October 2000
28.....This Gosford report compiled by Anthony McGuire and Jan Grainger.............
.................The Lynx
Gosford Showground Speedway staged meeting no.2 for the 2000-001
calendar season with the Radio 2GO FM Speedway Super Prix. The meeting
featuring
nsw's best Solo riders and the return of British League riders Adam Shields
and Lee Herne for their first meeting of the Australian summer. A
unseasonly
overcast and cool night greeted a rather healthy crowd on hand to witness the
first real hit out of the year for the Solo riders. The support program
comprised of top line Sidecar teams from all the country including the return
of reigning Aussie champs O'Brien's for W.A. and local gun team Grant
Bond/Victor Gavenlock. The racing was
fast and furious from the opening heat
with Ben Shields upsetting the local "sultan of Slide" Mick Poole with a
first up heat win. Adam Shields stormed home to victory in his first heat
with Lee Herne coming home 2nd and from all reports his improvement after his
first season in the British Premiers was evident after watching him go
around. The sidecar heats saw the teams of Cleave, Bond, O'Brien and Houston
take the early honours in the lead up to the finals.
The Sidecar Final was a hard fought affair with the eventual winners going to
the outfit of Andy Cleave/ Dave Power , Bond 2nd and O'Brien in 3rd.
The Solo Final went to yet again Mick Poole whom was hard pressed by Adam
Shields all night who finished 2nd and 3rd went to the impressive looking
Dean Wiseman.
(*3rd was officially awarded to Lee
Fernance as Wiseman did not qualify but
competed in the Final through invitation and was placed at a 20 metre handicap)
Report and riders scores courtesy of Jan Grainger.
Main Programme
Solo Heat 1
Ben Shields 1st
Mick Poole 2nd
Peter Pono 3rd
Time : not given
Peter Pono fell but remounted to finish, Dean Wiseman fell and Shane
Haggerty blew his motor on the starting
line.
Solo Heat 2
Adam Shields 1st
Lee Herne 2nd
Daniel Mason 3rd
Dave Stevens 4th
Jay Stevens 5th
Time 59.85
Good solid ride from Daniel Mason to take 3rd.
Solo Heat 3
1st Tony Primmer
2ND Ty Platt
3RD Leigh Fernance
4TH Dave Booth
60.60
Sidecars Heat 1
Grant Bond/Victor Gavenlock 1st Convincingly
Steve Houston/Brian Young
2nd
Glenn & Nathan O’Brien 3rd
Mark Griffiths/Chris Wilson 4th
Jim-Bob Turner/George Rickard 5th
TIME: 63.67
Sidecar Heat 2
Andrew Cleave/Dave Power 1st
Steven Taylor/Dave Oliver 2nd
Chris Pym/Dean Edwards 3rd
Gavin Edwards/Stephen Saunders 4th
TIME: 62.69
C. Grade solo final
Matt Saggus 1st
Paul Mahoney. 2nd
Sidecar C & B Final
Alana Harrington/Josh Barbara 1st
Mick Saunders
2nd
Paul Allen
3rd
TIME: 68.26
Solo Heat 4
Ty Platt 1st
Ben Shields 2nd
Daniel Mason 3rd
Tony Primmer 4th
Lee Herne 5th
TIME: 60.30
Solo Heat 5
Mick Poole 1st
Adam Shields 2nd
Leigh Fernance 3rd
Dave Booth DNF
Shane Haggerty DNS
TIME: 60.18
Solo Heat 6
Peter Pono 1st
Rodney McDonald 2nd
David Stevens 3rd
Jaye Stevens 4th
Dean Wiseman DNS
TIME 63.62
Sidecar Heat 3
Andrew Cleave 1st
Chris Pym 2nd
Darren Cafe/Derrick Williams 3rd
Gavin Edwards/Stephen Saunders 4th
Alana replaced Mark Griffiths 5th
Sidecar Heat 4
Steven Taylor 1st
Glenn O;Brien 2nd
Grant Bond 3rd
Steve Houston 4th
Jim Bob Turner 5th
TIME: 63.66
Solo Heat 7
Dean Wiseman 1st
Ty Platt 2nd
Ben Shields 3rd
TIME: 62.19
Solo Heat 8
Mick Poole 1st
Adam Shields 2nd
Lee Herne 3rd
David Stevens 4th
TIME: 60.31
Solo Heat 9
Tony Primmer 1st
Leigh Fernance 2nd
Jaye Stevens 3rd
Booth DNS
Pono Fell
TIME: 62.30
Sidecar Heat 5
Grant Bond 1st
Glenn O’Brien 2nd
Steve Houston 3rd
Steven Taylor 4th
Darren Cafe DNS - machine problems - as usual
Sidecar Heat 6
Andrew Cleave 1st
Chris Pym 2nd
Jim Bob Turner 3rd
Gavin Edwards had young Stephen Saunders as passenger. It appeared that
Gavin may have been going a bit hard, especially with a novice on board and
Stephen fell from the chair, Chris Pym’s tray collecting him. Looked
horrible but we believe Stephen is okay but pretty sore.
Sidecar Final
Andrew Cleave 1st
Grant Bond 2nd
Glenn O’Brien 3rd
Pym and Taylor 4th and 5th?
TIME: 60.38
Cleave won convincingly, great battle between BOND and O'BRIEN.
Solo Final
Mick Poole 1st
Adam Shields 2nd
*Leigh Fernance 3rd
Tony Primmer fell at the pit gates just before the flag with a suspected
broken collarbone. Ben Shields came down also.
*After two unfortunate engine failures plus a solid win in the heats, Dean Wiseman
failed to qualify for the Solo Final. He approached track organisers in a bid to ride in
the 10 lap Final. It was agreed to allow the young gun to ride, but off a 20 metre
handicap. Dean then finished third, however Fernance was awarded that place.
Good crowd in attendance and the Extreme Jump Spectacular featuring Dayne
Kinnaird (NSW) and Nigel Brown (WA) was certainly SPECTACULAR. The skies
came over very, very dark but no rain fell throughout the meet
28.....Round 2 of the 'Jack Daniel's Golden Helmet Series' at Rockhampton, Queensland. Report from Gavin Elmes.........
....................Andreas Jonsson extended his lead in the "Jack Daniels International Golden Helmet Series" with a faultless Round 2 performance at the Rockhampton Showgrounds. The slick-gating Swede dominated the meeting, winning all of his six starts emphatically. Jonsson was a joy to watch as he swept around the outside line of the circular track, increasing his lead with each lap.His Swedish colleague, Daniel Nermark, sidestepped the mechanical gremlins which dogged him in the first round to follow the World Under 21 Champion home for second place in the Final. Russian Champion, Sergie Darkin, again filled third spot after Poland's Krzysztof Cegielski exited stage left with engine failure in the first lap.
The Consolation Final was unchanged from gate to flag, with Pole Zbigniew Czerwinski leading in Ukraine's Alexandr Lyatosinskyy and Queenslander Trent Leverington. Fellow Aussie, Scott Smith, failed to start due to machine problems.
Star performer of the Australian contingent was Brisbane's Clinton Leitch. Although the scorechart grants him only one point, Leitch's barnstorming, never-say-die charges around the fence were real heart stoppers. Three times as he tried to get the better of his international opponents, Lady Luck conspired against him and sent him crashing to earth just when glory seemed in his grasp.
His only glimpse of the chequered flag came in his second heat, when he just missed out on a fence scraping effort to snatch second place from Czerwinski.
Out of the gloom, Leitch was able to salvage the consolation of not only recording the fastest time in the opening Lap Dash event, but breaking Leigh Adams' one lap record as well.
New Zealander Daniel McKinlay's dream was again haunted by mechanical nightmares which allowed him complete just his first two races.
Local Rockhampton whiz kid, Luke Kluver, gave a fair account of himself with three thirds in the heats, while the other Queenslander, Todd Groves, brought up the rear but continued upwards on the learning curve.
Continuing fixtures in England have now ruled Ales and Lukas Dryml out of the series, but home riders such as Jason Crump will be drafted into their places.
... details................
Qual. points...
Andreas Jonsson SWE...12
Sergie Darkin RUS...11
Krzysztof Cegielski POL...9
Daniel Nermark SWE...8
Zbigniew Czerwinski POL...7
Alex Lyatosinskyy UKR...7
Scott Smith AUS...5
Trent Leverington AUS...4
Daniel McKinlay NZ...3
Luke Kluver AUS...3
Clinton Leitch AUS...1
Todd Groves AUS...1
1st Semi-final...
1..Jonsson
2..Cegielski
3..Czerwinski
4..Smith
2nd Semi-final...
1..Nermark
2..Darkin
3..Lyatosinskyy
4..Leverington
Consolation Final...
1..Czerwinski
2..Lyatosinskyy
3..Leverington
4..Smith - no start
Golden Helmet Final...
1..Jonsson
2..Nermark
3..Darkin
4..Cegielski - ef
Round 2 points...Jonsson..12, Nermark..11, Darkin..10, Cegielski..9, Czerwinski..8, Lyatosinskyy..7, Leverington..6, Smith..5, McKinlay..4, Kluver..3, Groves..2, Leitch..1
Series points...
1.Jonsson..24, 2.Cegielski..20, 3.Darkin..20, 4.Nermark..16, 5.Lyatosinskyy..16,
6.Czerwinski..16, 7.McKinlay..10, 8.Leverington..10, 9.Leitch..8, 10.Smith..6,
11.Groves..4, 12.Dave Watt (Aust.)..3, 13.Kluver..3.
28.....It's been an uphill struggle, but the new Kwinana Motorplex in Western Australia looks set for a grand opening on December 15.
With the world famous 'Claremont Speedway' now just a memory, all eyes centre on Perth's new motor racing complex to the south of the city. Kwinana operators Con Migro and Gary Miocevich were able to battle through 'red tape' and local community obstacles to have this state of the art Speedway and Drag Racing complex built from an Industrial wasteland. The Kwinana Motorplex will cost the WA State Government $18 million.
A 360 metre Motorcycle Speedway has been constructed inside the 500 metre Car track and should dispel any future track preparation hassles between the race classes.
Both Solos and Sidecars will feature alongside the Car classes on the opening Friday night, with a Drag Race meeting at the venue the following night. The Complex will be used extensively throughout summer as a heavy racing schedule has been proposed.
A very informative web site has been established at www.motorplex.com.au
With thanks to Clive Campbell.
21-22.....Tamworth Speedway results from 'Speedway Afternoon' and 'Club Day' from Steve and Melissa Bignall.............
21/10/00
Junior Speedway Solos
1st Daine Stevens
2nd Troy Bachelor
3rd Michael Slade
Senior Solos A Grade
1st Daniel Mason
2nd Jaye Stevens
3rd Dave Stevens
Senior Solos B
1st Steve Chaffey
2nd Richard Radmore
3rd Brian Thomas
Sidecars
1st Turner/Rickard
2nd Sippel/Jones
3rd Bignall/Barwick
Results from the Club Day 22/10/00
Junior 125cc
equal 1st of Brendan Herden and AJ Muggleton
2nd Ben Nixon
3rd M Smith
60cc
10-12 yrs
1st Matt Rose
2nd A Perkins
60cc 7-9 years
1st Curtis Barwick
equal 2nd Cody McGregor and Clarissa Jones
3rd Travis Jones
80cc
1st Marty McNamara
2nd Matt Rose
3rd Brendan Herden
4-Stroke
1st J Hall
2nd Ty McIntosh
3rd Sarah Jones
4th Emma McIntosh
5th Jed Worthington
Sidecars A Grade
1st J Turner/G Rickard
2nd G Sippel/S Jones
Sidecars B Grade
1st J Dunn/W Louis
2nd T Nixon/L Sampson
Speedway Solos SNR
1st Peter Pono
2nd Mitch Halls
3rd Rick Radmore
4th Brian Thomas
Quads
1st Aug McLoughlin
2nd M Ingram
3rd S Jones
Speedway Solos JNR
1st Michael Slade
equal 2nd Brendan Herden and Jed Worthington
3rd Luke Slade
SNR Dirt Track B Grade
1st Tim Jones
Clubman
1st Pat Barnett
Open MX
1st Josh McCosker
2nd Andrew Hamilton
Matt Pritchard
Nippers
1st Jake McLoughlin
2nd Cody McGregor
3rd Cody Worthington
4th Beau Burgess
PeeWees
1st Sharnelle Sippel
Everyone at TMCC wishes Steve
Chaffey (Chaff) a quick and speedy recovery
from a broken arm....
21.....It was a fantastic start to the Jack Daniel's Golden Helmet Series at Maryborough last night with Sweden's Andreas Jonsson showing the big crowd why he recently won the World U/21 Championship. While Jonsson didn't have his own way out of the gate in most cases, he was pure class into his rides with stunning passes both inside and outside, and amazing line switching whenever needed.
The Maryborough track had little to offer in the way of drive early in the meeting, however came to life during heat 8 as New Zealand's young gun Daniel McKinlay persisted with a very wide outside pass on last years Series winner Alex Lyatosinskyy (Ukraine) which lasted well over a lap! From then on, riders were rewarded as they searched wider for the drive. The Kiwi's tremendous promise later evaporated into despair as his engine destroyed itself in a big way, prompting a motor swap.
Poland's Krzysztof Cegielski eventually found form after a slow start to his night with a very hard fought victory over Jonsson in heat 10 where passing and re-passing were the order of the race.
1997 Golden Helmet winner
Sergie Darkin of Russia raced straight into top form in this series and was only
beaten once in his four heat rides by an awesomely determined Brisbanite Clinton Leitch who also ventured wide into the drive for the upset.
Poland's Zbigniew Czerwinski began his maiden Golden
Helmet series campaign by winning the programme opening lap dash feature then showed
enough in his four heats that he'll trouble the opposition as the Series progresses.
Daniel Nermark returned to Australia for his third Series and launched straight into action only narrowly losing to Jonsson in the opening heat. From there, the Swede was let down by mechanical failure, so much so that an engine change was made without success.
Of the hometwon riders, Leitch was troubled in his first heat by an errant drive chain that resulted in worrying damage, however he bounced back and finished top Aussie of the night. Rising star, Gold Coaster Trent Leverington relished the oppotunity to 'mix it' with top-line Speedway talent and rode the race of his life to record a heat win over Lyatosinskyy and Czerwinski by virtue of a calm and calculated outside pass in heat 11 which took two laps. Unlucky Dave Watt once again succumbed to mechanical gremlins and parked the bike after two strong second placings in his heats. Todd Groves untroubled the score sheet on the night but was never far from the action and definitely learnt from the experience.
Semi-Final one saw Cegielski 'hit his straps' and comfortably lead home Darkin from Czerwinski with Leverington's chain skipping off.
The second Semi turned into a grudge match between Lyatosinskyy and Jonsson, where both were uninterested in second place (even though 1st AND 2nd resulted in a Final berth) and fought race long with the Ukrainian winning but a whisker. Clinton Leitch ran third with the luckless Nermark trailing to fourth on an upset bike.
With Nermark unable to contest the Consolation Final, McKinlay was able to resume racing courtesy of some slick pit work by 'Team Titman'. Czerwinski lead home Leitch from McKinlay and Leverington in that 'B' Final.
The 4 lap Final promised to be a crowd pleaser and the riders delivered. Lyatosinskyy lead from the gate hounded by Jonsson and Cegielski with Darkin trailling. The Swede drew alongside the leader well into lap two as he attempted an outside pass, however the track was slickening off out wide. A very quick switch back to the inside on turn two of lap 3 gave the World U/21 champ the lead. Cegielski then came into contention low on the track passing Lyatosinskyy as well. Darkin loomed as a threat once wound up and also 'pegged of' the initial leader. The Pole simply could not bridge the narrow gap Jonsson had, and settled for second as the Russian proved threatening. Lyatosinskyy then idled over the line to fourth.
It was a brilliant start to the Series with all riders putting on a great show and with both Ales and Lukas Dryml from the Czech Republic joining the fray for the next round at Rockhampton this saturday, augurs well for yet another Ivan Mauger promoted Series 'Hit'.
Round 1 details.
Andreas Jonsson... 3,3,3,2=11
Todd Groves...0,0,0,0=0
Daniel Nermark...2,ef,ns,2=4
Alex Lyatosinskyy...1,2,3,2=8
Daniel McKinlay...0,3,1,1=5
Trent Leverington...1,1,1,3=6
Sergie Darkin...3,3,2,3=11
Dave Watt...2,2,ns,ns=4
Clinton Leitch...ef,1,3,ef=4
Krzysztof Cegielski...2,2,2,3=9
Scott Smith...dnr
Zbigniew Czerwinski...3,1,2,1=7
Semi#1...Cegielski, Darkin, Czerwinski, Leverington
Semi#2...Lyatosinskyy, Jonsson, Leitch, Nermark
Consolation....Czerwinski, Leitch, McKinlay, Leverington.
Final...Jonsson, Cegielski, Darkin, Lyatosinskyy.
Series points..........Jonsson 12, Cegielski 11, Darkin 10, Lyatosinskyy 9, Czerwinski 8, Leitch 7, McKinlay 6, Leverington 5, Nermark 4, Watt 3, Groves 2, Smith 1.
16.....Entries close with the last mail this Friday (October
20) for the annual
Bathurst long track motorcycle meeting, scheduled for Saturday 4 November.
Main events on the program will the Long Track Solo Open for slider machines
and the Long Track Sidecar Open for speedway sidecar machines. There will
also be the third staging of the Bluey Wilkinson Memorial Trophy for
speedway solo machines.
In addition, the support classes cater for a great variety of machines
including junior classes.
For information contact Kevin McDonald 02 63 311955.
12.....Results of the 4th round of the Club Championships at Tamworth Speedway from Steve and Melissa Bignall............
Speedway Sidecars
Entrants: Terry Nixon/ Luke Sampson, Steve Bignall/ Greg Barwick
Jim-Bob Turner/ George Rickard, Graeme Sippel/ Steve Jones, Gary McIntosh/ Dick Nicholls.
1st: Turner/ Rickard
2nd: Sippel/ Jones
3rd: Fire/ Sampson
Junior Speedway
Entrants: Mick Slade, Luke Slade, Sasha Worthington, Clarissa Jones.
1st: Mick Slade
2nd: Luke Slade
3rd: Sasha Worthington
250cc
Entrants: Tim Jones,
T Girot, Josh Watts, Troy O`Meagher
1st: Troy O`Meagher
2nd: Tim Jones
3rd: Tim Girot
60cc
Entrants: Clarissa Jones, Travis Jones, Seth Hawkins, Anthony Perks, Curtis Barwick, Cody McGregor, Matt Rose, Sasha Worthington
1st: Curtis Barwick
2nd: Clarissa Jones
3rd: Cody McGregor
11-13 yrs
1st: Matt Rose
2nd: Sasha Worthington
3rd: Anthony Perks
125cc Junior
Entrants: Ben Nixon, Josh Hedges, AJ Muggleton, Jonathon Peasley, Brendan Herden.
1st: Brendan Herden
2nd: Ben Nixon
3rd: AJ Muggleton
Quads
Dave Porter
Clubman
Pat Barnett
80cc
Entrants: Marty McNamara, Matt Rose, Brendan Herden
1st Brendan Herden
2nd Marty McNamara
3rd Matt Rose
Pee Wees
Entrants: Sharnelle Sippel, Beau Burgess, J Burgess, Cody McGregor, Jake McLoughlin, Matthew Sweeney
1st: Cody McGregor
2nd: Sharnelle Sippel
3rd: J Burgess
B Grade Speedway
Entrants: Neil Kerrigan
Mick Choice, Steve Chaffey, Trevor Baker, Richard Radmore.
1st: Rick Radmore
2nd: Steve Chaffey
3rd: Mick Choice
A Grade Speedway
Entrants: Trent Leverington, D Dall, Barry Morgan, Justin Carroll, Todd Groves
1st: Todd Groves
2nd: D Dall
3rd: Justin Carroll
7.....A new era in Australian Speedway roared into action
in comprehensive fashion
last night with the 1st meeting of the 2000/001 season at the newly
renovated Lynx Gosford Showground Speedway. Under the Stewardship of new
Promoters David Tapp and Geoffrey Lowe, the facility which was previously
run by Gosford Legend Terry Poole (Mick's Dad) has under gone a major
redevelopment over the off season period. The most noticeable being the
widening of the track to accommodate 6 Solo riders and 5 Sidecar teams, The
pits now relocated to the stable yards on the Southern side of the track and
new pit gate entry, a new spectator "Hill" at the Northern End of Turn 1
provides the most stunning vantage point for Speedway fans.
Extra lighting has been installed and a number of other obvious improvements
were also evident. David Tapp advised that there will be on-going
improvements over the season to bring the venue upto a World Class standard.
It hasn't been smooth sailing for David as he has come against some
Bureaucracy obstacles and red tape. But to his credit and in typical "Tapp"
style he has overcame these hurdles and the long term future of the venue
under his steady hand should ensure some exciting Speedway action ahead for
the spectators and pundits.
As for the racing, a Balmy Spring evening greeted a rather large and
enthusiastic crowd whom have gathered at anticipation at tonight's meeting
of the running of the "Sidecar Grand National Classic" proudly sponsored by
West Gosford Smash Repairs, which was run over a new Grand Prix Style
format. The meeting attracted the "Big Guns" of the Aussie Sidecar scene,
Defending Australian Champions Glenn and
Nathan O'Brien from Perth, Teenage
Sensation Justin & Mark Plaisted from South Oz, Andrew Cleave & Dave Power
from Victoria and NSW's Grant Bond &
Victor Gavenlock, Darren Cafe/Derrick
Williams and Alana Harrington/Josh Barbara all intent on locking horns and
providing the crowd with the best Sidecar racing seen to date at the venue.
From the outset of Heat One the racing was fast and furious with the sidecar
teams going hell for leather in their quest for an A Final Berth. South
Aussie "Teenage Tornado" pairing of Justin & Mark Plaisted providing the
crowds with a sample of their thrilling cut and thrust style of racing as
they set about dominating proceedings in their heats leading upto the
A-Final. NSW's Grant Bond/Victor Gavenlock were the surprise packets of the
early heats when they took on and won against their more fancy interstate
rivals. National Title Holders Glenn & Nathan O Brien after winning Heat 1
experienced Mechanical Failure that relegated them to the B-Final, a
disappointing night for the reigning Aussie champs.
A cracking line-up for the A-Final of the Sidecar Grand National saw fast
and furious action from the outset as the 5 Sidecar teams all launched for
the holes hot on Turn 1, an awesome spectacle to be hold for the fans. It
was NSW's Grant Bond whom took the early lead with The Plaisted team nipping
at their heals all the way as they dodged one and another for the lead
throughout the race.
The talented Teenagers saw their moment on Turn 3 of the last lap as they
saw a slight opening on the inside of Bond and drove underneath to take the
lead and snatch a victory from Bond pushing hard right to the chequered
Flag, and Andy Cleave coming home in 3rd, Tamworth's Jim Bob Turner finished
4th and Steve Houston in 5th.
An emphatic win for the 2 Teenage South Aussie Sensations who were the
standout team on the night and have sounded the first warning to the
defending Aussie Champs, O'Brien team of their intentions for the National
titles later on in the season.
The Support Solo program also provided the crowds with some white hot
racing. In the C-Grade events, Young Daniel
Mason showed he is ready for
promotion to the B-grade with commanding 3 heat wins and taking the final
by almost 1/2 lap from his opposition.
The B-Grade provided some thrilling battles between Leigh Fernance and Dave
Booth with both riders waging a personal
war throughout their heats and into
the final that saw Leigh Fernance take the money from Booth hot on his
heals.
The A Grade was nothing short of spectacular with Mr Excitement Mick Poole
dominating proceedings in his usual style, but the revelation of the night
was the emergence of young Dean Wiseman, who rode like a man possessed. As
he challenged firstly Ty Platt for the minor placing's in the heats and then
in the final given another half lap would have given Mick Poole something to
worry about. He looked impressive, his track craft was spot on as he rode
the highline with some breath taking outside passing and cunning inside
moves as well. Ty Platt on new machinery looked good as well as he battled
with Wiseman in the heats and eventually finishing 3rd in the final.
A successful night for the first meeting of an already action packed
calendar set down for 2000/001 season and if tonight's meeting is any
indication of what is installed. The Lynx Gosford Showground Speedway under
the new promotion should ensure an exciting season is ahead for fans and
breath life back into the Australian Domestic Speedway Solo scene.
Event 1-Sidecar Grand National Heat 1:
1st Glenn O'Brien/Nathan O'Brien
2nd Justin Plaisted/Mark Plaisted
3rd Jim Bob Turner/George Rickard
4th Graham Sipple/Steve Jones
5th Alana Harrington/Josh Barbara Time 64.64
Event 2-Sidecar Grand National Heat 2:
1st Andrew Cleave/Dave Power
2nd Grant Bond/Victor Gavenlock
3rd Steve Houston/Brian Young
4th Greg Allen/Jamer Ryan
5th Darren Cafe/Derrick Willams Time 63.69
Event 3-B Grade Solo's Heat 1:
1st Dave Booth
2nd Leigh Fernance
3rd Dennis Hall
4th Rod McDonald
Dave Stevens & Jaye Steves DNF
Time 62.53
Event 4 C Grade Solo Final
1st Daniel Mason (by 1/2 a track length)
2nd Alan Casrina
3rd Luke Pinkerton
No Time Given
Event 5 C Grade Sidecar Final
1st Graham Sipple/Steve Jones
2nd Greg Allen/Jamer Ryan
Alana Harrington/Josh Josh Barbara DNF Time 69.00
Event 6 A Grade Solo's Heat 1:
1st Mick Poole
2nd Ty Platt
3rd Dean Wiseman
4th Ben Shields
5th Peter Pono
Shane Haggarty DNF Time 58.37
Event 7 Sidecar Grand National Heat 3:
1st Justin Plaisted/Mark Plaisted
2nd Andrew Cleave/ Dave Power
3rd Steve Houston/Brian Young
4th Darren Cafe/Derrick Williams
5th Greg Allen/James Ryan Time. 63.64
Event 8 Grand National Heat 4:
1st Grant Bond/Victor Gavenlock
2nd Glenn O'Brien/Nathan O'Brien
3rd Jim Bob Turner/George Rickard
EVENTS 9 THRU 12 SUPPORT SPEEDWAY KARTS & MICRO SPRINTS.
Event 12 B Grade Solos Heat 2
1st Leigh Fernace
2nd David Booth
3rd Dave Stevens
4th Rod McDonald
Dennis Hall & Jaye Stevens (Engine Failures) Time: 63.16
Event 13 A Grade Solo's Heat 2
1st Mick Poole
2nd Ty Platt
3rd Ben Shields
4th Peter Pono
5th Dean Wiseman
6th Shane Haggerty DNF Time 60.91
Event 14 Sidecar Grand National Heat 5
1st Justin Plaisted/Mark Plaisted
2nd Steve Houston/Brian Young
3rd Jim Bob Turner/George Rickard
4th Alana Harrington/Josh Barbara
5th: Glen O'Brien/Nathan O'Brien DNF Time 63.87
Event 15 Sidecar Grand National Heat 6
1st Grant Bond/Victor Gavelock
2nd Andrew Cleave/Dave Power
3rd Greg Allen/James Ryan
4th Graham Sipple/Steve Jones
Darren Cafe/Derrick Williams (ex) broke tapes No Time Given
Event 16 B Grade Solo's Heat 3
1st Leigh Fernace
2nd Dave Booth
3rd Dave Stevens
4th Rod McDonald
5th Dennis Hall
6th Jaye Stevens Time 62.87
Event 17 A Grade Solo Heat 3
1st Mick Poole
2nd Ty Platt
3rd Dean Wiseman
4th Ben Shields
5th Peter Pono
6th Shane Haggarty Time 61.71
Event 18 Sidecar Grand National Heat 7
1st Grant Bond/Victor Gavenlock
2nd Jim Bob Turner/George Rickard
3rd Graham Sipple/Steve Jones
4th Greg Allen/James Ryan
Glenn O Brien/Nathan O Brien (E)DNF No Time Given
Event 19 Sidecar Grand National Heat 8
1st Justin Plaisted/Mark Plaisted
2nd Andrew Cleave/Dave Power
3rd Steve Houston/Brian Young
4th Darren Cafe/Derrick Willams No Time Given
Event 20 B Grade Solo Final
1st Leigh Fernance
2nd Dave Booth
3rd Rod McDonald
4th Dave Stevens
5th Jaye Stevens
6th Dennis Hall
Event 21 Sidecar Grand National B Final
1st Jim Bob Turner/George Rickard
2nd Darren Cafe/Derrick Willams
3rd Graham Sipple/Steve Jones
Nathan O Brien/Glenn O Brien (E) DNF
Greg Allen/James Ryan DNF
Event 22 A Grade Solo Final
1st Mick Poole
2nd Dean Wiseman
3rd Ty Platt
4th Peter Pono
5th Ben Shields
6th Daniel Mason Time 61.25
Event 23 Sidecar Grand National Final
1st Justin Plaisted/Mark Plaisted (WINNER)
2nd Grant Bond/Victor Gavenlock (RUNNER UP)
3rd Andrew Cleave/Dave Power
4th Jim Bob Turner/George Rickard
5th Steve Houston/Brian Young
ANTHONY MCGUIRE
7.....Place several 'never say die' Sidecar teams in a
Speedway programme, and the sparks will fly!
Thats exactly
how the first evening meeting of the 2000-01 season at Labrador Speedway on Queensland's
Gold Coast panned out. Stuart Firth/Mark
Stachan returned to the modern Sidecars
after a stint in the Classic section and created havoc among the established combinations.
The Steve Taylor/Dave Oliver duo were in white hot form in their first heat
coming oh so close to the two year old four lap track record held by former Australian
Champion Vic Martin. Taylor and Oliver were then pitted against Firth and Strachan in two
heats prior to the Final and both teams were reluctant to surrender an inch over any part
of the 320 metre track.
Taylor/Oliver
were able to record narrow wins in those heats however with the Final looming, the
sizeable crowd knew something special was in order. Bob Hill/Dave McVie
showed further improvement with impressive rides and Scott Johnston/Russell Simons joined in the action keeping all other teams honest.
The
Sidecar final started with a desperate scramble to the first turn where Firth/Strachan
held sway with Taylor/Oliver snapping at their heals. The fight for third place was
equally desperate with Johnston/Simons forcing their way past Hill/McVie on lap two with
such vigour that McVie fell from his trike. The Referee chose to exclude Johnston/Simons,
and the Final was re-started.
Once
again Firth/Strachan lead the dash to turn one courtesy of Taylor/Oliver lifting off the
gate. The leaders held their composure while Taylor/Oliver tried everything in their power
to catch and pass. Reward for effort was achieved with a brilliant inside lunge into turn
three on the final lap, nudging Firth/Strachan to the outside and the subsequent drag race
to the flag going to Taylor/Oliver.
The Solo section was light in numbers but some great action saw Trent Leverington
thoroughly enjoying his rising success aboard his new Jawa Laydown, Clinton Leitch
returning to the track after a few months in England with some terrific rides, and Todd
Groves giving both Leverington and Leitch a hard time.
Leverington won the Solo Final from Groves with Leitch unable to contest with electrical
problems.
The next meeting to be held at Labrador will be round 3 of the 'Jack Daniels Ivan Mauger Golden Helmet Series' on November 4th.