Watkins set to renew superstock challenge | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

It's been a long time between races for Waverley farmer Richard Watkins but, fingers crossed, this Saturday night he'll be mixing it in superstock action again.

By his reckoning, he's been off the track for 11 months but with new engine parts imported from the USA, his car is primed and set to challenge for the West Coast North Island superstock crown at Oceanview Speedway on Saturday night.

"I should have been racing three months but it's been a nightmare waiting for the engine parts to arrive," Watkins said.

His car's powered by a small block Chev engine but NZ rules stipulate it must be no bigger than 248 cubic inches. Hence the need for modifications.

"It means I've had to get parts custom-made and that's both time consuming and expensive," he said.

Watkins blew the engine on his superstock last year at Palmerston North and has been off the track for nearly a year and missed a good part of the season.

Other local drivers expected to front for the West Coast meet are Mick Paul, Darryl Taylor, Scott Duncan and Morris Doyle.

The superstocks look the same as a standard stockcar but are noisier and because they can run with more modifications, they are quicker. But they probably would not get much above 100kph on the tight Oceanview track.

"Superstocks have fewer restrictions than stockcars in terms of how much you can modify the engine. The cc rating's the same but our engine can carry different modifications, we can use race tyres, quick-change diffs and race suspension," Watkinhe said.

He said Wanganui was slowly rebuilding its superstock numbers.

As well as the West Coast title there will also be a caravan derby on Saturday night. Racing starts at 7pm.