the race and finish and see his team scrape into the semifinal.

The Wanderers Jared Wade has often come to the Teams Champs and failed to fire but the Hawkeyes drivers could not cope with his blocking and speed. Wade will be a key to the Wanderers being able to beat the Lions and win their first title since 1995.

A change of system to the Teams Champs allowed the Lions to secure third place last year but their confidence about the 2010 title has plenty of substance after two strong wins.

The Lions, led by Frankie Wainman's expert locking in both races, easily beat the Kihikihi Kings in their first race before a close-fought win over the Manawatu Mustangs. Craig Finnikin overtook Scott Joblin on the second last corner. In his first teams meeting, Joblin maybe should have gone flat out past a damaged Lions car and it would be the Mustangs facing the Panthers instead.

In the second tier the Mustangs will meet the GlenEagles in one semifinal and the Hawkeyes will face the Stratford Scrappers in the other. The highest points winner of the two races will race for third place.