Macgor's New Zealand Speedway
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published 23-11-2015
Rock FM Riverside Speedway 13-11-2015 



Lloyd Phillips claimed the Rod McLaren Memorial
17 Ray Phillips and 36 Jayden Fraser battle hard for the Brett Cooper Memorial


AJ Lapsley victorious in the Cecil Kergozou Memorial
861 Ricky Boulton makes contact with 96 Andrew Watson

Riverside Remember In Style
Daryl Shuttleworth - Shuttleworth Motorsport Media
Photos - Debra Race


The memory of three club stalwarts was celebrated at The Rock FM Riverside Speedway in style as the club hosted the Rod McLaren Memorial for Saloons, Brett Cooper Memorial for Modified Sprints and the Cecile Kergozou Memorial for Streetstocks.

In heat one of the Rod McLaren Memorial Craig Phillips continued his impressive early season form, cruising to an easy victory over brother Lloyd Phillips in second and Euan Shearing finishing a hard fought third.
 
In heat two Shearing got a handy advantage from the start and managed to hold off Lloyd Phillips who once again had to settle for second but still claim valuable points in the title chase, Graeme McKernan of Dunedin fought with the front runners all night placed third.

Heading into the third and final heat the points were all tied up with Shearing and Lloyd Phillips both with a share of the lead and Craig Phillips just one point adrift.

In the final it was Dean Shearing who made the best start getting off to a handy lead early only to be chased down late in the race by both Craig and Lloyd Phillips. Craig Phillips looked to have the race in the bag despite plenty of pressure being put on him from Lloyd Phillips, then with two laps to run it was Craig who made the slightest of mistakes, going wide and opening the door for Lloyd Phillips to slip through and lead the way to the chequered flag claiming the Rod McLaren Memorial. Craig Phillips finished second and Euan Shearing third overall.


Modified Sprints also went down to the wire as they contested the Brett Cooper Memorial.
Newly crowned Southland Champion Jayden Fraser continued where he left off last meeting with a solid race one victory over Raymond Phillips and the fast finishing George Phillips in third. Race one was also one to forget for Kevin Fulton who made contact with Dean Miller as the race started, parking his Modified Sprint upside down on the main straight ending his race and Millers night.
 
Chris Sharp looked to be the man to beat in heat two, Sharp had built up an impressive lead over the field until an incident bought out the yellow flag. As the cars slowed down on the back straight it was Fulton who obviously didn't see the yellow lights on and slammed into the back of race leader Sharp, causing his own car to flip for the second time that night, and ended Sharps race and title hopes.
Michael Jackson went on from the restart to claim the win from Raymond Phillips and newcomer Jason McMullin an impressive third.
 
Race three was far more tame, Daryl Scott bagged another race win for the season, followed home by Raymond Phillips and Tony Jones, this race gave Phillips top points going into the winner takes all 20 lap feature race.
The Brett Cooper Memorial would be decided in the final, and with the race delayed due to inquiries it finally got underway with top points scorer Raymond Phillips marching off to a handy lead from Fraser and Scott, as that pairing battled it out Phillips extended his lead until Koby Morrison had mechanical issues, forcing a restart, Phillips having to do it all over again.
As the green flag dropped on the restart no one was going to get anywhere near Phillips, he once again pulled away from Fraser and the rest of the field and looked as if he would drive away with the title.
With a handful of laps left to run Phillips struck an issue, pulling to the infield and handing the lead over to Fraser who was still under pressure from Scott, meanwhile Fulton who had twice rolled over had battled from the rear of the field to get up to third.
As the race continued Fraser extended his lead and was first across the line to claim the Brett Cooper Memorial from Scott and Fulton.

The final Memorial Trophy being run was for Streetstocks as they battled it out for the Cecile Kergozou Trophy. Early favorite was defending champion Steve Dryden who was too good in race one, staying out of trouble despite several attempts to slow him down. Chris Kergozou made his first appearance this season to bag second from AJ Lapsley in third.

Race two was Lapsleys time to shine, while the rest of the field battled it out with plenty of strategic moves being made, Lapsley kept his nose clean and scored the race win from Kergozou and Dryden third.

This made for an exciting final, with Lapsley, Kergozou and Dryden all tied for first with just one race to run.

As the cars filed out onto the track Dryden was a notable absentee, meaning it was going to be a battle between Lapsley and Kergozou for overall honours. As the race got underway it was Lapsley who got off to the best start, heading off to an early lead but both Mark Henderson and Peter Knight unsettled the early leader allowing Kergozou to take the lead much to the delight of the local crowd. As the race continued Lapsley got back onto the tail of Kergozou managing to spin the leader and get himself back in the lead of the race, but Kergozou wasn't done.
As the pair continued to do battle Knight slipped through to the race lead, Kergozou had one more crack at Lapsley, as did Henderson but this also allowed Megan Molloy to gain another spot, leaving it a case of too little to late for Kergozou. Knight went on to claim the win from Lapsley and Molloy, handing the Kergozou Memorial to Lapsley from Kergozou and Knight third.

In support races Jack Brown made it three wins from three in Youth Saloons, While Tam Clements secured his maiden race win in productions. Other winners in Productions were Dave Horton and Stacey Jackson.
Stockcars never failed to entertain with Andrew Watson making a welcome come back to the grade, Watson made his presence felt in the "Tank" putting on a number of impressive hits before being belted around by both Shanan Knight and Ricky Boulton in race three. Race wins in Stockcars went to Ricky Boulton of Dunedin along with Logan McNamara.


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