Aaron Humble WINS New Zealand TQ Championship!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 20/01/23
RaceFit©
Last week, RaceFit Athlete Aaron Humble secured his maiden New Zealand TQ Championship at Meeanee Speedway, Napier. Following heartbreak at the Hawkes Bay Championship a mere 10 days earlier, where Humble had a part failure as a result of track debris and was forced to retire with only a handful of laps to go while leading. Shrugging off the disappointment, Humble set his sights on taking home the prestigious New Zealand TQ Championship. The event produced a mammoth 46 entries. Humble was one of the hot picks next to (now ex) 4 x NZ Champion and fellow RaceFit Athlete, Jeremy Webb. Other picks included Peter Hunnibell, Cole Morrison and hopeful local Duane Todd.
Night one saw Humble finish inside the top 3 in all three heats, putting him highest points scorer at the halfway mark. On night two, Humble struggled a little more than usual with P3 and P7 finishes from the back, qualifying him on Grid 7 for the feature. Here is what Aaron had to say:
“We were strong on night one, but got held up a little in our qualifying heats on the second night. We wanted to start higher up the grid than P7, but I knew it was a long race and that we had a rapid car so it was definitely still possible. I knew I was fit, strong and focused to get the job done, so I just had to stay composed and be there at the end”
The green-flagged dropped for the 30-lap feature, and Humble sat in 5th place, before settling into 4th place while Webb was leading and looking to secure his 5th consecutive NZ title. A caution at the expense of Hunnibell allowed Humble to move up into second and chase down Webb. Showing mega pace, Humble closed the gap to the leader and made an assertive move where Webb had left the door open coming out of turn 4. Webb and Todd then came together, which allowed the rest of the field to bunch up and attack Humble in the remaining few laps due to a caution. In true champion fashion, Humble drove away to secure another NZ title for the RaceFit team.
Humble joins other athletes such as Jeremy Webb (TQ), Hayden Guptill (TQ) and Mitch Rees (Superbike) to secure a national title under the watchful eye of the RaceFit athlete preparation program. Aaron commented on his latest achievement:
“I am absolutely pumped for my team and sponsors. We have all worked so hard to put us in the strongest position possible to win this, and have run every possible meeting we could at Meeanee, and put endless hours into developing the car. There has been so much that has gone into this whole weekend. I made a promise to myself when I lost my mother, that I would podium at this event to make her proud, and now I have won it. It was an emotional moment, and I know she would be proud and that’s what means to most to me. I can’t thank my team and sponsors enough for everything”
He added:
“I had trained hard for this weekend and worked closely with Tyler and the RaceFit team to ensure I was in the best shape possible to tackle the 30-lap feature. After speaking to the other competitors, I knew I had an advantage with my conditioning already. We also worked on ensuring that my weight with my race gear, in the car was exactly where we wanted it to make sure we weren’t carrying any extra weight. My training included lots of racecar-specific muscular endurance, paired with mobility, after building a solid foundation and getting my strength level where it need to be. Any motorsport athlete who isn’t taking their conditioning seriously is already behind the 8-ball”
Working with an athlete as dedicated as Aaron is a true delight for a coach, and it’s great to see his work ethic pay off. Now we will continue Aaron's athletic development for his future motorsport ambitions, starting with the New Zealand TQ Grand Prix at Western Springs Speedway later this year.