RACE MEETING 6 25 JANUARY 2013 Defending title holder, Michael Pickens of Auckland showed that he is the driver to beat

t when he dominated qualifying for the Giannis Bread 71st New Zealand Midget car Championship at Christchurch's Mag and Turbo Ruapuna Speedway on Friday evening. Pickens, who is chasing his fifth New Zealand crown threw down the gauntlet, dropping just one point from his three heats and shattered the 12 lap record by over three seconds when he blitzed the field to win his first heat race. Pickens was joined from Group 1 by five time South Island champ, Dave Kerr, Shane O'Connor (Auckland), Alvin Cobb (Huntly) and Gavin Wilkie of Dunedin. Nelson's Nevil Basalaj (Nelson) and Auckland's Wayne Green were the class of group two, with Ricky Logan (USA), local Glen Durie and Aucklands Chris McCutcheon all making the cut to progress directly into the finals. Brad Mosen (Auckland), Stratford's Duane Hickman , Hayden Williams and Dayne Maxwell - both of Auckland and Nelson driver Nick Marquet qualified from group three, with all the other drivers now having to contest the B Main with the top five finishers going into the 20 car Finals. Qualifying for the TQ Masters was hotly contested with both Jeremy Webb two wins and Auckland Paul Le Cren standing out. Webb also won the Tri Nations Feature, after being pushed all the way by Le Cren with Auckland's Shane Phillips in third place. Race Results- Competitors from Christchurch unless stated) New Zealand Midget cars Qualifying. Group 1. Ht 1. Michael Pickens (Auck) 1, David Kerr 2, Shane O'Connor (Auck) 3, Alvin Cobb (Huntly) 4, Dave Gick (Auck) 5, Peter Hunnibel (Auck) 6 Ht 2. Pickens 1, Gick 2, Cobb 3, Gavin Wilkie (Dunedin) 4, Scott Millar 6. Ht 3. O'Connor 1, Pickens 2, Kerr 3, Alistair Wootten (Auck) 4, Hunnibel 5, Wilkie 6. Qualifying Points: Pickens 32, Kerr 24, O'Connor 24, Cobb 21 , Wilkie 19 - all qualify - Gick 17, Hunnibel 16, Wootten 13, Millar 12, Steve McCullam 10, Harley Taylor (Auck) 7 Group 2.

Ht 1. Nevil Basalaj (Nelson) 1, Wayne Green (Auck) 2, Chris McCutcheon (Auck) 3, Rick Logan (Auck) 4, Glen Durie 5, Darren Nankivell 6. Ht 2. Basalaj 1, Green 2, McCutcheon 3, Logan, Scott Buckley (Auck) 6. Ht 3. Durie 1, Green 2, Logan 3, Basalaj 4, Buckley 5, Andrew Brown (Nelson) 6. Qualifying Points: Basalaj 28, Green 27, Logan 21, Durie 21 , McCutcheon 16 - all qualify - Buckley 12, Nankivell 8, Ricky McGough (Auck) 8, Brown 7, Group 3. Ht 1. Duane Hickman(Stratford) 1, Nick Marquet (Nelson) 2, Hayden Williams (Auck) 3, Brad Mosen (Auck) 4, Dayne Maxwell (Auck) 5, Nick Donaldson 6. Ht 2. Williams 1, Mosen 2, Hickman 3, Maxwell 4, Marquet 5, Jared Wade (Auck) 6. Ht 3. Mosen 1, Maxwell 2, Wade 3, Hickman 4, Marquet 5, Donaldson 6. Qualifying Points: Mosen 26, Hickman 25, Williams 22, Maxwell 22, Marquet 21 - all qualify - Wade 17, Donaldson 14, Glenn Everett 0, Chris Gwilliam (Auck) 0 TQ Masters Qualifying Ht 1. Blair Warren 1, Kimberley Yeatman 2, Mark Alexander (Napier) 3. Ht 2. Jeremy Webb 1, Paul Le Cren (Auck) 2, Kyle Glover 3. Ht 3. Gareth Bindon 1, Shane Phillips (Auck) 2, Duane Todd 3. Ht 4. Jared Taylor(Auck) 1, Ben Gilmore 2, Justin McMinn (Aust) 3. Ht 5. D Todd 1, G Bindon 2, Tom Lumsden 3. Ht 6. Webb 1, Lindsay Bailey 2, Le Cren 3. Feature. Webb 1, Le Cren 2, Phillips 3. Modified Sprints

Ht 1. Kieran Harris 1, Darryl Harris 2, Josh Walls 3. Feature. Caleb Baughan 1, Walls 2, Charlie Jackson 3. Midgets Ht 1. Hunter Rowland 1, Morgan McHugh (Auck) 2, Hayden Guptill (Auck) 3. Ht 2. Jacob Le Cren (Auck) 1, Montana Jamieson 2, Liam McCoubrey 3. Ht 3. McHugh 1, McCoubrey 2, Jayden Bush (Auck) 3.