Panthers have unchanged team

WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Standard

POWERFUL LINEUP: Peter Bengston will be back in car 58 to defend the national teams title with the Panthers.

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The Palmerston North Panthers will have an unchanged lineup when they chase a third consecutive national teams title at FMG Stadium on February 8 and 9.

Manager Gary Parkes said it had been a difficult decision who would make up the team Palmerston North, and the Auckland event, where the Panthers have also won consecutive titles.

"It was tough because there are a quite a few drivers going well," Parkes said. "But I said to them when we met that technically four of them are going even better than last year."

Peter Bengston, Peter Rees, Shane Penn and Wayne Hemi have all been in impressive form, though captain Scott Miers has had little time behind the wheel as he attempts to get his new tank ready for the event.

"Scott has never let us down in the past and he assures me 110 percent the car will be ready to go."

Miers has been racing a spaceframe that has had plenty of gremlins. But it was quick for English driver Stu Smith last Saturday and all efforts are now going into the tank, which will be powered by a radical new Ford QuadCam engine, similar to that in Craig Humphries' car.

"We're taking the spaceframe home tonight and it's going in a corner of the shed," Miers said. "We'll be spending as long as is necessary to get the tank ready . . . I'll be ready to go."

Miers said he's waiting only on little things to have it ready, but with no meeting before the teams champs, he isn't fazed that he won't have time to set the car up.

"I'll have four laps; that will be enough," he quipped.

That's four laps warm-up just before each teams race.

Parkes said two drivers close to making the team were Wayne Norris, who will be the sixth driver, and Roydon Collingwood, who has only recently got his impressive new car on the track.

"Wayne (Norris) raced for us against Nelson and and did a good job, but Wayne Hemi has really gone out to prove he should be in the team again - and he's proved it.

"Wayne (Norris) is obviously disappointed, because he wanted to be in the team, but his time will come. Roydon is disappointed as well, but he admitted himself he didn't get the car on the track in time."

Norris will join the team as the sixth driver, who races only if two team members have been hurt.

"He'll be involved in everything we do as a team. It will be good experience."

After last year's easy win, when nothing went wrong with any of the cars, Parkes says he's been quick to throw any thoughts of complacency out the window.

"It's a new event and we must be due for some problems. All we can do is prepare as best we can and I'm sure if we have a problem during a race, we'll get through it still. This is a very powerful team."

Miers said they've all been racing for long enough to know that you can never be over-confident.

Palmerston North Panthers: Scott Miers, Shane Penn, Wayne Hemi, Peter Rees, Peter Bengston. Sixth driver Wayne Norris.