Oval Superstars Tour

Oval Superstars Tour
CategoryDirt track racing
CountryNew Zealand
Tyre suppliersHoosier & American Racer
Drivers' championNew Zealand Shane Dewar
Teams' championNew Zealand Dewtec Motorsport
Official websitehttp://www.ovalsuperstars.co.nz
Current season

The Oval Superstars Tour (also known as OST) is a New Zealand based dirt track racing series, with championship rounds held throughout the North Island. Founded in 2013, the tour has grown to become a consistent fixture on the New Zealand Speedway calendar.

Heading into its eighth season in 2020–21, the tour had five different champions in five years, before Shane Dewar went back to back in the last two tours.

Origins

[edit]

The proposal for a national series for the Minisprint class of Speedway in New Zealand was originally conceived at the end of the 2012–13 season. There was an obvious need for a more organised calendar of events for the class in order to promote it further. The drivers, then, supported the idea and soon the concept of what could be achieved was in circulation. The following season the Oval Superstars Tour was launched, staging five events throughout the North Island.

Sporting regulations

[edit]

The OST is run at venues licensed by Speedway New Zealand, the major governing body of Speedway in NZ.

Race day format

[edit]

In most cases, an OST event consists of the field of cars being split into three even groups. There are three qualifying heats to sort the grid for the Main Event. In each heat, two groups will take part, with the grids ordered to give all drivers a fair chance across the night. As an example, Heat One is Group 1 & 2, Heat Two is Group 1 & 3 & Heat Three is Group 2 & 3. Drivers receive grid points for the race results, with first place taking 24, second 23, third 22 and so on.

After qualification, driver's grids for the Main Event are determined by their grid points, with the highest points scorers starting at the front. Main Events are usually 20 laps in distance, except for the tour's annual premier event—the Windy City Showdown, which is competed for over 30 laps.

Championship points system

[edit]

Drivers will earn championship points in heat races if they finish inside the top 10 positions, or in the Main Event if they finished inside the top 12. All drivers arriving at an event also receive 15 bonus points regardless of finishing position.

  1. Heat points: 1st: 15, 2nd: 12, 3rd: 10, 4th: 8, 5th: 6, 6th: 5, 7th: 4, 8th: 3, 9th: 2, 10th: 1
  2. Main Event points: 1st: 25, 2nd: 18, 3rd: 15, 4th: 12, 5th: 10, 6th: 8, 7th: 6, 8th: 5, 9th: 5, 10th: 3, 11th: 2, 12th: 1

Cars

[edit]

The Oval Superstars Tour currently includes the Minisprint class.

Records

[edit]

Champions

[edit]
Season
Winner Race No. Chassis & Engine Second Place Third Place
2020–21 New Zealand Elliot Heron 72h Breka - Toyota New Zealand Cameron Hurley New Zealand Dylan Smith
2019–20 New Zealand Shane Dewar 1NZ Hyper - Toyota New Zealand Elliot Heron New Zealand Dylan Smith
2018–19 New Zealand Shane Dewar 2NZ Hyper - Toyota New Zealand Ben Vaughan New Zealand Christian Hermansen
2017–18 New Zealand Karl McGill 93p Terminator - Toyota New Zealand Shane Dewar New Zealand Lydia Dickinson
2016–17 New Zealand Christian Hermansen 1NZ Terminator - Toyota New Zealand Jade Barnett New Zealand Dean Cooper
2015–16 New Zealand Dean Cooper 2NZ Breka - Toyota New Zealand Ben Vaughan New Zealand Brittany Riddick
2014–15 New Zealand Jade Barnett 37k Barnett - Nissan New Zealand Ben Vaughan New Zealand Dean Cooper
2013–14 New Zealand Cameron Hurley 82s Cool - Nissan New Zealand Shane Simpson New Zealand Sean Rice

Oval Superstars Tour Wins

[edit]

All figures correct end of 2019–20 season.

Key
Bold Oval Superstars Tour Champion
OST Main Event Winners
Rank Country Driver Wins Active
1  New Zealand Christian Hermansen 12 2013–19
2  New Zealand Jade Barnett 5 2013–18
3  New Zealand Shane Dewar (2) 3 2013-
3  New Zealand Dean Cooper 3 2014–18
5  New Zealand Ben Vaughan 2 2013-
5  New Zealand Jamie Larsen 2 2013–17
5  New Zealand Shaun Dickie 2 2013-
5  New Zealand Karl McGill 2 2013–19
5  New Zealand Lydia Dickinson 2 2017–19
10  New Zealand Sean Rice 1 2013–14
10  New Zealand Stephen Buys 1 2013-14
10  New Zealand Elliot Heron 1 2018-

Oval Superstars Minisprint Hall of Fame

[edit]
Year Person Notes
2017 Shaun Cooke (Hamilton) 5x New Zealand Minisprint Champion
2019 Declan Roe (Levin) OST National Rep, former NZ#2 Minisprint

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Result
2017 New Zealand Speedway Awards Individual Event of the Year Finalist
2016 New Zealand Speedway Awards Series of the Year Finalist
2016 New Zealand Speedway Awards Article of the Year Finalist
2014 New Zealand Speedway Awards Website of the Year Finalist

[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Oval Superstars Awards". Oval Superstars Facebook. Retrieved 27 June 2016.