Sadly ‘Stinga’ puttered out

SunMedia’s Kathy Sellars and her car ‘Stinga’ took on the terracotta track last night at the SunLive Baypark Speedway Demolition Derby. Photos: Doug Britton.

Tyres hit the track at last night's SunLive Baypark Speedway Demolition Derby, and SunMedia demolition driver Kathy Sellars says she had an 'epic night”.

'After weeks of build-up it was finally here.”

Though Kathy didn't quite take out the track, she says she had a blast and would do it again in a heartbeat.

'Without a doubt, as I'd like to be one of the fast cars next time!”

The car Kathy thrashed around the track last night was a specially-modified 2001 Suzuki Aerio which she's dubbed ‘Stinga'.

The pair got off to a rough start – Kathy says the first thoughts to run through her mind were technical, mechanical problems.

'I was still trying to get the car going – it kept dying with seconds of starting. Honestly I would finally get it started and get a few seconds of moving and it died again… and that was all I did.

'Stinga was there in heart, but not in body – we kept on trying and never gave up.”

Eventually, the SunMedia car came to a sputtering stop when the battery finally gave out entirely and came to a complete standstill.

'Because I kept going and going to get it started and moving, I ended up flattening the battery so I was completely dead,” says Kathy.

'One of the tractors gave me and others a push off the tracks after the race had finished.”

Kathy says she wasn't nervous to begin with, but that all changed after a short chat with a neighbour.

'I wasn't really nervous leading up to the event until I talked to a fellow neighbour on the morning of the event who has been in the industry a while and said to ensure I had as much safety gear as possible, and, along with the helmet and neck brace, to get hold of some elbow pads, shin pads and even a mouth guard.

'I thought to myself ‘Crikey it's going to be a little bit more painful than I thought'.”

But despite her apprehensions she sustained no injuries – 'just my pride as I was rotating between moving as slow a snail and being stationary”.

With all safety precautions taken, Kathy says she was strapped in tight and appreciated the security once the bumper cars began.

'I felt a little claustrophobic once I was strapped with all the safety gear on, I could hardly move to turn the ignition on and put the car into gear, there was no movement to look left or right – strapped in super tight!

'Once you were getting bashed into you certainly do appreciate all the gear.”

If you missed last night's Baypark Speedway Demolition Derby, never fear as there's another one scheduled for April 15 this year.

For more information visit www.bayparkspeedway.co.nz

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