Oval Superstars Tour

The Oval Superstars Tour (also known as OST) is a New Zealand based motorsport 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.

Oval Superstars Tour
CategoryDirt Track Racing
CountryNew Zealand
Inaugural season2013-14
Drivers28 (2018-19)
Tyre suppliersHoosier & American Racer
Drivers' champion Shane Dewar
Teams' champion Dewtec Motorsport
Official websitehttp://www.ovalsuperstars.co.nz
Current season

Heading into its sixth season in 2018–19, the tour has had five different champions in five years. The series is owned by Hadley Group and as of the 2018–19 season will be organised and promoted by a driver-lead group.

Origins

The proposal for a national series for the Minisprint class of Speedway in New Zealand was originally conceived by Wellingtonian James Hadley at the end of the 2012–13 season. Having been involved with the class for several seasons, there was an obvious need for a more organised calendar of events. Drivers supported the idea and concept of what could be achieved was soon in circulation. The following season the Oval Superstars Tour was launched, staging five events throughout the North Island.

Sporting regulations

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

Race day format

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.

Following qualifying, 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 in competed for over 30 laps.

Championship points system

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

Drivers also drop their worst round before the final championship points are confirmed.

Cars

The Oval Superstars Tour currently includes the Minisprint class.

Records

Champions
Season
Winner Race No. Chassis & Engine Second Place Third Place
2018–19 Shane Dewar 2 Hyper - Toyota Ben Vaughan Christian Hermansen
2017–18 Karl McGill 93 Terminator - Toyota Shane Dewar Lydia Dickinson
2016–17 Christian Hermansen 1 Terminator - Toyota Jade Barnett Dean Cooper
2015–16 Dean Cooper 2 Breka - Toyota Ben Vaughan Brittany Riddick
2014–15 Jade Barnett 37 Barnett - Nissan Ben Vaughan Dean Cooper
2013–14 Cameron Hurley 82 Cool - Nissan Shane Simpson Sean Rice

Oval Superstars Tour Wins

All figures correct as of the 2018–19 Grand Final, Palmerston North Speedway.

Key
Driver competed in the 2018-19 OST Season
Bold Oval Superstars Tour Champion
OST Main Event Winners
Rank Country Home Town Driver Wins Seasons active
1  New Zealand Palmerston North Christian Hermansen 12 2013–
2  New Zealand Kihikihi Jade Barnett 5 2013–18
3  New Zealand Taupo Dean Cooper 3 2014–18
4  New Zealand Hamilton Ben Vaughan 2 2013-
4  New Zealand Kapiti Jamie Larsen 2 2013–17
4  New Zealand Taranaki Shaun Dickie 2 2013–
4  New Zealand Palmerston North Karl McGill 2 2013–
4  New Zealand Taranaki Lydia Dickinson 2 2017–
9  New Zealand Palmerston North Shane Dewar 1 2013–
9  New Zealand Taranaki Sean Rice 1 2013–14
9  New Zealand Palmerston North Stephen Buys 1 2013-14

Oval Superstars Minisprint Hall of Fame
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
Year Award Category Result
2017New Zealand Speedway AwardsIndividual Event of the YearFinalist
2016New Zealand Speedway AwardsSeries of the YearFinalist
2016New Zealand Speedway AwardsArticle of the YearFinalist
2014New Zealand Speedway AwardsWebsite of the YearFinalist

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References
  1. "Oval Superstars Awards". Oval Superstars Facebook. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  2. "Oval Superstars Awards". Oval Superstars Facebook. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
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