Auckland midget car racers Michael Pickens and Brad Mosen surprised few people by dominating the New Zealand Midget Championships at Ruapuna Speedway in Christchurch on the weekend.
The pair traded slide-job passing maneuvers and performed wheel stands as they wowed the crowds and the other drivers, eventually finishing with Pickens in first and Mosen, who created his own race line on the high side of the track, closely behind in second.
Despite the disappointment of finishing behind his main rival, Mosen was happy with his performance.
“Michael’s a great driver so I know I can trust him when we’re racing so fast and so close. The crowd seemed to love the show we put on out there,” said the 25-year-old.
“I hate finishing second but at the end of the day, the CRC Synergy Racing team were great all weekend so it’s hard to have too many complaints.”
After an uncharacteristically quiet start to the season, Mosen found his mojo last month when the international superstars from USA and Australia visited Kiwi shores and hasn’t looked back since.
“I feel like we had been going well, even at the start of the season, but for whatever reason we just weren’t getting the results we deserved,” he said.
“Then when the overseas guys arrived it was like flicking a switch and we were back. This weekend was further proof that we should be regularly up the front and competing for championships.”
Dave Gick (Auckland) rounded out the podium to claim the 3NZ badge.
The next challenge for the CRC Synergy Racing team comes this Saturday night at Western Springs Speedway in Auckland for the North Island Midget Championships.
