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08-03-2014
Huge Crowd Celebrates Anniversary Meeting By Daryl Shuttleworth Photos Corbyn Shuttleworth
Fans packed the Russell Cunningham Oreti Park Speedway on Saturday night to be part of the 40th Anniversary celebrations, and no one left disappointed with action pack battles across all the competitive classes, and plenty of fun to be had in the demonstration classes. It came as no surprise that Grant Tregoning dominated the Solos winning all but one race which was won by Paul Hayes, this is Tregonings last outing before he takes his place as a reserve rider at the World Speedway Grand Prix in Auckland next month, Jack McRae was also a solid performer finishing second overall for the night and Hayes came home in third. The sidecar action was as close as its been all season with seven different winners throughout the heats, including the pairing of Jamie Pocklington and Chay McWilliam who have been also rans all season but managed to win three of the four races contested, they have certainly shown that they will be a force to be reckoned with next season. Had it not been for a fourth placing in heat one Pocklington and McWilliam would have been on the podium but top step of that went to Kevin McDonald and Karl Hosie while Jason Harper and Mark George won the run off for second and third from Josh Heenan and Harley Biddle. Sam Taylor was in his last meeting in Junior Solos and looked impressive winning all but one heat, Taylor will be stepping up a grade next season and looks to be a star of the future, Storm LeQuesne managed a win also but had to settle for second overall. In Solo Supports it was humbling to see Craig Blackett of Christchurch win all three heats, Blackett is the only rider at this meeting that competed in the first ever meeting at Oreti Park 40 years ago, and he showed he certainly has not lost any of his speed he had all those years ago as he dominated his class, second was Zane Pay and third Pat Dysart. A good field of PeeWees were on display, it was Hayden Brooklands final race in the class and he was upstaged in heat one by an ever improving Cormac Buchanan, Brookland however found his rythmn and picked up wins in the remaining heats. Also solid performances in the PeeWees came from Aston Palmer, Savannah Caulfield and Mason Coulthard who will all be well on the pace and racing up front next season. The demonstration events at the Anniversay meeting were also entertaining, there was a number of riders from yesteryear that showed why they were at the top of their game many years ago, but there was also some that were reminded why speedway can be a cruel and painful sport, solo rider Dave McKenzie had a nasty spill collecting the air fence that wouldnt have been there years ago when he raced. McKenzie managed to get back to his feet much to the appreciation of the big crowd but was out for the night. The crowd also rose to their feet when club stelwart Joe Hughes collected victory in one of the Solo Support demonstration races, "Smokin Joe" as he's affectionally known due to the amount of smoke that comes from his bike had an epic battle to the chequered flag with Rhys Wilson but just managed to hang on to take a popular win. The event also saw some great battles in the classic sidecars along with demonstration laps by TQs, midgets and a sprint car. |
