Matt Bailey Motorsport

22/08/2026

Well… the car is officially wrapped in its pretty new colours! Huge praise to Thomas at Larsons Signs, a vision we put forward and his teams talent to deliver👀🔥

If you know us, you’ll know we always try to create something a little out the gate and completely different and this time, I reckon we’ve absolutely nailed it!

Who wants to see what might just be the best scheme we’ve ever created? 🫣🤔

Watch this space for a reveal coming soon👀

11/08/2026

SPONSOR SHOUT OUT # 2

A massive shout out to Chris Johnston and the team at VIP Electrical Solutions / R.Grant Electrical for jumping on board with us for the upcoming speedway season!

Chris has backed us for a few seasons in the past under Luminate Electrical, and it’s awesome to have him back on board, now rebranded as VIP Electrical Solutions and doing big things!

We’re grateful for the support. Speedway simply wouldn’t happen without good people and businesses getting in behind us, so make sure to return the favour!

If you’ve got any electrical work needing done, big or small, get in touch with Chris and the team at VIP Electrical Solutions. Support the people who support us! ⚡️🏁

Thanks again mate, stoked to have you along for the ride this season! 🤝🏎️

Formerly R Grant Electrical, proudly serving North Canterbury for over 45 years. With new leadership and fresh energy, we’ve rebranded to VIP Electrical Solutions - continuing the same trusted service, now with a bold new look.

07/08/2026

As we gear up for a busy new speedway season, things are starting to get pretty exciting behind the scenes 👀🔥

The car is getting its graphics slapped on as we speak and let me tell you, it is looking absolutely out the gate
Cannot wait to finally show everyone the finished product and of course our new signage man!

But today’s appreciation post is for Cody and his building company Cody Hague Homes LTD, who have jumped on board and is supporting us for the upcoming season. Really grateful to have another awesome local business backing what we do and helping get the 78C out on track 🙌🏻

If you’ve got a building job that needs doing, big or small, Cody James Hague is your man! Make sure you get in touch and support a good local bloke doing good work.

We always say it, look after the people and businesses that look after us. Without the support of these guys, doing what we love would be a whole lot harder.

Cheers for jumping on board Cody! Really appreciate the support mate, and looking forward to having your name riding with us this season 🏁🤝

Not long now… Stay tuned for sponsor updates, and a car reveal in the coming weeks 🤩🚀

Christchurch based Construction team specialising in quality renovation, extensions, new builds & custom work.
Locally owned.
Quality you can trust.
Licensed Builder / NZCB

08/07/2026

Want to join the team for the 2026/2027 Speedway Season?! 🏁🔥

Huge thanks to my cuz Steven Palmer for putting me back in the car full-time this season! 🤝

We’re back and rearing to go! A brand new look is currently being designed behind the scenes, with presentation being a huge focus this year. We can’t wait to unveil it!

With plenty of trips planned around the South Island this season, there’ll be fantastic opportunities for your brand or business to have its logo proudly displayed and promoted at tracks across the region, providing great exposure throughout the season.

If you’re interested in joining the team and coming along for the ride, we’d love to have a chat, Sponsorship Proposal provided and different options available🏎️🏁🤗

11/04/2026

King of the Coast 1st overall and BNT Feature winner. A good successful day here on the coast with two 1sts and cruising home in 3rd to win the day.

Huge thanks to Steven at Palmer Motorsports for the countless hours giving up the race seat and allowing me to turn laps in this weapon.

Also to the race day crew of Jesse Whitaker, Jason Sherlock and Steven Palmer for keeping the car prepped and ready to battle.

Thanks to:
Jaw Autosport
Cody Hague Homes
Oxford Couriers
Harris Signs & Graphix

Thats us for the season, been a ripper! Have a safe off season, see what 2027/2028 brings! 💪🏻🏁🏆👑

14/03/2026

Season wrap up 🏁

Firstly the season didn’t start how we wanted it to. We were chasing a few gremlins early on and had a number of meetings where we were limited to only a few laps due to car failures. Huge credit to my cousin Steven Palmer Palmer Motorsports who never gave up chasing the issues. We ended up getting Jesse Whitaker from JAW Autosport Ltd involved and he’s an absolute wizard at what he does. He managed to find the problem that had been holding us back and once that was sorted things started to turn around.

From there the car started to show its pace. We had a good run at the Remembrance Champs, brought the car home in 3rd at the Canterbury Champs, and managed to set a new 8 lap record in the process which was pretty special.

The real highlight though was how we finished the season last night at Best Pairs. Massive credit to Steve and Graham for the time spent in the shed preparing the car because it was absolutely on rails.

Race 1 we started off grid 10 and managed to bring it home in 3rd. Had a hell of a drive running the high line and picked up some really good points.

Race 2 we started grid 5 and brought it home in 1st place, and in the process beat the 10 lap record by 4 seconds.

Race 3 we started off grid 1 and were able to check out early and leave the field behind. The car was glued to the bottom and handled beautifully. Ended up winning by over half a lap and beat the 10 lap record again, this time by 6 seconds. Safe to say it was a pretty good night.

Then to top it off we found out at prizegiving that we had won Best Pairs, and I got to do it alongside my childhood best mate Nik Fraser in the 17C rear skidda. Absolute legend of a fella and that made it even more special.

Huge thanks to Steven and the whole team for trusting me in such a rocket of a car. I hope I did you proud. Also really appreciative of all the crew throughout the season who chipped in and helped wherever it was needed.

A massive thank you to my wife for holding things down at home, and to my son and wee girls who are my biggest supporters. Letting Dad go spin laps and do what he loves. Couldn’t do it without that support behind the scenes.

Lastly a big thanks to the sponsors on the car this season:
Jaw Autosport
Oxford Couriers
Cody Hague Homes

Really appreciate the support this year. We’ll take a bit of time now and see what plans might be in store for next season.

Matt
78C 🏁💪🏻🏆

28/01/2026

Canterbury Champs week! Really looking forward to this one with a solid field of competitive drivers/some of those in some serious form. We are lucky enough to have been offered 78C from Steven Palmer at the start of the season! Few meetings of gremlins and issues, but on top of that now and ready to put the foot to the floor🚀

Hope our bad luck is over and out! Got close at Rememberance Champs but a tyre blew out in the feature cost us a podium while running 2nd from grid 11🤞🏻

We kept our socials quiet for a while as we don’t have our own cars anymore, but want to thank all those that continue to support and stick by us!

Special mention to my wife for putting up with the ‘one more race meeting’ chat but still holding it down at home while i go have a bit of a blast!

Lastly, couldn’t do it without the backing of Steven and his hard yards prepping and preparing the car week in week out so its ready to go race day! Thanks for trusting me with the whip and i’m sure you can’t wait to get back behind the wheel!

Good luck to all competitors and safe travels to the C boys repping the T travelling from a mile away, and the V lads for coming down from up North!

See you Saturday🏁🏁

The stage is set, the clay is waiting, and the Production Saloons are ready to throw down. This Saturday, 31st January, Woodford Glen Speedway Association Inc. lights up for what’s shaping up to be one of the most stacked Canterbury Championship fields we’ve seen in a long time.

Will 28T James Westerman go back-to-back? He’s in red-hot form and never shy about sending it the long way round when it counts. But he won’t have it easy. 99C Nik Fraser is flying right now, top form, top stats, and very much Christchurch’s man to beat.

The North Island influence is strong too. 434V Brent Hackett, former 2NZ and a huge trophy collector up north, arrives at the peak of his game, while 48V Ray Jaggard will be just as keen to spoil the locals’ party.

Eyes will be on the home soil too. 86C Dave Fillius rolls out a his new built Commodore and will be itching to make a statement in front of the locals. And never count out Mr Consistent, 17T Vaughan Fairburn, ex 3NZ, knows exactly how to put himself where it matters when the points start to count.

Can Ex 1NZ currently running 78C Matt Bailey steer the Palmer Motorsports machine into contention, or will the gremlins strike again? Has 12C Simon Booth found his feet quickly enough to mix it with the big guns? And what about the wildcard, 17C Willie Woodhouse, veteran racer, ex 3NZ and current 71C saloon, jumping back in for his first skid and more than capable of shaking things right up.

One trophy. One top step. No easy heats.
This is going to be gritty, fast, and unpredictable.

Plus let’s not forget, there are still 5 remaining spots up for grabs, with an already stacked 15-car field confirmed. If this is the quality we’ve got locked in already, those final entries could turn this into something seriously special 👀🔥

Current confirmed entries:
28T – James Westerman
99C – Nik Fraser
47E – Jordan Scott
78C – Matt Bailey
17T – Vaughan Fairburn
86C – Dave Fillius
188C – Greg Rooney
12C – Simon Booth
69C – Chelsea Williams
84C – Alesha Smith
48V – Ray Jaggard
612C – Lexus Prendergast
66C – Matt Cox
434V – Brent Hackett
17C – Willie Woodhouse

🏆Get your backside trackside this Saturday night, massive quality field, huge racing, and a Canterbury Championship you do not want to miss.🏆

(Credit to Chelsea Ellmers & Matt Bailey for assisting with our wee poster)

23/04/2025

It’s the end of an era — the ex-1NZ car has officially found a new home!

We won’t give too much away just yet, but we can say this: the new owner is a talented young gun making the move into the adult grade, and we’re excited to watch his journey unfold behind the wheel of this machine.

We want to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone who has supported us over the years in the Production Grade. From loyal sponsors to the crew who’ve picked up spanners when needed — your support has meant the world to us and made everything we’ve achieved possible.

As for William, he’s decided to step back from driving for now to focus on other priorities. But don’t worry — this isn’t goodbye. When the time is right, we’ll be back.

Thanks again for being part of the ride

30/03/2025

🏁 End of Season Wrap-Up at Woodford Glen! 🏁

Matt made his way to Woodford Glen for the final meeting of the season and came home with some impressive results! He secured 2nd overall on individual points and claimed 1st overall in Best Pairs—a solid finish to a strong season!

Unfortunately, William couldn't attend due to farm commitments, but we look forward to seeing him back next season!

In other news, Richard's FTO is up for sale—if you're after a weapon of a car, be sure to reach out to him. And William’s car is also on the market; if it doesn’t find a new home, it will be back on track next season!

Big thanks to all the fans and supporters this year

15/02/2025

The Canterbury Champs was certainly an eventful one, starting with a bit of a setback. I had to replace a right front hub after a wheel bearing collapsed, a result of some hard racing in Greymouth last weekend. Huge thanks to Brad Gordon for stepping in and lending a hand much appreciated!

Race 1: Started on grid 8 and finished on grid 9
Race 2: Started on grid 17 and finished on grid 7
Race 3: From grid 2 to crossing the finish line in **1st place**! 🏁 That’s my first checkered flag for the season! 🙌

I ended the night 4th overall, which I’m stoked about. It's been a challenging few meetings with teething issues on the car, but we’ve finally found and eliminated the cause. The car is now where it should be, power-wise, and it feels great!

A massive shoutout to my sponsors for all the support:
- **Hammonds Collision + Mechanical**
- **Harris Signs & Graphix**
- **JAW Autosport Ltd**
- **iFix Automotive & Mechanical Wanganui**

As for the upcoming meetings, things are a bit uncertain at the moment. William is set to undergo a double shoulder operation soon, which will keep him on the sidelines for about a year. We're hoping to finish out the season, but we’ll keep you all posted once we have more info.

Thanks again to everyone for the continued support 👊

a big congratulations to the top 3

🥇James Adam Westerman
🥈Vaughan Fairbairn
🥉James Archbold