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published
20-04-2015
Riversides Slamfest Proves Popular
By Daryl Shuttleworth - Shuttleworth Motorsport Media Photos Debra Race If you were to turn up at The Rock FM Riverside Speedway an hour before racing was set to start, you would have thought the club was hosting a New Zealand title, the arena was full, and the car park was starting to fill up, for what was easily the biggest crowd in attendance this season. With two days of steady rain the track was always going to be an issue, but the track crew and competitors spent over an hour wheel packing prior to racing, to give drivers a decent surface to race on. A field of eight saloons took to the track in race one and it didn't take long for Craig Phillips to get to the front of the pack and dominate, but his brother Lloyd's race did go quite as well when he attempted a pass on the outside of Graham Williamson only to get airborne and head for the concrete wall. Phillips did well to keep his saloon on all four wheels but the incident was bad enough to put him on the sidelines for the day, while Craig Phillps continued on to take the win from Williamson with Trevor Black third. In race two Craig Phillips once again shot out to an early lead only to suffer mechanical issues, as did Williamson leaving the race wide open. Brent "Baldrick" Stirling took the lead and looked unstoppable as he drove away from the pack to take a well deserved victory from Black in second and Stu Little third. Stirling dished out a repeat dose in race three once again after Phillips suffered mechanical issues, Stirling held off Williamson in his Hypermac Mustang and Dean Shearing came home third. Youth Saloons entertained the big crowd with some close fought racing it was Emma Phillips who took a hard fought victory in both race one and two to take the overall win for the weekend. Another driver who took a clean sweep was Daryl Scott in the Modified Sprints, Scott led from start to finish in race one, and starting mid pack in race two he wasted no time getting to the front of the pack despite having Jayden Fraser breathing down his neck on the home straight. The day didnt start well for Chris Sharp in Modified Sprints, As the green flag dropped in race one Sharp shot to the outside in turn one only to tangle with Michael Jackson which speared him into the wall resulting in a spectacular triple barrel roll, fortunately Sharp walked away unhurt, but the car was left looking a bit second hand. Raymond Phillips was strong in race one taking second place behind Scott with Kevin Foulton third, and in race two it was Scott, Fraser and Foulton in the top three spots. Production Saloons once again put on a great display of racing, in race one Dave Horton was too good for the field and took the win from Jeff Richardson in second, Ryan Newman settled for third. Richardson got his own back in race two when he started from the front row of the grid, then drove a clean race to win from Newman who battled his way through the pack for second followed by Geoff Friend of Cromwell third. Stockcars didn't quite live up to expectation due to a smaller field of cars but crowd favorite Shanan Knight made it a clean sweep in both races, Knight wasn't afraid to make contact with other cars even if it meant putting his lead in jeopardy, and he looks to be a driver to watch as he matures in the Stockcar grade. Streetstocks once again put on a great show for the big crowd, Peter Knight took out victory in race one from Megan Molloy and Steve Dryden. Dryden took out race two and three as he seems to have a knack of flying under the radar while other drivers eliminate each other around him. Mark Henderson took some big hits, but gave as good as he got, landing some spectacular blows on his competitors and scored two second place finishes in race two and three. The big event was the Demo Derby, and with a record field of over sixty cars, and a ramp added to the derby it was always going to be a fantastic spectacle. It lived up to expectation, with bumpers, doors and boots scatterd all over the Riverside Speedway track, along with cars overheating and the odd fire to contend with, but the last man standing at the end of the carnage was Raymond Phillips who had to go head to head with one of his Cleanways 2003 Ltd team mates to claim victory, and be crowned 2015 Demo Derby Champion. |
