Patrons Open Championship 2008 @ Salisbury  By Darryl Daniels

Having not attended at these championships ,due to a promised free fishing trip coming to fruition , I cant make many comments on the racing other than what I've been told or seen on video and stills.

Firstly I know the weather was a bit suspect as I was out in it all night , but i also know that the Salisbury track revels in plenty of water and soaks it up pretty well. This also lends toward fantastic traction and fast racing , making it a most welcome change from the slippery track last week.

I have seen video footage of the racing and the track looked perfect and was virtually unmarked during racing with a little bit of water laying right on the inside of the track and corners. The locals would be suited by this track , for sure.

My wife , Mandy took the pictures for this meet , and got the official results so I can do this report , many thanks.

Now for the results....Mick Harley was the Referee.

Fifty eight riders turned up for the Salisbury clubs Patrons Open , and , browsing through the results , a couple of upsets happened on the day , firstly in div three and in the Open class.

Firstly the Tinytots that competed and all recieved a momento of their racing with a trophy each , and they were.Emma Nichols,Emily Makepeace,Emily Carden,Cassidy Hamilton-Smith,Jye Marrollo,Robert Corsaro ,Locke Pearce ,Jacob Pudney and Blair Bevan.

Division Seven saw eight starters with 2X4 heats to separate four riders for the final , all raced over two laps. Through the heats two riders were setting the pace with maximums each. Those riders were Michael Ratcliff and Jack Norman , while Mathew Se there was a ride-off between Peter Marrollo and Connor Hayes which was won by Marrollo for grid four.

Both riders scored (8).The final was taken out by Jack Norman over Michael Ratcliff , Mathew Snowden and Peter M arrollo.

Division six with five starters over three laps.Another upset in this division when Joshua Carden has broken throgh for a fantastic win after tying for top qualifier with Jake Kerley , both with (16). The final standing was Josh Carden first , Jake Kerley second over Luke Poole and Loky Fawcett.

Division Five also with five riders over three laps. I don't know what went wrong in this division  as only last week at Findon there was was over double that amount , with elleven riders. Shane Bentley won from Braden Makepeace , Plymouth Christian and Billy Bax.

Division Four and ten riders raced 2X5 over three laps and the State and Aussie champ , Josh Debattista , on his home track was always going to be a hard task . accordingly ,  he took pole with a maximum. On grid two was , either Robbie Vella or Nicole Kinross as they tied on (12) and would have tossed for the position.

Grid four went to Michael Karpany on (12). The final went to ,  Josh Debattista over Robbie Vella , Nicole Kinross and Michael Karpany.

Division Three with seven starters over three laps. Another upset here when Anthony Daniels broke through for his first championship win when he took advantage of mistakes by others to take the win , still a wins a win  and we'll take any coming our way. Having qualified with a maximum and on pole was the ever reliable Farren Wills , qualifying on grid two with (14) was Dean jolly.

On grid three was Jay Walters on (12) who is having a great year on the 26" bike. The last grid was a ride-off between Anthony Daniels and Scott Kinross , both on (10). History will show that Daniels won and went into the final on grid four. Apparently Wills, Jolly and Walters were too busy worrying about each other and allowed Daniels to sneak under them and go on to the win, Congratulations Anthony ,well done!

Over 30's over four laps and as only a couple of riders turned up they got first and second handed to them after five ride to see who would get what.

John Hill has now made it two from two with a win over Frank Jones.

 

 

Division two over four laps and only five starters meant only one was missing out on a trophy.After five races they sorted out the order the trophies were presented in and who missed that last spot. The win went to the top scorer , Joel chadwick on (19) over Daniel Bax (15) and it looks like Bobby McMillan and Tony Bax , both on (8) , had to toss for the remaining two grids with McMillan picking up third over Bax.

Division one over four laps for eight starters.Top qualifier with a maxmimum was Cody Chadwick who took pole for the final . Nigel Greenhalgh who tied and obviously tossed a coin with Ross Priest on (13)for grids two and three. Grid four went to Robert Fitzpatrick. Judging by the Final positions Priest was having some trouble with either Chadwick or Fitzpatrick or both as he got fourth.

The big winner was Nigel Greenhalgh over Robert Fitzpatrick and third went to Cody Chadwick.

 

Back Pedal

 

2008 Brian O'Niel Memorial Championship at Findon Speedway. By Darryl Daniels

74 riders fronted the tapes today at Findon  with weather that was ideal for racing and a fairly skatey track , where ,  competitors tried tyre pressures from 65 to 30 lb in the rears , searching for some traction. John Hill stated the most obvious thing about his tyre pressures when asked. " I't states 65lb. on the side of the tyre so thats what I use". Guess who won the Over 30's ?.....................John Hill! .........He may just have something there!

Daniel Pudney stated that he may as well put his skates on and was another searching for that ellusive traction and suffered on the day because of it.Still others came together with the track pretty well and riders like Priest , McMillan , Greenhalgh and the before mentioned Hill, handled the track well.

The parade lap saw everyone out on the track and there looked far more than the seventy odd riders out there. It was good to see a large turnout with some notable abscentees such as  Whitey ,the Gentle boys amongst others such as Mathews and Ryan Edson.

After the playing of our national anthem the riders returned to the pits so the Tinytots could tear up the track.Everyone of the little riders recieved a trophy for their participation and those riders were,Emily Makepeace, Emma Lynch, Tia Blatchford, Locke Pearce, David Forester, Taiaha Thompson, Jack Lewis and Cody Woite.

There were eight riders in the fiercely competed division seven where two riders went through to the final tied on fifteen apiece ,They were Mathew Snowden and Michael Ratcliff , both Salisbury boys ,  while others to make the final were Matthew Forester on thirteen , Karah Shultz on ten who showed on more than one occaision that she's got what it takes by remounting quickly after a crash and finishing her race.

Also in the final were Keadin Langham and Holly Greenhalgh who both tied on eight and had to toss for grids five and six.

The final was a great race but for Mathew Snowden sliding out , while in second spot on the first corner , and getting hit hard on the side of his head as Holly Greenhalgh came through with nowhere to go.This happened right in front of his horrified mum, Jade , who gave him a cuddle and brushed his tears away along with a bit of track dust and amongst all the supporters around him his mum got him back into the restart amidst cheers and clapping from the crowd.

The final was won in great style by Michael Ratcliff , as I stood next to a very proud dad who was videoing it all.He passed the finish line in great style with the index finger of the left hand pointing in the air to show just what he was.First! Second went to a hard chaging Mathew Forester over ,  that girl , Karah Shultz and poor old Mathew Snowden picking up a brave fourth.

There were also eight riders in division two , which was bought forward to give riders doubling up in the open section ,  a bit of a breather and make bike repairs or adjustments etc.

One rider who dominated on his home track was Ross Priest who took an unbeaten ride into the final with sixteeen , Daniel Bax rode well today to take grid two in the final with fourteen. Grid three was occupied by Joel Chadwick ,who was finding the track a bit too slippery for him, on thirteen alongside Bobby McMillan who had little or no trouble with the track today and was just as happy as winning the race by passing Daniel Pudney in the first race of the Open section, on (11)

Tyrone Walters and Ty Geertsen tied on eight apiece and tossed for grids five and six.

The final was a good race with Priest coming out on top over Joel Chadwick , Daniel Bax and McMillan.

Division three also had eight starters after three failed to make the start.Those who made their way to the final were Dean Jolly , who only dropped a point along the way on fifteen tied with Farren Wills who also dropped the soltary point.They tossed for grids one and two. Jay Walters slotted into grid three on thirteen points.

Anthony Daniels , who also had trouble with traction  , grabbed fourth grid with ten over Sarah Kinross on nine and Scott Kinross on eight.

Wills and Jolly dominated between themselves and it was in which order they finished the final. Wills took the win over Jolly from Walters and Daniels.

Division six was up next and with only four riders because of the withdrawl of a couple of others , they  simply raced to see in which order the trophies were handed out as all riders were going to get one. Todd Clarke went into the final as hot favourite on a unbeaten sixteen over Mathew Bryant who picked up thirteen and grid two.

Scoring grid three with twelve points was Mathew Hurley withgrid four going to Brittany Payne on seven.The final was run and won and guess what , they finished in those exact same positions.Clarke first , Bryant second , Hurley third and Payne fourth.

Division five and some serious amounts of riders to contest making it to the finals an achievement in itself. Thirteen riders all wanting to stand on top of the podium and only the final six will decide who will stand up there! There was some serious racing going on out there and the one who did it the best on the afternoon was Shane Bentley , who took an unbeaten ride of sixteen into the final and grid one!

Tied on fourteen apiece were Braden Makepeace and Trent Forester , who tossed for grids two and three.Tiana Debattista was quietly amassing points with twelve and was also tied with Brayden Clarke , who had a nasty fall in his first race of the day.Another coin toss for grids four and five.getting the last gate on the outside was Plymouth Christian on elleven , who also quietly gained points.

The final went to Bentley over Forester , Makepeace and Clarke.

Division four saw elleven of the thirteen nominated starters turn up for a good sized field. There was some very close racing in this division today as the scores will indicate , just how close , well you had to be there to appreciate it. State and Aussie champ in this division , Josh Debattista , went straight through to the finals , unbeaten on sixteen.

A three way tie for second , I told you there was some great racing here today, with all three on fourteen were, Nicole Kinross , Michael Karpany  and Robbie Vella , who had to toss coins for two ,three and four grids.Next came Mark Sheldom on elleven. Jarryd Lillyman and Lucy Millikin also tied on ten. The last spot requiring a ride-off which Millikin won.The final was won by Debattista from Vella over Millikin and Sheldon.

Steam was coming out from under Kinross's helmet as she came off the track after tangling with Vella and losing plenty of ground in the final.

Over 30's over four laps and a healthy grid of six riders contested this highly sought after trophy. as stated before John Hill had little trouble with the track and was running 65lb in his tyres.He won on total points with seventeen over big Robert Flemming on fifteen ,the current no one in this division , with third going to Robert Thompson on nine and  fourth to Rick Jolly on seven.

The Open section over four laps was a beauty and nine riders including two girls contested it.Ross Priest scored himself the number one grid going into the final on fourteen over a fastly improving , Cody Chadwick on thirteen .Over 30's racer ,Nigel Greenhalgh and Daniel Pudney tied on twelve each and tossed for grids three and four.Cameron Crisp and Daniel Thompson were also tied on eight a piece and also tossed for five and six.

A couple of great rides in the final especially from the winner ,Priest but Chadwick and Greenhalgh really rode well for second and third respectively ,while fourth went to Thompson on his new bike.Pudney was suffering from too many slides and went backwards fast because of it.McMillan had a good day but missed out in the final despite riding well as did crisp.

A big crowd attend this meet and the weather stayed great til the end.

Rider of the meet once again Ross Priest for his win in Div 2 and the Open.

 

 

Back Pedal

Interclub gets the fans excited at Salisbury  31st May 2008  By Darryl Daniels

On a beautiful , sunny , Saturday afternoon at Salisbury Cycle Speedway , three clubs met to start  Interclub Racing for the year.  Those clubs were , the homeside , the Salisbury Jets , the LeFevre Dolphins and of course the Findon Comets.

In front of a good crowd the riders were introduced as

 

Division	Salisbury Jets	LeFevre Dolphins	Findon Comets
7	Michael Ratcliff Mathew Snowden	Jack Norman                Kian Bird	Matt Forester Kara Schultz
6
	Mathew Hurley Joshua Carden	Jack Norman Kian Bird	Todd Clarke Matt Bryant
5	Braden Makepeace Plymouth Christian Jake Mathews	Shiranta Aston Chris Mowbray Molly M Crisp	Shane Bentley Trent Forester Todd Clarke
4	Josh Debattista  Robbie Vella Austin McDonald	Lucy Millikin                                                          Michael Karpany A. Blaker	Trent Forester   Shane Bentley    Nicole Kinross
3	Joel Chadwick Dean Jolly Jay Walters	Farren Wills Gabby Aston	Sarah Kinross      Scott Kinross      Nicole Kinross
2	Matt Mathews Daniel Bax Joel Chadwick	Robert Fitzpatrick          Farren Wills B. Blaker	Ross Priest Bobby McMillan Scott Kinross
30s'	Nigel Greenhalgh John  Hill Darren Mathews	Robert Flemming Paul White	Andrew Dobie Robert Thompson Darren Schultz
1	Cody Chadwick Ryan Edson Matt Mathews	Daniel Pudney Cameron Crisp	Matt Gentle Ross Priest Bobby McMillan

All clubs had a few double-ups but that is not easily avoided and it made for some great racing and gives competitors a bit of experience in higher divisions and that's always good for the future.

After the riders were presented to the crowd the little division seven riders took to the track and these guys race as hard and just as determined as any of the older riders and take this interclub racing very seriously.

Mick Harley , the referee for today' match , lined the div seven racers up at the tapes after starting the meet with the first whistle and with six at a time on the grid they looked great in their respective clubs tops.                                                                                                                            Charlie a true Jets Fan... Poor Susan, Josh and Tiana

They all have a couple of races each and all scores for all divisions are totalled at the end of racing to see who was best on the day.

Jack Norman and Kian Bird set the Dolphins off to a good start by coming first and second in the first round ahead of Matt Forester and Kara Shultz of the Comets with the last two lots of points going to the Jets pair of Matt Snowden and Michael Ratcliff.

Progress score; Dolphins (11) Comets (7) Jets (3)

In division six Matt Bryant and Todd Clarke took a 1-2 for the Comets over Matt Hurley from the Jets followed by Jack Norman and Kian bird of the Dolphins and Josh Carden of the Jets. Progress score; Dolphins (16) Comets (18) Jets (8)

Division five saw the Jets finally get some decent points when Braden Makepeace and Plymouth Christian take a 1-2 over Comet , Shane Bentley  , Chris Mowbray and Shiranta Aston of the Dolphins and Trent Forester of the Comets.Progress score; Dolphins (21) Comets (23) Jets (19)

 

 You're Under Starters Orders - Div 5

Division four and the Jets scored another maximum when Robbie vella was ably assisted by Josh Debattista. Michael Karpany and Lucy Millikin got third and fourth over Nicole Kinross and Shane Bentley.Progress score; Dolphins (28) Comets (26) Jets (30)

Division three saw the first of the 26" riders hit the track , some literally . Joel Chadwick won for the Jets with Farren Wills picking up second for the Dolphins . Third went to Dean jolly also from the Jets while the next two places went via Scott and Sarah Kinross of the Comets over Dolphin Gabby Aston.Progress score; Dolphins (34) Comets (31) Jets (40)

Division two and the pace was picking up when The Jets pair of Mathews and Bax took a 1-2 over Fitzpatrick of the Dolphins and Priest from the Comets.Next came Wills , Dolphins and McMillan of the Comets.Progress score; Dolphins (40) Comets (35) Jets (51)

Over 30's and the ever reliable Greenhalgh fron the Jets picks up another win over a hard charging White of the Dolphins .Third went to Flemming also a Dolphin over Hill , Jets , and the Comets pair of Thompson and Dobie.Progress score; Dolphins (49) Comets (38) Jets (60)

Division one and Pudney , expected to be a big part of the Dolphins backbone , proved them right with a win over Cody Chadwick , Jets , and the Comets pair of Priest and Gentle.Crisp from the Dolphins scored fifth from Jet Edson. Progress score; Dolphins (57) Comets (45) Jets (66)

Well , at the end of the first run-through the Jets have a marginal lead but with two more to go , anything can happen.

Back to the start and the div seven boys got stuck into it again with Norman and Clarke once again taking the points for the Dolphins over Ratcliff of the Jets.Third went to the Jets , Snowden ,  Bird of the Dolphins and the Comets pair of Kara Shultz and Matt Forester.Progress score; Dolphins (66) Comets (48) Jets (75)

Division six and once again the Comets pair of Bryant and Clarke took a maximum over Hurley of the Jets , Bird of the Dolphins ,Jake Kerley of the Jets and Norman from the Dolphins , who impressed me when he fell right in front of me and had such a look of determination on his face, to at least , catch up.Progress score; Dolphins (69) Comets (59) Jets (81)

Division five and Trent Forester fires up for a win for the Comets over Makepeace of the Jets , Bentley Comets ,  Christian Jets and Dolpins pair Aston and Molly M,Crisp, Progress score; Dolphins (72) Comets (69) Jets (89)

Division four sees Vella assisted by Debattista take a second maximum for the Jets over Comets Nicole Kinross and Bentley. Millikin and Blaker picked up the remaining points for the Dolphins. Progress score; Dolphins (75) Comets (76) Jets (100)

Division three and the Jets pair , Joel Chadwick and Jay Walters getting a maximum over Dolphin , Wills , Scott and Sarah Kinross for the Comets with last points going to Aston of the Dolphins. Progress score; Dolphins (80) Comets (81) Jets (111)

 

Jets Mathews and Bax sandwich dolphin Fitzpatrick

 

Division two and Priest takes a good win for the Comets over Fitzpatrick of the Dolphins and Jet , Mathews . Fourth was Another Jet , Bax followed by Comet McMillan and Dolphin , Blaker. Progress score; Dolphins (86) Comets (89) Jets (118)

Over 30's and Greenhalgh , on his home track takes a second win for the Jets again over White from the Dolphins .Flemming picked up third  for the Dolphins over Hill from the Jets and the Comets pair Thompson and Dobie.Progress score; Dolphins (95) Comets (92) Jets (127)

Division one , last race in the second run-through and Mathews takes the win for the Jets with the Dolphins , Pudney , snapping at his heels.third went to Gentle of the Comets while team-mate McMillan picked up fourth.Crisp from the Dolphins lead , Jet , Cody Chadwick home after a fall to the Jet. Progress score; Dolphins (.102) Comets (99) Jets (134)

The end of round two sees the Comets and Dolphins in a very close race but the Jets seemed to start easing away since those back to back maximums in divs 3 and 4.

The third and final run-through and the div one boys are back on deck and the Dolphins pair of Bird and Norman took a maximum over The Jets , Ratcliff.Fourth and fifth saw the Comets pair , Shultz and Forester fill those spots over Jet Snowden.Progress score; Dolphins (113) Comets (104) Jets (139)

Division six and a third consecutive maximum to the Comets pair Bryant and Clarke was excellent riding over Hurley from the Jets , Norman from the Dolphins , Carden from the Jets and Bird of the dolphins.Progress score; Dolphins (117) Comets (115) Jets (145)

Division five and a brilliant ride by Makepeace for the Jets saw him win over Bentley of the Comets and Christian , also from the Jets.Fourth went to Forester of the Comets over Aston and Mowbray from the Dolphins.Progress score; Dolphins (120) Comets (123) Jets (155)

Division four and once again Debattista pulls out another win when it's needed for the Jets over Nicole Kinross ,still coming to grips with the new bike.The Dolpin pair of Millikin and Karpany filled the next spots ahead of McDonald of the Jets ,having his first taste of Interclub racing.Progress score Dolphins (127) Comets (130) Jets (162)

Division three and another maximum goes to the Jets pair of Mathews and Joel Chadwick over the Comets , Priest , the Dolphins pair of Wills and Fitzpatrick and McMillan of the Comets after a restart because of a crash on the first corner.

McMillan and Fitzpatrick clash on the first corner

Progress score; Dolphins (132) Comets (135) Jets (173)

Division two and Mathews pulls out another win for the Jets , second went to Priest of the Comets followed by Joel Chadwick of the Jets and Wills , Fitzpatrick of the Dolphins and McMillan of the comets got the last two places.Progress score; Dolphins (137) Comets (140) Jets (183)

Over 30's and White of the Dolphins grabs himself and club a win over Greedhalgh from the Jets.third was Fleming from the Dolphins followed by the Comets pair of Schultz and Dobie .Hill got the other point for the Jets.Progress score; Dolphins (147) Comets (145) Jets (189)

Still nothing between the Dolphins and the Comets  but the Comets have clawed their way back into second in the last two races.

Division one ,the last race of the day and before we got past the first corner there was a rider down , Mathews. A restart saw all riders in.The restart saw the same thing on the same corner with more riders involved ,including Mathews , after a repair break a third start with all riders back in  and Crisp of the Dolphins picked up the win over Gentle from the Comets .                                                                                                                                               

Third went to Dolphin , Pudney over Mathews and Edson of the Jets followed by Priest of the Comets who had a few spoke troubles with his front wheel on lap two after a clash with Mathews for a DNF and a point.

Final score at the end of the first Interclub of 2008 at Salisbury were , Jets (194) Dolphins (157) Comets (151)

Congratulations to all the riders that made this a successful meet , there were many great rides on the day but for sheer consistency and great riding you would have plenty of trouble going past the div 6 Riders for the Comets Bryant and Clarke ,who pulled three out of three maximums on the day ,well done!

 

 

Back Pedal

 

2008 League Racing ...Division 1 ....round 2 @ Findon   By Darryl Daniels

The division four league racing has just finished and the track is being prepared for division one with a little maintenence in readiness for the Parade lap where riders are introduced to the fairly large crowd.

The riders are  For the Findon Comets

Brad Gentle      Bobby McMilan

Ross Priest       Michael Lynch

Damien Clarke   

 

 

For the Salisbury Jets

Matt Mathews         Daniel Bax

Nigel Greenhalgh     Tony Bax

Cody Chadwick      Joel Chadwick

 

 

 

 

For the LeFevre Dolphins

Daniel Pudney    Paul White

Cameron Crisp     Robert Fitzpatrick

Farren Wills      Robert Fleming

 

 

Swing riders were , for the Comets , Damien Clarke. For the Jets , Cody Chadwick , For the Dolphins Farren Wills. 

 

At the first League meeting at Murraylands , the scores were Comets (71) Jets (69) Murraylands (38).

Race one of eighteen sees the pairing of Gentle and McMilan for the Comets against the Jets pair of Mathews and J .Chadwick with the result being a maximum to the Jets with an excellent assist from Chadwick.  Progress score Comets (3) Jets (7) Dolphins (0)

Race two and even scoring between the Comets , Lynch and Priest against the Dolphins of Pudney and White with a good ride by Priest to hold out "The Fox" White.  Progress score Comets (8) Jets (7) Dolphins (5)

Race three and even scoring once again between the Jets , Greenhalgh and C.Chadwick (SW) against the Dolphins Fitzpatrick and Crisp.Greenhalgh unlucky to lose the lead after a big gate and leading for three laps.  Progress score Comets ( 8) Jets (12) Dolphins (10)

Race four and a great ride from J.Chadwick saw the Jets pick up a second maximum when team-mate D.Bax won.Priest and Lynch from the Comets picked up the minor points.   Progress score Comets (11) Jets (19) Dolphins (10)

Race five and an exclusion at the gate for movement went to Gentle from the Comets , this left McMilan to cop the short back and sides from the Dolphins pair of White and Pudney who duly went on to score their first maximum.  Progress score Comets (13) Jets (19) Dolphins (17)

Race six  and a second straight maximum to the Dolphins pair , Crisp and Fitzpatrick over the Jets , Mathews and C.Chadwick , who couldn't buy a pass on Fitzpatrick.  Progress score Comets (13) Jets (22) Dolphins (24)

Race seven and once again there were even score for the Comets , Priest and Clarke over the Jets J.Chadwick and T.Bax.  Progress score Comets (18) Jets (27) Dolphins (24)

Race eight and once again there is even scoring between Crisp and Wills from the Dolphins and Gentle and McMilan from the Comets.  Progress score Comets (23) Jets (27) Dolphins (29)

Race nine halfway home and it's the Jets pair , Mathews and C.Chadwick who grab six points off Dolphins Pudney and White.Pudney had a moment in the back straight but managed to pull it all together and remount for his second spot. Progress score Comets (23) Jets (33) dolphins (33)

Race ten , the Jets score a 6-4 over the Comets when J.Chadwick and Greenhalgh raced against the pair of Gentle and McMilan Progress score Comets (27) Jets (39) Dolphins (33)

Race elleven and another 6-4 going to the Dolphins pair , Fitzpatrick and Crisp over the Comets , Priest and Lynch. Progress score Comets (31) Jets (39) Dolphins (39)

It's neck and neck at the front but the meets not over till its finished.

Race twelve saw even scoring between the Jets , Chadwick bros, and the Dolphins , Pudney and Wills. Progress score Comets (31) Jets (44) Dolphins (44)

Race thirteen and the Comets pair , McMilan and Gentle score the Comets first maximum as disaster hits Daniel Bax when he threw a chain,was lapped for a DNF and no score for the Jets.Mathews picked up a couple.Progress score Comets (38) Jets (46) Dolphins (44)

Race fourteen and even scoring once again between the Comets ,Priest and Lynch against the Dolphins , Pudney and White. Progress score Comets (43) Jets (46) Dolphins (49)

With just four races to go its getting pretty tight towards the end.

Race fifteen  a 6-4 to the Jets pair Greenhalgh and C.Chadwick over the dolpins pair , Fitzpatrick and Crisp is just what the Jets needed.Progress score Comets ( 43) Jets (52) Dolphins (53)

Race sixteen  and another 6-4 to the Jets when D.Bax and Mathews raced Priest and Lynch from the Comets. Progress score Comets ( 47) Jets (58) Dolphins (53)

Race seventeen  and Pudney and White from the Dolphins put on a clinic on how it should be done with a maximum over the Comets pair , McMilan and Gentle. Progress score Comets (50) Jets (58) Dolphins (60)

Race eighteen , last race of the meet and it's going down to the wire.The Chadwick boys have been going great for the Jets and were up together in the last. The formitable combination of Fitzpatrick and Crisp that had been working well today for the Dolphins were their last riders.

To say this race wasn't anything but all out  wouldn't do it justice .there was some hefty bumps paid out both ways and good turns of speed but on the third lap Cody Chadwick went down on the pit corner and with his brother Joel coming around flatout , he ran over his brother and launched himself into the fence HARD backwards.The race was declared with  the win going to Crisp from Cody Chadwick , Fitzpatrick and Joel Chadwick.

Final scores Dolphins (66) Jets (62) Comets (50)

Standings after two rounds 

Jets                  69 + 62 = 131

Comets           71 + 50 = 121

Dolphins        66

Murraylands 38

 

 

Back Pedal

 

League 2008 round 2 div 4 at Findon By Darryl Daniels

What a perfect day it turned out to be on the Sunday at the Findon track , which was looking resplendant , for round two of the league racing season.

The riders representing each club were introduced to a good crowd of on-lookers as

The Findon Comets

Nicole Kinross     Angus Freeman

Shane Bentley     Todd Clarke

Matt Bryant

 

 

 

The Salisbury Jets

John Stevenson     Robbie Vella

Braden Makepeace   Plymouth Christian

Josh Debattista

 

 

 

The LeFevre Dolphins

Georgia Tulloch    Chris Mowbray

Lucy Millikin    Andrew Wilkie

Michael Karpany

 

 

To bring you up to date , the last outing was at Murraylands where the Jets came away with the points over the Comets and Murraylands. Today its a different track and different riders.

Swing riders today ,  for the Comets  Matt Bryant , for the Jets Josh Debattista and for the Dolphins Michael Karpany.

For those that dont know what a swing rider is , it's simply a spare rider that can be slotted in to replace another rider for any particular race , but , it can only be done six times.Wise managers make the most of these changes to get more points.

Now for some racing on a track that looked great but was a bit slippery coming off turn one at mid track going onto the back straight other than that it looked great.

To kick things off Kinross and Freeman (C) fronted the tapes with Stevenson and Debattista (S) and after some early tussles the Jets pair took (6) over the Comets (4)

progress score Comets (4) Jets (6) Dolphins (0)

Race two and the Comets were straight back up with Bentley and Clarke (C) taking on Mowbray and Karpany (L).Karpany (SW) is sure getting faster and deserved a win over Clarke and Bentley followed by team-mate Mowbray, this ended up making five a piece.

progress score Comets (9) Jets (6) Dolphins (5)

Race three and the Jets pair of Christian and Debattista (SW) take on the Dolphins , Millikin and Wilkie. After an even start where Millikin was taking it up to the Jets pair , she was soon placed on the outside of the state champ in this division and thats not a good place to be as Debattista controlled the race from there allowing Christian to go on and win from himself.

This gave the Jets their first maximum while Millikin picked up third followed by Wilkie.

progress score Comets (9) Jets (13) Dolphins (8)

Race four and the Comets of Bentley and Clarke took on Stevenson and Vella from the Jets.Stevenson ended up with the win and a second straight maximum from Vella who is showing just how fast he's learning this league lark by doing a great job on the Comets pair.  Progress score Comets (12) Jets (20) Dolphins (8)

Race five sees a welcome maximum go to the Comet pair of Kinross and Bryant (SW) over Dolphin riders , Mowbray and Tulloch.  Progress score Comets (19) Jets (20) Dolphins (11)

Race six and it's even scoring of five a piece when the Jets Vella beat the Dolphins Millikin and Karpany with team-mate Stevenson unable to find a way past Karpany.  Progress score Comets (19) Jets (25) Dolphins (16)

Race seven  saw an upset when Debattista (SW)(J) fell and went a long way to the rear , racing against  Comets , Clarke and Bentley alongside Makepeace ,having his first ride.Debattista remounted and in the remaining two laps caught up to and passed second placed Bentley scoring three for the Jets,in my opinion the most insiring ride of the meet. Progress score Comets (25) Jets (29) Dolphins (16)

Race eight and it's even scoring again when Comets , Kinross and Freeman took on Dolphins , Wilkie and Millikin. Progress score Comets (30) Jets (29) Dolphins (21)

Race nine ,halfway through this meet and there is very little between the comets and the Jets.So far the Jets have had the better results from their swing rider as you would expect with the same rider having Aussie and state credentials.But there is only a single win difference at the moment and the Jets only have a couple of rides left available for their gun swing rider.

The Dolphins sure had a big hole to fill when Farren Wills moved up a division but Karpany is proving a steady rider for them. The Jets took full advantage of their swing rider again and scored a maximum to Vella and Debattista (SW) over the Dolphins pair of Karpany (SW) and Mowbray. Progress score comets (30) Jets (36) Dolphins (24)

Race ten and it's even scoring again between the Comets pair of Kinross and Bryant (SW) and the Jets pair of Debattista (SW) and Christian . Debattista again showed his worth with another win but has only one ride left. Progress score Comets (35) Jets (41) Dolphins (24)

Race elleven and even scoring again between the Comets pair of , Clarke and Bentley against the Dolphins pair of Millikin and Wilkie. Progress score Comets (40) Jets (41) Dolphins (29)

Race twelve and even scoring again between the Jets , Makepeace and Christian against ,Dolphins , Karpany (SW) and Tulloch.A race in which the Dolphins got full value out of their swing rider when Karpany won. Progress score Comets (40) Jets (46) Dolphins (34)

Race thirteen and a timely maximum goes to the Jets when Debattista (SW) helps Vella onto a win against The Comets pair of Kinross and Freeman.Poor old Nicole couldn't buy a pass on Debattista and she tried hard too.That was Debattistas last ride and it was a beauty. Progress score Comets (43) Jets (53) Dolphins (34)

Race fourteen and a maximum straight back by the Comets pair of Clarke and Bentley over the Dolphins pair of Karpany (SW) and Mowbray, showed they were still in it. Progress score Comets (50) Jets (53) Dolphins (37)

Race fifteen and even scoring between dolphins Millikin , who won , and Wilkie against the Jets pair of Makepeace and Christian. Progress score Comets (50) Jets (58) Dolphins (42)

Race sixteen and a timely maximum by the Jets pair , Vella and Stevenson over Comets , Clarke and Bentley was just what the Jets wanted. Progress score Comets (53) Jets (65) dolphins (42)

Race seventeen ,the pentaltimate race of the meet , and the Comets haven't thrown in the towel yet with a nice maximum going to Freeman with Kinross riding shotgun very nicely over Mowbray and Tulloch from the Dolphins. Progress score (60) Jets (65) Dolphins (45)

Race eighteen , the final race of the day and this was also full of drama.The dolphins pair of Karpany (SW) and Millikin took a maximum over the Jets pair of Makepeace and Christian , who fell and damaged his knee and was passed after re-mounting for a failed to finish.

Luckily they had enough points already on the board!

 Final score Jets (67) Comets (60) Dolphins (52) Cant' wait for round 3 !

Standings after two rounds 

Jets                  75 + 67 =142

Comets           63 + 60 = 123

Dolphins        52

Murraylands 342

 

Back Pedal

 

New influx of junior riders @ the club. By Darryl Daniels

As of late , there has been a steady influx of new riders into the club , many taking to the sport like a duck does to water  , others suffer but learn quickly. The odd fall helps towards a fast learning curve.

Some of these newer riders are pushing more established riders and thats always a good sign and augres well for the future .This brings me to todays racing , where once again three new riders tried cycle speedway for the first time and it looks like at least one has the goods to be competitive.

Only twenty seven riders fronted the tapes today , and after the previous days weather , hail ,wind , torrential rain and a cold snap , it was lucky that this lot turned up at all! Speaking of the previous day it would be a sin not to give Kevin Bickle a mention as he was out in that lot preparing a belter of a track for todays' racing. Well done Kev.

The meet kicked off with the usual presentation lap where the best presented bikes in each team are awarded points, the points today went to Emily Carden for the Hornets , Plymouth Christian of the Orions and Jake Kerley of the Blackhawks.

The Tiny Tots had a couple of new riders today with the inclusion of Jye Marrollo who absolutely flew first time up and had a ball doing it and the other new rider , Blair Bevan , who was having a ride literally for the first time today and suffered because of the training wheels and the odd corner ,but had a ball and always jumped back on.

Emily Carden showed them all a clean set of heals today and rode well on her little chrome bike.

Division seven saw another new rider , Peter Marrollo , join the ranks and showed plenty of promise and looks the goods with four seconds, Michael Ratcliff was giving away 20m head starts today and still picked up a maximum (20)Daniel Nichols missed the first heat but ended up third.

Division six and Joshua Carden had a lot to live up to when his little sister scooped the pool so he did exactly the same , a maximum (20).Happy faces all round at the Carden's  place! Jake Kerley had a successful day for second over Loky Faucett and Whitney Jones.

Division five and Braden Makepeace kept his winning way going by dropping a single point to second place getter Plymouth Christian. Third went to Billy Bax who was having trouble with blocking from Jake Mathews .

Division four saw the winner , Josh Debattista , liking the conditions of the track , which was very fast , by going on to a maximum (20) over a hard charging  , Robbie Vella , Angus Elliot , who had a nasty crash in heat one but came back and rode well for the remainder of the meet , and Marc Mastrodomenico.

Division three , Anthony Daniels had a day to remember with his first maximum (20) on his new bike that looks like it suits him perfectly over a hard riding Jay Walters and Dean Jolly.

Seniors over 30's and Darren Mathews wasn't really pushed today by Frank Jones who had one of his crashes again today but remounted and finished the race.The funny thing about the crash was he was riding the wrong way around the track after deciding on the grid to lift his bike over the tapes and line up facing the wrong way.

Mathews thought , why not , and joined him, the tapes flew up and they didn't even make it around the first lap!

Division two saw another maximum (20) go to Daniel Bax ,who was by far the fastest man on the track today ,as later time trials indicated with a 10.01 lap.(the lap record is 9.74 held by Adam Haldenby)Second went to Tyrone Walters who was quietly going about his way and had a good time trial also. Tony Bax picked up third over Cody Chadwick.

Encouragement awards went to , Jye & Peter Marrollo and Blair Bevan.

Rider of the Week; Plymouth Christian.

Upcoming events Brian O'Niel Open @ Findon June 15th.

League Racing ; Rd.2. Findon V Salisbury V LeFevre @ Findon 1.30pm check in.

Interclub Racing ; Rd.1. Salisbury V LeFevre V Findon @ Salisbury.

 

Back Pedal

 

Mothers Day meet sees Mums hopping to it!  By Darryl Daniels

On a day that was made for mums , weather wise you couldn't have asked for better.A large turnout saw fourty one riders take to the track on this meeting that was set aside as the Mothers day meet.

I was on the mike doing the "commentating!" and as usual I didn't let the trendsetters down and completely rearranged almost every kids name that raced today, once again my humble appologies to all concerned.

The ref for today was a new comer to the sport called Gary Nichols ,who did a great job first time up,well done Gazza.Actually well done to all the voullenteers who did a great job as well.

The Parade lap got the meeting started where all bikes were presented to the ref for scruiteneering and picking of best presented bike for each team and points and the winners were.

For the Hornets , Mathew Snowden. For the Orions , Emily Makepeace . for the Blackhawks , Robbie Vella.

First up to race were the Tiny tots and five of these future champs fronted the tapes and went racing.The look on these little faces as they pass that chequered flag is priceless.Those competeing today were Jayln Hach , Malaya Hach , Emily Makepeace , Emma Nichols and new boy Daniel Morton.

Division Seven and six riders including two new riders  faced the tapes.Some close racing , with wins distributed throughout this division made for good racing. this div was taken out today by Daniel Nicholls over a draw between Holly Greenhalgh and Mathew Snowden for second and third going to Kaeden Langham over New boy Jake Hayes.The other new rider was Connor Hayes.

In Division Six , Mathew Hurley had a day to remember , as back marker , with a unbeaten ride for maximum points and a big win.

Right behind him with five consecutive seconds was Joshua Carden followed by Jake Kerley and Whitney Jones.

Division Five saw Braden Makepeace continue his winning ways and dominate the half a dozen other riders in this division with an unbeaten maximum score over Plymouth Christian's five straight seconds with third going to Tiana Debattista over Jake Mathews.

Division Four had seven starters including a new rider Chloe Hayes. Josh Debattista ,who won the South Australian title ,again , in this division ,didn't really raise a sweat on his way to a maximum over a very consistent Robbie Vella over Marc "The Scar "Mastrodomenico and a draw for fourth with Austin McDonald and Angus Elliot on 5 a piece.

In Division Three , the first of the 26" bikes , saw some great close racing as the scores indicate. Jay Walters pulled off the win with (18) just one point over Dean Jolly (17) and a further point away Anthony Daniels on(16)

Over Thirties saw John Hill score a win over Darren Mathews and Frank Jones , who informs us "Goldenrod" is getting a makeover.

In Division One and two some surprising results saw riders picking up the pace and spots and getting great wins. Nigel Greenhalgh took out div one , only dropping a point along the way and Matt Mathews (both riders new state champions in their divisions)repeat the ride in div two.

Tony Bax has been riding exceptionally well lately and picked up a nice second, well done tony , keep it up! His brother Daniel picked up third over Tyrone Walters.

The Mothers Day race was inserted in the program and it looked like shenanigans were about when Glynis Hurley fronted up complete with a riding crop, intimidating all and sundry ,I noticed even the ref didn't go anywhere near her when protests fell on deaf ears.

Eight mums lined up at the tapes for the start and believe me it was so noisy that they couldn't hear me over the PA system asking for quiet for the start! it sounded like a Chinese fish market! Plenty of pushing and shoving on the grid delayed the start until all mums were quiet(?) and still.

Eventually after TWO refs settled them down and took away weapons and whips etc. in readiness for the start of this much anticipated single lap dash. Speaking of readiness the St Johns staff ,headed by Paul Carden , had stretchers ,Oxygen ,First aid kit , Blanket And all other medical aides laid out over the infield just in case one of these athletes? had a high speed(?) crash.

The mums finally settled at the tapes and they were put under starters orders, The tapes flew up and all hell broke loose!

Mums were flying everywhere except my missus , Mandy and Cherry Walters.The reason being the mum's were racing their kids scooters,not bikes , and Cherry has stood there at the start with her foot firmly on Mandy's brake pedal.Eventually they all started racing(?)

So many lead changes in one , one lap race! hair pulling ,name calling and pushing shoving and cheating were par for the course. Cherry even ran all the way (all the way to half track and ran across the infield to cross the finish line only to collapse in an exhausted heap on the infield).

Other riders to impress were the winner Mandy Daniels , second Bonnie Chadwick , third Jade Snowden and fourth was Lee Kerley.

Sally Mathews found the field too strong , Glynis Hurley is probably looking for a shorter race after a spell , Cherry Walters looks like facing the stewards after some mid race problems and Cheryl Calwell should be seeing the stewards to see if they can see!

A massive Mothers Day raffle was held with so many prizes, and it is great to see those members who donated and those who did both donating and buying tickets , enjoying themselves and the day.A very popular BBQ topped off the day along with a couple of coldies later on the day was complete.......................til next year!

Some of the cheering was very funny , some unrepeatable , the best and loudest was the mum's kids , all you could hear them yelling was the exact same thing the mums yell all year long............inside mum.....inside!

 

Back Pedal

 

South Australian State championships @ LeFevre Speedway. By Darryl Daniels

Today was a perfect day for a Cycle Speedway Championship and LeFevre Speedway was as good a place as any to have them , in fact the track looked a pearler,one of the best seen there for some time.It also held together well and only required minimal maintenence on the day.

In perfect weather eighty riders over nine Divisions faced the tapes and unfortunately they can't all be State Champs at the same time so today was to find out just who was the champ in each division.

Todays Ref for the big day , was Meegan Rufus , who did a great job.

After the grand parade where the eighty riders took to the track and showed their bikes etc off to the crowd , which was a substantial one, they all headed in towards the infield and stopped with their front wheels against the concrete curb. The Ref then inspected all bikes and then all returned to the crowded pits.

Honestly , this was one of the best turnouts for some time and the well educated crowd certainly got involved, especially during the finals!

Now for the racing.

Normally the Tiny Tots start off most meetings but today the Div 2 boys were given first crack at the smooth track , six riders fronted the tapes in the first heat and after a short wait Jonathon Januay (M) got pinged for movement and excluded, re-start race one now five riders , but after another short wait Daniel Bax got pinged for movement and excluded.

That's not a bad effort ,we have two exclusions in the very first race and the tapes haven't even gone up yet.

The remaining three riders had to be woken up after the tapes went up, I don't think anyone was game to move, Robert Fitzpatrick (L) picked up the win from Tony Bax (S) over Ben Blaker (L)

The other half of heat one sees another exclusion when Ty Geertsen is given the flick for stopping the race when he fell heavily on the infield corner concrete and hit his helmet hard as well as his knee, I could see by the look on his face (it happened right in front of me ,with a sickening thud) that he was in trouble and wouldn't see much more of this race.

Matt Mathews (S) won this race from Bobby McMillan (F)with Tyrone Walters (S) picking up third . Cody Chadwick had the Chain throwing blues again and must be just about at his wits end trying to keep a chain on that bike. A DNF for Cody!

Now there's a fair effort , heat one and we have had four re-starts and a chain throw and an injury! And you didn't think these guys were serious!

Heat two and there are no chain throws ,injuries or exclusions. Because there were ten riders in this division they raced two heats of 5X5 races. In this heat Matt Mathews (S) takes a win from Bobby McMillan (F) Tony Bax (S) picked up third from Ben Blaker (L)The other half of this heat saw Cody Chadwick (S) fix his chain problems and take the win from Robert Fitzpatrick (L)over Daniel Bax (S)and Tyrone Walters (S).

Heat three sees another exclusion to Matt Mathews when he falls going onto the back straight, the re-start was won by Ty Geertsen (L) over Daniel bax (S) Brother Tony Bax (S) was third from Tyrone Walters (S).

The other half of heat three saw Cody Chadwick (S) take the win from Bobby McMillan (F) over Robert Fitzpatrick (L) and Jonathon Januay (M).

Heat four and Ty Geertsen (L) recovers well enough to win this race from Robert Fitzpatrick (L) with Tony Bax (S) getting third from Tyrone Walters (S).

The second half of heat four and Matt Mathews (S) picks up another win over Daniel Bax (S)  while Bobby McMillan (F) scored third from Jonathon Januay (M).

The final in this division was pretty close when the points were tallied up to see who were the final four riders are , that will compete for the state title. Robert Fitzpatrick tied with Matt Mathews on (12) while Bobby McMillan was next on (11) and Tony Bax scraped in on (9).

The final was a good fast race with a bit of swapping around but in the end Matt Mathews became the "08 Div 2 State Champion by beating Bobby McMillan from Tony Bax and Robert Fitzpatrick who had a final to forget!

The Over 30's had a great time today with some fast and furious racing , and our Victorian visitor and Salisbury club member , Nick Thresher was pumped and ready to go along with seven other older riders, amongst them was the reigning Aussie No1 , big Robert Flemming,and this was HIS home track!

The word going round the track was Nigel Greenhalgh was a fair bet!

These riders would have enjoyed the brilliant weather as they raced two heats of 4X4laps.

Heat one sees Nigel Greenhalgh (S) keep the punters dollars alive with a big first up win over Nick Thresher (V)(S) from Robert Fleming (L) and Darren Mathews (S).

The second half of heat one and Rick Jolly (S) also had a big win over John Hill (S) Andrew Dobie (M) and Graham Hedger (M).

Heat two Nigel Greenhalgh must have had a Red Bull as he came out flying and scored another win , again over Nick Thresher , John Hill and Andrew Dobie.

Second half of heat two and Robert Fleming puts that home track knowledge to good use and wins over Rick Jolly in a close finish over Darren Mathews and Graham Hedger.

Heat Three and none of these older riders are shirking the issue and seemed to be more determined each time they raced , just to make that final four.Nigel Greenhalgh has still got his foot on the loud pedal and notches up a third straight win over Robert Fleming who pushed hard all day,and had a vocal "FLEMMO"fan club right next to me.

Third went to Rick Jolly ahead of John Hill.

The second half of heat three sees a couple of riders slipping as they came out onto the back straight , however , Nick Thresher handled it good enough for a win followed by Darren Mathews , Andrew Dobie and Graham Hedger.

The last heat before the finals, heat four, and Robert Fleming once again shows then the short way home with a nice win over Darren Mathews , Andrew Dobie and Graham Hedger.

The next four riders came home in these positions, First was Nigel Greenhalgh , an unbeaten ride going into the finals on grid one.Second went to that Victorian , Nick Thresher , followed by Rick Jolly and a tiring John Hill.

The four finalists were ,in this order , Grid one ,Nigel Greenhalgh (16) grid two , Nick Thresher (V13) grid three , Robert Fleming (13) and last but not least on grid four on the outside, Rick Jolly (11).

This final was as all good finals should be hard and fast with spills and all.

The riders fronted the tapes and did their usual cleaning / settling routine and were just about ready to go when the tapes and whistle blew in unisen. Rock Jolly nearly lost his balance waiting for the tapes and got his one and only warning.The riders redid their uasual and settled waiting for the tapes.

The tapes flew up and Greenhalgh who had been gating well all day gated hard and lead into the first corner and that was about as close as anyone got to Nigel in the final.He seemed to have heaps left in the tank and powered away for a great win.  

                                                                                                                                                                                             Coming onto the backstraight , on lap two, our "Mexican friend" lost the front end and went down hard but got up and going again and made great inroads on third spot Rick Jolly.But quietly doing his thing in second spot was Robert Fleming and had secured his spot when Thresher went down.

They crossed the line in this order, Nigel Greenhalgh,Robert Fleming,Rick Jolly and Nick Thresher, making Nigel Greenhalgh the South Australian Over 30's Champion for '08.

In division three there were also eight riders and a lot of the smart money was on Farren Wills , who recently had his bike stolen and was riding Flemmo's old bike and as Flemmo said to me ,"hes never seen it go so fast".

Heat one of 2 heats of 4X4 laps and Farren wills steps up to the plate and belts a home run,might as well be ,it's his home track , when he takes a win from Dean Jolly and third was Anthony Daniels over Scott Kinross.

Second half of heat one sees Nathan Condo-Evans pick up a win from Jay Walters ,Sarah Kinross and Gabby Aston.

Heat two and Farren wills belts off another win over Dean Jolly , third was Anthony Daniels over Scott Kinross.The second half saw Jay Walters pick up a handy win over Nathan Condo-Evans,third was Gabby Aston over Sarah Kinross.

Heat three and Condo-Evans picks up his second win over Walters while third goes to Anthony Daniels over Scott Kinross .The second half sees Wills pick up his third win in a row over a hard charging Dean Jolly , third was Sarah Kinross over Gabby Aston.

Heat four ,the last chance to make the final and Wills nails another one making it an unbeaten ride into the finals on grid one with (16)second went to Anthony Daniels , third to Jay Walters who booked a spot in the final on grid four with (12 )over Sarah Kinross.The second half saw Dean Jolly pick up a win and a birth in the finals on grid three with (13).

Second went to Condo-Evans who had a traction problem and was sliding a bit but it was enough to put him on grid two in the final with (14) third was Scott Kinross over Gabby Aston.

Well there it was ,the stage is set for the final with the local favourite sitting in grid one ....undefeated..... on his home track and still looking fresh!Maybe these punters know something that we dont as they are looking after their money so far.

The final was a fast race without any incidents, it was also a great race for Wills too as he jumped hard from the tapes and gradually increased his lead each lap to the flag.This made Farren Wills the South Australian state champion for '08. Second went to a hard trying Nathan Condo-Evans over Dean Jolly who put in a solid day from Jay Walters in his first titles on a 26".

Skipping back to the little racers on 20" bikes in division seven , nine riders faced the tapes in two heats over 5X4 laps.

Heat one saw Jack Norman win from Michael Ratcliff over Matthew Forester and Miriam Thompson.the second half was won by Kian bird over Mathew Snowden , Karah Schultz and Jackson Dobie while Holly Greenhalgh bought up the rear.

Heat two and Kian bird picks up a second win ahead of Michael Ratcliff , Miriam Thompson and Karah Schultz and Holly Greenhalgh.The second half saw Jack Norman belt out another win over Mathew Snowden , Matthew forester and Jackson Dobie.

Heat three and Jack Norman is having a field day with another win over Michael Ratcliff , Jackson Dobie , Matthew Forester and Mathew Snowden who managed to get his pants hooked up in the chain ring , as did several other riders today.The second half saw Kian Bird keep his unbeaten track to the finals unbroken with a win over Kara Schultz.

Third went to Miriam Thompson over Holly Greenhalgh.

Heat four and Jack Norman blasts into the final undeafeated on (16)with another win over Karah Schultz , third went to Michael Ratcliff who also made the final on (11) from Miriam thompson and Holly Greenhalgh.The second half sees Kian bird also take an undefeated (16) into the final with a win over Mathew Snowden.

Third went to Matthew Forester over Jackson Dobie.

We still had a bit of sorting out before we knew exactly who was in the final and where as the first two undefeated riders had to toss a coin for position which Jack Norman won and took grid one,that meant Kian Bird got grid two,on grid three sat Michael Ratcliff but grid four had two riders tied on (9).

Mathew Snowden and Karah Schultz had to have a two lap ride-off for the final spot on the grid. Amid loud cheering a tiny battle raged out on the track with Snowden just holding Schultz out til the last corner where she did a great switchback and won a birth in the final.

The final was a race of two when Norman and Bird race closely together out the front while Schultz plugged away in third and Ratcliff got tangled up in his chainring for fourth.The race was eventually won by Jack Norman making him the division seven South Australian state champion for '08 over Kian Bird in second.Third went to Kara Schultz over Michael Ratcliff.

Division six had 10 riders and was a pretty even affair in the scoring for finals births.This div was run over two heats and 5X5 riders.

Heat one and a girl in a big hurry was new rider from the Murraylands , Amy-Lee Hay having only her 3rd or 4th ride and she wins the first heat from Jake Kerley , Brittany Payne and Angel Corsaro.

The second half and Todd Clarke rattles off a win ahead of Mathew Hurley , Mathew Bryant and Izaak Hemson .

Heat two and Mathew bryant picks up a win ahead of Jake Kerley , Brittany Payne , Izaak Hemson and Angel Corsaro.The second half sees Todd clarck pick up his second win over Amy Lee-Hay.

Heat three and Jake Kerley has a win from Brittany Payne and Izaak Hemson , part two and Mathew Bryant picks up win number two over Todd Clarke , Amy Lee-Hay and Angel Corsaro.

Heat four and Todd clarke picks up his third win and a birth in the final with (15) over Amy Lee-Hay who also booked her final on (12)ahead of Angel Corsaro , Izaak Hemson and Mathew Hurley.The second half saw Mathew Bryant pick up his third win and a birthin the final with (14) over Jake Kerley who also made the final on (13) next came  Brittant Payne.

In the final on grid one was Todd clarke , grid two Mathew Bryant , grid three Jake Kerley and on the outside in grid four , Amy Lee-Hay.

The final was mainly fought out by Clarke and Bryant with Bryant taking the win , Kerley always a steady third and the girl from Murraylands who has had a fairytail start to her riding career , Amy Lee-Hay picked up fourth.

Mathew Bryant was the South Australian state champion in division six in '08.

Division five and the lists get longer as there are 12 riders in this division so 3 heats of 4X4X4.In heat one Shane Bentley got off to a flyer with a first up win over Plymouth Christian , Jake Mathews and Billy Bax.The second part saw Brayden Clarke also pick up a win over Christopher Mowbray , Shiranta Aston and Brendan Brown.Part three and braden Makepeace sores himself a win over Trent forester , Zac Fulton and Daniel Roberts.

Heat two Shane Bentley banks another win while second went to Brayden Clarke over Billy Bax and Zac Fulton.Part two saw Braden Makepeace also bank some points with a win ,second was Plymouth Christian over shiranta Aston and Jake Mathews.Part three and Trent Forester wins from Christopher Mowbray , Brendon Brown and Daniel Roberts.

Heat three and Brayden clarke scores another win over Braden Makepeace from Zac Fulton and Jake Mathews.Part two Plymouth Christian rattles of a nice win from Daniel roberts , Brendon Brown and Billy bax.Part three and Shane Bentley keeps his unbeaten run going with a win over Trent Forester , shiranta Aston and Christopher Mowbray.

Heat four and the final chance to make the finals, Braden Makepeace is the first to book his final spot with a win over Plymouth Christian , who was unlucky to miss the final with a win and three seconds, Third was Shiranta Aston from Daniel Roberts.Part two and Shane Bentley makes a statement by going into the final unbeaten and on number one grid.

Second was Brayden Clarke over Christopher Mowbray from Jake Mathews.Part three and Trent Forester fulls out all the stops and rattled off enough points to get him a coin toss for grid position with Braden Makepeace in the final.Zac Fulton picked up second ahead of Brendon Brown and Billy Bax.

Now for the final and it looked a beauty on paper. the points lines up like this on grid one with (16) Shane Bentley , on grid two with (15) Braden Makepeace , on grid three after a coin toss with (14) Brayden Clarke , on grid four with (14) Trent Forester.

Shane Bentley went into the final as favourite and nothing changed in the final to change that as he went on to a great win over Brayden clarke , braden Makepeace and Trent Forester.

Shane bentley was crowned the South Australian state champion for '08.

Division four and this division has the most riders with fifteen fronting the tapes which meant there were 4 heats of 4X4X4X3!Whew!

Heat one saw Michael Karpany win over Andrew Wilkie , Austin McDonaold and Anabell Blaker. Part two and John Stevenson wins from Lucy Millikin , Marc Mastrodomenico and Angus Elliot.Part three and Josh Debattista takes an early win over Robbie Vella and Nicole Kinross followed by Jarryd Lillyman.

Part four and Mark Sheldon rides well for a first up win over Georgia Tulloch and Daniel Coppins.

Heat two and Nicole Kinross gets some runs on the board with a nice win over Marc Mastrodomenico . Angus Elliot and Anabell Blaker.Part two and John stevenson backs up another win over Andrew Wilkie , Austin McDonald and Daniel Coppins.Part three sees Robbie Vella post a win over Michael Karpany , Mark Sheldon and Georgia Tulloch.

Part four and Josh Debattista notches up a second win straight over Lucy Millikin , whos starting to get faster , from Jarryd Lillyman.

Heat three, Josh Debattista , the defending champion in this division , lets everyone know he's on his way to another final , win another win over John Stevenson , Georgia Tulloch and Anabell Blaker.Part two Nicole Kinross backs up her earlier win with another over Mark Sheldon , Andrew Wilkie and Daniel Coppins.

Part three Lucy Millikin caps off a beauty with a win over Robbie Vella , Michael Karpany and Austin McDonald.Part four Jarryd Lillyman picks up a win over Angus Elliot and Marc Mastrodomenico.

Heat four and once again the last chance to reach the final, Joshua Debattista does just that taking an unbeaten ride into the final followed by Michael Karpany , Angus Elliot and Anabell Blaker. Part two Nicole Kinross picks up her third straight win putting her into the final with a win over Georgia Tulloch ,  Daniel Coppins and Robbie Vella who unfortunately fell while in a position that put him in a ride-off for the final.

Part three Mark Sheldon picks up another win just in time over Jarryd Lillyman , Andrew Wilkie and Marc Mastrodomenico.Part four John Stevenson picks up his third win to take him straight into the final .Second was Lucy Millikin over Austin McDonald.

Two riders ended on the same score forced a ride-off between Marc Sheldon (13) from Murraylands and Lucy Millikin (13) of LeFevre.

Marc won the ride-off and the grid lined up like this.Grid one Josh Debattista (16) grid two John Stevenson (15) grid three Nicole Kinross (14) grid four Mark Sheldon (13).

This was a good final and right from the start Josh outgated them all to lead into the first corner and basically cleared out enough to control the race from the front , John Stevenson was having his hands full with Nicole Kinross and had to cover his tracks for most of the race while Trent Forester waited for something to happen to let him through,which didn't happen.

Josh went on to be the South Australian state champion for '08 and retain his title over John stevenson , Nicole Kinross and Mark Sheldon.

Division One the last of the day and once again there was some great racing and every win was an earn!There were eight starters which had two heats of 4X4.

Heat one, Cameron Crisp starts the day off with a good one and takes a win over Daniel Thompson , Ryan Edson and Jackie Kinross.Part two and Daniel Pudney ,ex world champ on his home track takes a win , second was Paul White who looked fast today , third went to Brad Thompson over Ross Priest who went down coming onto the back straight whilst challenging Pudney for the lead.

Heat two, Daniel Pudney rattled off two straight , just incase anyone wasn't paying attention the first time with a great win over Daniel Thompson , Cameron Crisp and Brad Thompson , who also fell and hurt himself coming onto the back straight. Part two Ross Priest jumped straight back into it and scored a win over Paul White , Ryan Edson and Jackie Kinross.

Heat three Ross Priest backed up his win with another over Paul White , Cameron Crisp and Brad Thompson was still recovering.Part two and Daniel Pudney rattled off his third straight win over Daniel thompson , Ryan Edson and Jackie Kinross.

Heat four and Daniel Pudney takes full advantage of the last points on offer to get into the final with a win over Paul White ,who's been a bridesmaid all day,in second with third going to Cameron crisp followed by Jackie Kinross. Part two and the last big points on offer go to Ross Priest with his third straight win.

Second went to Daniel Thompson followed by Brad Thompson , who was up and going again over Ryan Edson ,who had a day to forget!

So the the grid placings for the final were, grid one Daniel Pudney (16) grid two Ross Priest (13) a coin flip saw grid three go to Paul White (12) and grid four Daniel Thompson (12).

With the riders lined up on the grid the comentator introduced them to the big crowd and asked for quiet on the grid so the riders can have a fair go at starting the race.The tapes went up and a great gate from Pudney put him at the front going onto the back straight.An even better gate from grid four put Thompson on the inside of Priest who lost the frontend going onto the back straight.

A stop was called by the ref and all riders went back in for a second go and what a second go it was.The same pattern emerged from the gate when Thompson shot down the inside and looked to have second spot on the first corner from grid four was a great move except he lost the frontend going onto the back straight and went down and was no longer a player in the outcome ,remounted and rode on.

The next three laps were beauties as Pudney held sway at the front with Priest snapping at his heels and White really having a top go at making up a spot from third. Twice he challenged Priest only to drop back and challenge again, this one wasn't over till they all crossed the line.

At the end of the race Daniel Pudney was crowned Division one South Australian state champion for '08 over Ross Priest , Paul White and Daniel Thompson.What a great race and befitted the championships it represented.Well done to the LeFevre crew who put on a great day and for the track , which was a beauty.

 

 

 

Back Pedal

 

Salisbury's getting ready  by Darryl Daniels

What a week! last week at Murraylands our league racing teams excelled themselves by winning the div four by a fair margin followed closely by a hastily re shuffled div one side who went down by only a couple of points , but impressed enough to hold hope for the future rounds.

Everyone was fired up at training during the week ,especially at league practice on Thursday night , where only six 26" riders fronted but it was as good a hit out I have seen at the track for some time.

It was a savage , take no prisoners affair where one bike was ridden off another damaged and spokes went missing at will. This is all in readiness for the looming State Titles at LeFevre on May 3rd. with a 11.20am sign in. There shouldn't be any Salisbury riders shirking the issue then.

Now for some club racing , and let me tell you these older riders kept the hard charging and racing going throughout some of the latter races in the day.

To start the meet off some people were accosted to help run the meeting and Charlie Debattista put his hand up to refferee the racing, and did a good job of it too, except I think along the same lines as his wife Sue ,who did the scoring and handicapping today , that his feeble whistle blowing needed a bit of refining. Blow Charlie , dont suck!

I called the racing today and it's strange how soon you can get out of sync when a half a dozen new riders distribute themselves amongst the different grades and i humbly appologize to any rider I called wrong on the day,still , I managed to stumble my way along and didn't really offend anyone,I hope.

The Parade lap got things rolling , where riders were chosen for dressage points and todays winners were,for the Hornets Mathew Hurley , the Orions was a tie between Austin McDonald and Plymouth Christian (debuting his new ride) and for the Blackhawks Tiana Debattista.

Only one Tinytot raced today,little Emily Makepeace , who raced well as she competed with a couple of div seven riders and showed some pace.

The div seven pair of Mathew Snowden and Michael Ratcliff put on some spirited racing with Ratcliff taking the points todat (19) to Snowdens (16).

Division six saw Mathew Hurley pick up a (maximum 20) with Joshua coming back after a nasty spill to pick up five seconds for (15) over Jake Kerley on (8) and Whitney Jones on (5), new rider Phoebe McDonald was injured early in the first race which took the wind out of her sails , but returned for the rest of the meet.

Division five was dominated by the rider of the week , Braden Makepeace (maximum 20) over Tiana Debattista (11) with a draw for third between Plymouth Christian and Jake Mathews , both on (9).

Division four and the gentleman came out in "Mr Smooth" Josh Debattista in the last gate star of the day when he let the new rider , Lauren Winder, win the last race. His mum Sue ,who was sitting next to me scoring was almost overcome with feelings as she was saying "isn't that sweet"!Well done Josh you're a star.

The division was taken out by Josh without raising a sweat on (19) from Austin McDonald (14) Marc "The Scar" Mastrodomenico (12) over Angus Elliot on (8).

Moving on to division three and the wins were distributed between four riders and the end result shows nothing between the four riders who contested this division , Dean Jolly picked up the win on (14) followed closely by Jay Walters on (13) Anthony Daniels on (12) and Nathan Condo-Evans on (11) Michael Bouhalis is out 5/6 weeks with a broken arm.

In the seniors over 30's race there were only two racers , Darren Mathews won on (18) over a fast improving Frank Jones on "Goldenrod" who lived up to his reputation of having a the odd crash ,unaided, and didn't let his fans down  by having another today.Frank scored (14).

Division two is where they were butting heads today and it was virtually "last man standing" stuff as they banged and barged their way through five heats today. Bikes off the track and still racing a couple at a time was par and some hefty shoulders were metered out between both the chadwick boys ,Cody and Joel.

Ryan Edson loves this sort of stuff and was in his element today. Tony Bax is no stranger to all this carrying on and had a smile on his dial that a plastic surgeon couldn't remove. Tyrone Walters was the only one with the brains to stay out of all this.I t made very entertaining racing and the ref let em go which was good to see and they all had a ball.

The div was eventually taken out by Joel Chadwick (19) from his brother Cody on (15) over Ryan Edson (9) and Tony Bax on (5).

 

 

Back Pedal

 

League Racing ..round 1..division 1 @ Murraylands by Darryl Daniels

Just after the division four league round , the track got some preparation work in readiness for the Div one boys to tear it up. Amazingly as it may seem the track holds up extremely well and seems to get faster as the surface beds in. This surface usually only needs a broom run over it to bring back a quality ,fast track.

The Ref for both leagues today was Mick Harley.

The riders for each club were intoduced as they did their parade lap as ,

Murraylands (home side)

Dillan Harper

Johnathon Jaunay

Daniel Thompson

Josh Ritter

Daniel Randall

Bradley Thompson

 

Findon Comets

Ross Priest

Bobby McMilan

Matt Gentle

Brad Gentle

Michael Lynch

Lucinda Spear

 

Salisbury Jets

Matt Mathews

Dean Jolly

Jay Walters

Anthony Daniels

Cody Chadwick

Ryan Edson

At the end of the parade lap the teams exited the track one by one until the Jets turn came and they just tookoff in unison , without a sound , like a long snake of six riders for a hot lap to exit the track,I don't know what others thought but I personally thought it looked great!

Enough of the fancy stuff , now down to some great racing!

Heat 1 and the Comets got off to a great start with a maximum against Murraylands The winner was Priest (C) from Brad Gentle (C) over Jaunay (M) and Brad Thompson (M).

progressive score Murraylands (3) Comets (7) Jets (0)

Heat 2 murraylands is up straight away again with two fresh riders with a maximum from the Jets pair of Mathews (J) and Jolly (J) over Daniel Thompson (M) and Ritter (M) making life hard.

progressive score Murraylands (6) Comets (7) Jets (7)

Heat 3 This was a heat of tactics of which some you win , some you lose! This was a lose situation for Chadwick.The race started out normal until the first corner where Edson was having trouble with Matt Gentle and couldn't buy a pass.

Brad had already cleared out and was way ahead . Chadwick tried to slow Matt down so Ryan could pass but caused Matt to fall declaring the race right there.

That was on the last corner so it ended with Brad Gentle (C) winning Matt Gentle (C) second Edson (J) third and Chadwick (J) excluded.

progressive score Murraylands (6) Comets (14) Jets (9)

Heat 4 a third straight maximum goes to the Comets of Priest (C) and Lynch (C) over Randall (M) and Daniel Thompson (M)

progressive score Murraylands (9) Comets (21) Jets (9)

Heat 5 a much welcomed second maximum to the Jets when Mathews (J) and Jolly (J) took the points from Brad Thompson (M) and Daniel thompson (M).

progressive score Murraylands (12) Comets (21) Jets (16)

Heat 6 even scoring by Priest (C) Walters (J) Edson (J) and McMilan (C)

progressive score Murraylands (12) Comets (26) Jets (21)

Heat 7 an exclusion to Brad Gentle for putting both wheels on the infield helped Murraylands but Matt Gentle (C) won from Daniel Thompson (M) and Ritter (M) Brad Gentle (C) (EX).

progressive score Murraylands (17) Comets (30) Jets (21)

Heat 8 another maximum to the Jets newly seeded riders of Daniels (J) and Walters (J) over Harper (M) and Randall (M).

progressive score Murraylands (20) Comets (30) Jets (28)

Heat 9 even scoring between Priest (C) Mathews (J) Chadwick (J) and Lynch (C).

progressive score Murraylands (20) Comets (35) Jets (33)

well it's halfway through the event and there's a bit of a gap between the host club and the two visitors but stranger things have happened ,look what happened to the Power last night! There's not much between the two Adelaide teams ,just a couple of points so it should be an interesting grind to the finish.

Heat 10 the second half sees the comets off to a good start with another maximum for Matt Gentle (C) and Brad Gentle (C) over Harper (M) and Jaunay (M).

progressive score Murraylands (23) Comets (42) Jets (33)

Heat 11 another maximum to the Jets pair of Daniels (J) and Edson (J) over Daniel Thompson (M) and Ritter (M) Thompson was unlucky to go down after tangling with Daniels.

progressive score Murraylands (26) Comets (42) Jets (40)

Heat 12 even scoring again between the Comets and jets when Brad Gentle (C) won from Mathews (J) Chadwick (J) and Lucinda spear (C).

progressive score Murraylands (26) Comets (47) Jets (45)

Heat 13 unlucky for some ,lucky for others when the Comets scored another maximum McMilan (C) won from Lynch (C) over Randall (M) and Jaunay (M).

progressive score Murraylands (29) Comets (54) Jets (45)

Heat 14 the Jets bounce straight back with a maximum of their own,there was little between the Comets and the Jets today. Mathews (J) won from Edson (J) over Daniel thompson (M) and Randall (M).

progressive score Murraylands (32) Comets (54) Jets (52)

Heat 15 this was to be a heartbreaker for the Jets as Chadwick ,once again threw a chain while in a good scoring position making it even points when he coasted the last lap to pick up a solitary point. Edson (J) won from Matt Gentle (C) brad Gentle (C) and Chadwick (J). that thrown chain was a part of the ulitimate outcome of this league session.

progressive score Murraylands (32) Comets (59) Jets (57)

Heat 16 once again a maximum to the comets when Priest (C) won from McMilan (C) over Ritter (M) and Randall (M).

progressive score Murraylands (35) Comets (66) Jets (57)

Heat 17 once again the Jets came straight back with a maximum to stay in touch with the Comets when Mathews (J) won from Jolly (J) over Jaunay (M) and Harper (M).

progressive score Murraylands (38) comets (66) Jets (64)

With only one race to go it was still on that the Jets could catch if not beat the Comets on the last ride of the day.

Heat 18 Chadwick (J) did all he could to help the Jets over the line by winning the last race but his partner Edson (J) was given a short back and sides by the Gentle boys Matt (C) and Brad (C) to make sure there was no one sided wins in the final race. The scoring ended up even scoring which was no use to the Jets.

Progressive and final score Murraylands (38) Comets (71) Jets 69)

 

 

Back Pedal

League Racing ...round 1 Div 4 @ Murraylands. by Darryl Daniels

The clubs that participated in the first round of league racing at Murray Bridge looked forward to the first hitout of the season and what a beauty it was.The three clubs participating were the homeside Murraylands , the Findon Comets and the Salisbury Jets.

As usual you didn't know whether to wear sunscreen or a raincoat and although the weather turned out to a bit on the crisp side , it stayed fine and no rain eventuated.

The Murralands club seeded a few new riders today and as a matter of fact they had only one experienced rider in division four that had ridden league before so it was basically going to be a sharp learning curve for the remainder.Both the other clubs had full compliments of riders that had experience.

The riders as introduced to the large crowd as they did their team lap , were as follows.

Murraylands

Mark Sheldon

Jarryd Lillyman

Ebony Clark

Amy Lee Hay

 

Findon Comets

Shane Bentley

Todd Clarke

Brayden Clarke

Trent Forester

Nicole Kinross

 

Salisbury Jets

Josh Debattista

John Stevenson

Braden Makepeace

Plymouth Christian

Luke Childs

Heat 1 sees the locals, Murraylands pair of Sheldon and Lillyman take on the Comets pair of Bentley and Todd Clarke with even scoring by way of Sheldon (M) winning from Bentley (F) Clarke (F) and Lillyman (M).

progressive score Murrayylands (5) Comets (5) Jets (0)

Heat 2 sees the experienced pair from the Jets of Debattista and Stevenson take a maximum (7) over the inexperienced Clark and Hay (3) from Murraylands.

progressive score Murraylands (8) Comets (5) Jets (7)

Heat 3 and once again there was even scoring between  Nicole Kinross (F) winning from  Makepeace (S) Childs (2) and Brayden Clarke (F) who had a nasty fall on the last corner.

progressive score Murraylands (8) Comets (10) Jets (12)

Heat 4 sees Todd Clarke (C) win from team-mate Bentley (C) over Clark (M) and Hay (M) with a maximum going the Comets way.

progressive score Murraylands (11) Comets (17) Jets (12)

Heat 5 another maximum goes to Debattista (J) from Stevenson (J) over Lillyman (M) and Sheldon (M).

progressive score Murraylands (14) Comets (17) Jets (19)

Heat 6 even scoring  from Makepeace (J) Bentley (C) Kinross (C) and Childs (J) sees things tighten up at the front.

progressive score Murraylands (14) Comets (22) Jets (24)

Heat 7 another maximum goes to Brayden Clarke (C) and Forester (C) over Clark (M) and Hay (M).

progressive score Murraylands (17) Comets (29) Jets (24)

Heat 8 the Jets bounce straight back with another maximum to Christian (J) and Makepeace (J) over Sheldon (M) and Lillyman (M).

Progressive score Murraylands (20) Comets (29) Jets (31)

Heat 9 The Jets pinch a couple of points with a win by Debattista (J) over Bentley (C) from Stevenson (J) and Kinross (C).

progressive score Murraylands (20) Comets (33) Jets (37)

Halfway home and the host club is certainly suffering with the lack of experienced riders and the fact that they only had four riders to start with and the others always had a spare set of fresh legs to throw in .Still this is the way you get experience and they will learn a lot from this hit-out.

Still a long way to go but the final result is never in the bag til it's over, especially in League racing,scores change in a heartbeat.

Heat 10 Murraylans has a great race and even scores with Brayden Clarke (C) Sheldon (M) from Lillyman (M) and Forester (C).

progressive score Murraylands (25) Comets (38) Jets (37)

Heat 11 again a maximum from Makepeace (J) and Childs (J) over Clark (M) and Hay (M) sees the Jets pull away.

progressive score Murraylands (28) Comets (38) Jets (44)

Heat 12 staight away the Jets pull another maximum with Debattista (J) winning from Stevenson (J) over Brayden Clarke (C) and Forester (C).

progressive score Murraylands (28) Comets (41) Jets (51)

Heat 13 even scoring once again between Sheldon (M) over Bentley (C) from Todd Clarle (C) and Lillyman (M).

progressive score Murraylands (33) Comets (46) Jets (51)

Heat 14 another maximum to the Jets from Debattista (J) and Stevenson (J) over Clark (M) and Hay (M).

progressive score Murraylands (36) Comets (46) Jets (58)

Heat 15 even scoring is not what the Comets needed as Makepeace (J) took a win over Brayden Clarke (C) from Forester (C) and Christian (J).

progressive score Murraylands (36) Comets (51) Jets (63)

Heat 16 a maximum goes to the Comets by way of Bentley (C) and Todd Clarke (C) over Clark (M) and Lillyman (M).

progressive score Murraylands (39) Comets (58) Jets (63)

Heat 17 the Jets don't let up and another maximum goes their way by Debattista (J)  Stevenson (J) over Sheldon (M) and Lillyman (M).

progressive score Murraylands (42) Comets (58) Jets (70)

Heat 18 the last heat of the day and even scoring between Makepeace (J) over Forester (C) and Kinross (C) and Christian (J) .

progressive and final scores see the Jets take a fine win on 75 points over the comets on 63 with the Murraylands club on 42.

Once again our friends at the Murraylands club put on a great day for everyone and we always look forward to returning.

 

 

Back Pedal

 

Josh Debattista ...AKA "Mr.Smooth!  by Darryl Daniels

When you see a rider dominate as much as Josh Debattista does and keep on doing it year after year you can usually bet there is some top class reliable machinery under them.

Josh has been very fortunate that his dad , Charlie , and his mum , Sue , have been suportive of his career in Cycle Speedway by always giving both Josh and Tiana top quality bikes.

Josh's latest bike is no exception and upon spying it for the first time I just knew I had to ask Charlie if I could do a story on both the bike and Josh.

Firstly Josh , I have only known the Debattista family for a few years and in that time he has been at the top of his game ever since.He rides so smooth ,hence the "Mr. Smooth" tag I have given him.I have yet to meet another quiet achiever like Josh , he's well mannered , well behaved and never a problem to have around.

He takes his racing seriously ,and you should if you want to be competitive , is a very clean rider and a good tacticion on the track in league and interclub events,which he has served his club well in over the years.

Josh has also been the State and Australian Champions in all the time I have known him!

Now for Josh's ride, his new bike!

Firstly Josh races in Division four , where you need a 20" bike and BMX bike frames make a handy starting point for a good speedway cycle. the only difference from a standard frame is the use of modified forks. these suit the bike beautifully and you don't really notice that they aren't BMX forks until its pointed out.

The next item that stands out is , Josh uses white 20 X 1 1/8 rims instead of the plain silver ones and they make a great contrast with the rest of the bike. The Handlebars are also white which makes a good balance in colour.

The one thing that really makes this bike stand out is the fantastic colour of the frame and matching helmet and the high level of finish.The colour is Electric Orange with Pearl added and finished off with clear.The paintwork was done by an experienced paint shop.

The Gaphics blend in beautifully with the paint scheme and were applied by Royster Graphics with josh choosing the bikes title of "Typhoon"

The cranks are 175's and have also had the attention of a polisher and look great.I didn't ask for the gearing but the Chains a chrome one.

all up the bike has set them back betweem  $400-500 but looks a million bucks,money well spent if you ask me!

Enough from me just check out the pictures and you can see for yourself ,that's one nice bike!

 

 

Back Pedal

 

Thankyou to the Members & Riders  by Darryl Daniels

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Mums & Dads and the boys and girls who have sent me well wishes and a speedy recovery after my recent triple by-pass opperation.

It is amazing that such a little thing called , caring , can give a someone (namley myself) such an enormous lift and for this I would like to say a very big Thankyou.

I can't be at the track , unfortunately , and I love seeing the kids out there on the track racing as hard as they can but I seem to get a million phone calls that keep me up to speed with how things are going.

While I was in recovery I recieved plenty of well wishes and one special one that I had photographed for little Emily Makepeace , who hand painted a picture of a smiley face , that was on Valentines Day and seeing I basically got a new heart for Valentines Day , guess who was my Valentine?

There is a Championship coming up called the Findon Open on the 1st of March , and although I cant be there either I will still be having photos taken and will still be writing a report as I will also recieve the results from the Open.

It would make me feel a bit better  too if in that report I can write about our riders doing well . Remember  though if just doing your best isnt good enough on the day doesn't get you on the podium or a trophy , your day will come , just keep doing your best.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can drive again , which they tell me is in about 4-6 weeks time.The reason being I can return to the track!

Goodluck to the winners from this week & to the placegetters , I didn't recieve any results but starting next week we should , hopefully be back to something resembling normal.

 

 

Back Pedal

 

At Last! The Season Opener @ Salisbury 2008  by Darryl Daniels

Finally ,after all this waiting it's finally up and going again. I'll bet some of those mums are glad they're finally back at school too!We love them to death ,but those Christmas holidays seem to get longer every year.

I had a bit of a look around the pits at any new machinery that might be used on the day and saw some pretty impressive bikes , one in particular stood out well above the rest and I'll see if I can get a story on the bike and matching helmet from its builder.

The first presentation for dressage points was taken care of , by the ref on the day ,Robert Hurley. I can't tell you any results as I failed to get any results for the days racing,my fault, first day back blues! however I do know that my grandson Anthony won dressage for the Orions.

Some new faces around the track is always good to see,and some new faces on the track was also good to see.

There was some pretty good racing going on and the first days handicapping was quickly sorted and some great racing and finishes were the results.Considering the day was rather on the warm side the riders faired well.

Cody Chadwick impressed with his riding skills as did Braden Makepeace and (the birthday boy) Daniel Bax.Daniel and Braden showed plenty of pace today in particulat young  Braden from division 5 and he took out Rider of the Day as well!....well earnt too!

It was obvious some riders are still coming to grips with bikes and some are just having bad luck like slipping pedals and throwing chains etc but they will get it sorted and start pushing other riders soon enough.

Well thats it til next week when I am hoping to be able to bring you scores and more pictures.

 

 

South Australian State Championships

From Murraylands May 6th.' 07 By Darryl Daniels

Ominious clouds greeted our arrival at Murraylands Raceway and the thought did cross my mind of a few drops of rain but that didn't eventuate and a brilliant sunny afternoon bathed everyone in sunshine.It looked good for racing!

The track looked a picture and our Murraylands hosts sure spruce the place up when visitors are calling and the effort was clear to see,well done.The track looked really good and fast too and needed only a broom run across it now and then to restore that smooth surface.

Eighty two riders made the effort,and the long haul up to Murraylands today and there was some great racing displayed and some awsome passing moves,a couple of crashes,some broken bikes and some bruised bodies.

A large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers enjoyed some quality time outdoors and cheered the riders along.

After the parade lap the serious business of racing come on us really quickly as the next moment the tinytots lined up for their first event.Five of their finest fanged around the track,most of them with their mouths open or smiling.The top little champs who scored a state trophy today were Paycee Stewart , Miriam Thompson , Jacob Childs , Jackson Dobie and Jacob Smith.

Ten riders faced the tape in division seven today and only one rider made it through to the finals without dropping a point and that was Todd Clarke,Jake Kerley and Jack Norman had a couple of wins each Cody Norton also put in a belter and made it to the final.

Like all finals this one was a good one and Todd Clarke took the state title from Jack Norman ahead of Jake Kerley  and fourth was Cody Clarke.

In division six another rider that went through to the final unbeaten was Trent Forester, Dylan Childs also made the final after a coming together with the fence in heat four.Mathew Bryant also rode well enough so too did Jake Mathews.

Trent forester took the state title with second going to Dylan Childs ahead of Mathew Bryant and slotting into four is Jake Mathews.

Sixteen riders in a big field for division five , four heats of four riders , and the rider thats unbeaten (thats no mean feat in a field this size) was Luke Childs,who was only limping yesterday! Eight different riders had wins over the course of making it to the final.

There were some unlucky rider in this lot ,Nicole Kinross for example had a win and three seconds and didn't make the final , so too was Tiana Debattista who had two wins a second and a fourth.But thats what its all about finding out exactly who is the best at this time and that simply was Luke Childs backing up last years div six title with the divvy five one too!

Second to "the man" who only dropped a point to luke along they way was Brayden Clarke in front of Brodie Charlson who rode well today with a couple of wins with fourth going to Brayden Clarke who also had a couple of wins.

Eight riders competed in division four with another rider carrying his bat and that was Josh Debattista also making his way into the final,with a couple of wins himself , was Jay Walters.John stevenson made sure he was up for it too by qualifying.

Sarah Kinross wasn't going to let the boys get all the goodies by qualifying herself.

Once again Josh Debattista led most of the way to be state champion ahead of Jay Walters who pushed hard all the way from John Stevenson who held them off all day with Sarah Kinross keeping them honest in fourth.

Division three had by far the largest field today with nineteen starters.

With some real hard chargers and some Aussie world cup team members in this lot it wasn't going to be easy  and it certainly wasn't.

Joel Chardwick got my vote as the rider of the meet with his never give up ,come from behind wins to be another unbeaten rider going into his final , but the way he got there was awesome!

Some unlucky riders in this lot too because when you win a couple and get a couple of seconds and have to ride-off to get in the final and not make it, happened to Nathan Condo-Evans and Daniel Bax with that last spot on the grid going to Ross Priest.

Ross also had a couple of wins along his way and stiff not to also make the final was Matt Mathews who had two wins and a second going into the last qualifier and threw a chain on the starting pad.A disgusted Mathews threw his bike onto the infield as he was now out!

The final was as a final should be with great pressure racing and hassling all the way to the line where Joel chadwick just pipped Ross Priest on the line to take out the state Title in front of Jack Neeskens who also went into the final unbeaten from Farren Wills who rode exceptionally well today.

Farren also had three wins and a second going into the final.What a final?

If you think divvy three was good then you would have loved division two as Cody Chadwick ,Ryan Edson and "Mr .Excitement" Daniel Thompson shoved and banged and barged their way around the track,excellent tight ,hard , close racing.

Also making their way to the final was Ty Geertsen.

Cody Chadwick only dropped a point on the day to Ryan Edson and ended doing as his brother had done in div three and took out the state title from Daniel Thompson who was Murraylands best rider by far today.Third went to Ryan Edson who tried every trick in the book today ahead of Ty Geertsen.

 

Over Thirties, and a man on a mission was Nick Thresher , who also went through to the final unbeaten by way of some great gating and first lap or two bursts.All these riders rode similarly into the finals with the happiest one of this lot being Darren Mathews who got a point.

The final saw Nick Thresher keep his winning ways intact by winning the state title for a second conceutive time ahead of big Rob Fleming ,who looked almost spent after the first race!

Third went to  Rick Jolly from John Hill.

Division one and the big guys come out to play, Big litterally with big Jake Spear fronting up along a host of other top Riders made it anyones race going into the final as Brad Gentle had taken himself out of the equation by getting himself lapped after a fall.

Nigel Greenhalgh mucked up his last chance of making it  and others simply didn't make it.

Jack Spear became the State div 1 champion after taking out the final in fine style ahead of Paul White who rode his usual good lines all day. Third was Cameron Crisp who also rode very consistently all day and fourth after a couple of heat wins was Robert Fitzpatrick.

After racing all the trophy winners recieved their trophies except the big one the State Champion trophy was forgotten and still at Findon where last years winner took it and then retired,none other than Matt Gentle who was also at the track today but not racing.

All trophies were awarded by the President of the Cycle Speedway Council,Bill Rufus.

Refferee was Megan Rufus.

The Murralands mob are always great hosts and once again made everyone feel welcome and a great day was had by all,til next time.....!

 

Back Pedal

 

What a week in Cycle Speedway by Darryl Daniels

Phew! what a week it's been, I'm just about exhausted and there's still more to come tommorrow at Murraylands for the State Championships!

It all started off last Friday night when a decission to abandon our scheduled meet happened, the next morning was off to LeFevre raceway for the first interclub, then practise on Tuesday, Speedway Council on Wednesday , League practise on Thursday and our Friday night meet last night!

Amongst all this confusion, an old friend from over the border , made an appearance at our Tuesday night training ,non other than Nick Thresher, who's always as bubbly as ever,good to see him.He trained with the Aussie squad at Findon on the Thursday.

Nick always looking for a big stage to perform on,jokingly said to me he could declare himself available to join the team if he was needed. I personally think he would be a great aquisition to the team ,with his vast years of knowledge and international racing (he raced in the UK) could be an ace up their sleeve.

The Friday night racing at Salisbury saw the return of another rider , missing for a while , was Daniel Ffrench ,who mixed it well with the big guns and showed he still pushes a mean bike.

I went down in the afternnon to check the track as we had plenty of water and the track had become sodden and after having a look at the weather radar,decided it would be worth fixing the track as the big weather window looming from the W/SW was looking good.

After some patching and corner repairs and about 17 kilometers of packing later, we had the track looking hard and fast,so fast infact that sub 10 second runs were put up in the time trials by Cody chadwick.The best part was the rain stayed away, the night was perfect and track maintenece minimal.

The racing started around 7.30 and the parade and Dressage was done with the winner for the Hornets was Ryan Greenhalgh , the Orions John Stevenson and the Blackhawks saw a draw between Dylan Childs andJ osh Debattista.

Ref was Trev Dutton, Flag Marshall Charlie Debattista,Pit Marshall Rob Hurley ,Handicapper and Timekeeper Wayne Bax

The first two events on the card saw us a bit light on in both the Tinytots and div 7 so they doubled up and raced together and provided some great finishes.Tinytots were Emily Makepeace and Jacob childs.

Mathew Snowden was the only Div seven to turn up and picked up a maximum (20) for his troubles.

Division six saw a full grid with another of the Child's clan  , Dylan just missing his max with (19) with Mathew Hurley (13) picking up second ahead of Jake Mathews (11) and Joshua Carden (7)

Division 5/1 and this time the member of the clan was missing altogether and was seen limping around the place .He's the champ from div six last titles and was a good hope for the div 5 titles at Murraylands tommorrow,I hope he's up to it.Good luck Luke.

In his abscence Plymouth Christian took the opportunity to have himself a win with (16.5) ahead of Robbie Vella (15 ),who handled the track a bit better last night and it was good to see Ryan Greenhalgh (13.5) back racing and enjoying the night.He had a draw with Plymouth Christian in race two.

Division 5/2 and the "Quiet Achiever" Tiana Debattista (14) just pipped a draw for second between Billy Bax and Marc Mastrodomenico (13).Lindsay Jolly (10) picked up fourth. their four separate winners out of five races in this div,looks good for the future.

Division four and "Mr Smooth" Josh Debattista (maximum 20) stamped his mark on this field with some awesome gating and cornering , he found the track to his liking as was displayed in the time trials with some mid 10 second times on a 20" bike ,thats moving.

Pushing Josh most of the way was Jay Walters (14) ,who couldn't quite go with the champ last night and John Stevenson (11) just doesn't seem fit enough to mix it for long with these two.

About now the time trials took place but seeing as I dont have a copy of those times I cant say all that much about it except , the track was fast and grippy ,thanks for help from Nick Thresher,Kerry Westover and John Stevenson.

Cody Chadwick cracked a 9.99 and followed it up with a 10.02 on a surface he obviously liked.Some of our smaller riders were also posting surpisingly quick times,as was our older brigade in Nick Thresher and I appologise to you all for not being able to recognize individuals for oustanding performances.

Division three had a little bit of bite in their step last night and were moving pretty quick, so a couple of bingles was always on the cards. This didn't stop racing as riders re-mounted and contiued racing,great stuff! Backmarker , Daniel Bax rode well to pick up (15) ahead of a draw between Anthony Daniels and Dean Jolly (10).

Third went to Tony Bax (9) who in race five had the funniest thing I've seen in Cycle Speedway when he was gating next to Dean Jolly and somehow Tony was left standing on the track ,about two bike lengths from the start,while his bike was caught up on Dean Jolly ,who took off with it halfway round the track .

Fourth went to Tyrone Walters ,he's a hard little nut and when he says hes hurt,he really is! He had a hard fall and had to take a while to check everything was where it was meant to be , before getting a big cheer when he rejoined the mob.

The Seniors over 30's and div two joined together to put six on the grid at all grid starts.

There were no prisoners taken either as they bumped , banged and shoved their way around.Nick Thresher was on the short end after being told previously that a bit of bumping and biff isn't allowed. Poor old Nick hit the concrete infield verge on the first corner.

Nick came up OK but that must have hurt. That was in race two but after that the fuse was lit!

Cody Chadwick (19) had a night to remember ,dropping a single point to Matt Mathews and Nigel Greenhalgh both on (13) Some pretty slick times were flying around in this lot , not only in the time trials either but under the pressure of competition too.

In the Seniors over 30's their was a draw between Darren Mathews and Nick Thresher (16).

Tommorrow see the state Titles at Murraylands and goodluck to all riders Competing,I hope the weather holds out for what promises to be a great day.

 

Back Pedal

Carnage at the 1st. Interclub.at LeFevre Speedway by Darryl Daniels

Today , in pouring rain , an interclub event was run at the LeFevre raceway.This was a bit of a shock as we had abaondonded our own Friday night racing because of it being dangerous for riders , bought about by the inclement weather and plenty of rain.LeFevre even abandonded their own meet so as not to damage the track.

And here we are at a sodden track trying to race ! A track that was wetter than the one we abandonded the night before.

Actually I managed to pull the wool over a few eyes when I announced that three of our riders had been banned from riding today! When asked why? I answered ,three of them cant swim and if they fall off in a race on this track they may not be able to swim to the infield!

In all reallity , it was the same for all competitors , and thats fair !

But when you have concerned parents asking why this is happening and the posibility of someone being seriously hurt , being put towards you as a question you can't answer.I don't know!

I actually had a couple of parents state that they would withdraw their children and go home.This is not the message that we want to spread about cycle speedway.

I answered these parents by saying,at the end of the day ,you are ultimately responsible for your child's wellbeing and if you feel that things are not up to your standards then you have the right to withdraw your child without prejudice.

The racing kicked off with the division sevens , and right off the bat there was a crash involving four of the five young riders on the first corner through slipping on the track.

The restart of the first race was stopped again on the first corner when the leader slipped over.

The next re start of the first race saw the race finished.Won by Baylee Stewart ahead of team-mate Todd Clarke from Findon.Third saw Everton Ashcroft beat team-mate Kian Bird into fourth.Poor old Mathew Snowden picked up a point as his team-mate Jake Kerley failed to make the meet.

Progressive scores;Dolphins (7) Comets (11) Jets (1)

Division six was next with Trent Forester taking a big win , as he did all day without dropping a point , from Shiranta Aston ,who had a bad fall in race two and didnt finish the meet.

Third was Dylan Childs in front of , his Jets team-mate , Jake Mathews , two points went to , Dolphin Chris Mowbray and a point for Mathew Bryant.

Progressive scores;Dolphins (14) Comets (18) Jets (8)

Division five and the riders start to get older and faster, The first race is stopped by Jet Luke Childs slipping on the first corner and bring down another rider. The re-start was won by Nicole Kinross from Luke Childs,thirds was shane Bentley.

Fourth saw Brodie Charlson pick up three from Andrew Wilkie and Brendon Brown from the Dolphins.

Progressive score;Dolphins (17) Comets (28) Jets (16)

Division four and finally the Jets get a winner with Josh Debattista from Lucy Millikin and third going to Nicole Kinross .Fourth was Shane Bentley ahead of Jay Walters and Michael Karpeny.

Progressive score;Dolphins (23) Comets (35) Jets (24)

Division three and there were some pretty fast guys in this field but today they were at a disadvantage , their speed way useless to them and it bought them right back to the field.

Ross Priest found it to his liking and rattled off three great wins to take a maximum 18 points ahead of Joel Chadwick ,who showed good speed and control for second.Third went to Matt Mathews who suffered with traction problems all day.

Fourth went to Farren Wills ahead of team-mate Jack Neeskens while Bobby McMillan picked up a point.

Progressive score;Dolphins (28) Comets (42) Jets (33)

Division two and Ross Priest won every race for a maximum again just like he did in div three.For mine he was rider of the meet!

Second went to Brad Gentle ahead of Ryan Edson followed by Ty Geertsen.Next came Cody chadwick ,who slid out,ahead of Robert Fitzpatrick who fell twice and gave up.

Progressive scores;Dolphins (31) Comets (53) Jets (39)

Seniors (over 25's) and Paul White on his home track would have to have been a fair bet! He opened up with a win ahead of Steve Clarke and John Hill.Fourth saw Warren Corbett do pretty good considering he had no bike as he had stripped a rear axle last night and has a three week wait for parts.

Robert Flemming showed Robert Thompson the last place home.

Progressive score;Dolphins (39) Comets (59) Jets (46)

                                                                                                                                                                                       Division one and Brad Gentle showed them all the short way home with a win ahead of Ryan Edson with Paul White doubling up and getting third. Fourth was Nigel Greenhalgh from Damien Clarke and Cameron Crisp.

Scores after the first run through;Dolphins (44) Comets (67) Jets (54)

The Comets did pretty much as they pleased as they breezed through the second run through winning six out of the next eight races.

Progressive scores at the end of the second run through;Dolphins (91) Comets (128) Jets (108)

A scary moment when Shiranta aston fell face down into the track and didn't move til the ref helped her up in the first corner leading onto the backstraight.She walked from the track amids applause from the Salisbury mob up on the hill but failed to take further part.

Just after Shiranta's race a Dolphin team-mate Daniel Roberts in div five fell twice due to slipping and was lapped for no score.

In division one Damien Clarke was excluded for movement,as was Ryan Edson in the same race which only left two Dolphins ,one Comet and one Jet in the race , which was won by Paul White.

Last run through as competitors only race a maximum of three races unless they are doubleing up.

In division seven Clarke lead team-mate Stewart over the line ahead of Snowden , Ashcroft and Bird.

Progressive scores;Dolphins (96) Comets (139) Jets 112)

Division six , as stated before  Forester took all before him ahead of a steady D Childs from team-mate J Mathews.Bryant picked up fourth ahead of Mowbray and Accacia Pride.

Progressive score;Dolpins (99) Comets (148) Jets (121)

Division five and it made it two for two with great riding for N Kinross ahead of team-mate B Clarke.Third went to L Childs after a big crash going onto the backstraight out of turn one one the first lap while leading.

Fourth was team-mate B Charlson who rode steady all day ,not really handling the conditions.Next came Wilkie followed by team-mate Roberts.

Progressive score;Dolphins (102) Comets (159) Jets (128)

Division four saw Bentley , riding well and doubleing up , winning from Debattista , Gabby Aston , Matt Priest  ,Walters and Karpeny.

Progressive score;Dolphins (107) Comets (168) Jets (135)

Division three is the first of the 26" bikes and by now the track is a sorry sight with a 2" deep and about 3 meters long puddle right on the inside corner of the first corner.

Ross Priest once again added to his great riding today with his first max for the meet ahead of Farren Wills ,who has tacken to the new bike like a duck to water,excuse the pun!Team-mate Neeskens was next followed byMcMillan.Daniel Bax found things a little unsuitable for hin and so did Mathews.

Progressive score;Dolphins (116) Comets (177) Jets (138)

Division two and two exculsions of C Chadwick and Gentle saw Priest score his second max after doubleing up ahead of Edson , who also found conditions unsuitable for him. T Geertsen picked up third ahead of team-mate Fitzpatrick who also had a fall.

Progressive score;Dolphins (123) Comets (183) Jets (143)

Seniors (over 25's) and the White machine wins again (also doubleing up) followed by Corbett on a borrowed bike.Third saw steady riding from Clarke fill that spot ahead of Hill , next came Fleming and Thompson.

Progressive score;Dolphins (131) Comets (188) Jets

Division one , the last for the day , and another rider doubleing up on the day was Brad Gentle who took the last race from   White ahead of   Greenhalgh , Crisp and Clarke, Edson was excluded again.

Final score;Dolphins (139) Comets (196) Jets (155)

Comments; Today the word Speed was taken out of Speedway and after the appalling mess of a track and obvious discomfort and vision problems for all riders, I can't see what was gained here today. There were no losers out on that track at all today and all riders need applauding for their efforts. The only loser was cycle speedway with many parents very unhappy at the events that transpired. I hope sanity pre-vails next-time!

 

Back Pedal

 

Bury and Coventry expelled from Premier League 

 Statement from the Cycle Speedway Commission

News Posted: 24th April 2007

 The Cycle Speedway Commission has expelled Bury and Coventry from the British Premier League after it was found that documentation for the Combination League match between the two teams, scheduled for Easter Sunday, had been falsified.  The action has been endorsed by the BC Board.

 Allegations that the Combination League match had not been ridden despite official forms being signed and a result declared had been substantiated by a number of witnesses.  The Commission found that:

• The two clubs had colluded to provide falsified documentation that a match had taken place and a result had been achieved.
• Representatives of each club had signed the documentation before submitting it to the Premier League.
• The documentation had also been signed by a graded referee.
• A member of the Cycle Speedway Commission executive was party to the activities.

In view of the above proven evidence, the Commission agreed to:-

• Disqualify the Coventry club from the 2007 Premier League competition forthwith.
• Disqualify the Bury club from the 2007 Premier League competition forthwith.
• Revoke invitations for the referees Jez Hughes and Pete Ward to officiate in 2007 British Cycling events.
• Remove the referees Jez Hughes and Pete Ward from the list of graded referees forthwith.
• Ask Pete Ward for his resignation from the post of Competitions Director forthwith.

The Commission has invited Pete Barnes to serve as interim Competition Director, and Ewan Tulloch as Premier League recorder.

 Matches that have already taken place involving the two clubs will be expunged from the records, and the remaining fixtures involving other clubs will be run as scheduled.

 

Back Pedal

 

Monster crashes see two bikes broken in one crash. By Darryl Daniels

Today saw one of the biggest crashes I have personally seen in speedway when an entire field was taken out and a re-run two races later with different bikes for half the field,was run and eventually won!

The meet started off , as usual, with Dressage , and those riders lucky enough to catch the ref's eye were ,for the Hornets ,Mathew Snowden , the Orions ,Billy bax , And finally the Blackhawks ,Brodie Charlson.

The Tinytots had three starters and it was good to see Emily Makepeace finally work her way up to start at the tapes now and is she ever flying too.Jacob Childs is showing all the ear-marks of the older Childs family with some of his great passing moves already.Brittney Jameison also made another brief appearance too.

Division Seven saw the two riders who turned up swapping wins with Mathew Snowden (17) just edging out a fast  Jake Kerley (15).

Division Six and the afore mentioned Childs legacy was borne out again when Dylan Childs , the backmarker who was moved back a further two lengths today , still blitzed them all to a (maximum 20)Jake Mathews rode well also today for (13.

Joshua Carden (9) and Mathew Hurley (8) duked it out for the minor placings.

Division 5/1 saw the Childs imaculate run halted when Luke Childs (19) dropped a point , but still won his div from Plymouth Christian (11) who didn't win a race but rode steadily ahead of a tie for third between Brodie Charlson (10) and Robbie Vella 10).

Division 5/2 and this is easily the largest div and while I'm commentating their handicap races it's lucky if I can get through calling them all twice in four laps.

Mark O'oole (19) put in a blinder today and only dropped a point along the way.He rode that well he was picked as Rider of the Day.Tiana Debattista goes quietly about her work but she amssed (11) which was just good enough to beat "The Scar" otherwise known as Marc Mastrodomenico (10) ,who has had all eight stiches removed and is back on deck!

Billy Bax (9) is starting to work his way through these big fields and it wont be long before hes up there pushing if he keeps this up.

Undoubtablely the closest racing came from the only two riders that contested division four today. Josh Debattista (19) was the winner but in good hard close racing like this there are no losers.Jay Walters put on a great show to take it to the Aussie and State champ in this div for the hard earned (16) points and respect he got today.

Division three was a close finish between Daniel Bax (17) backmarker off -6 and Nathan Condo-Evans (16).Dean Jolly is getting faster every week on the bigger bike and picked up a handy (12) and third.Fourth went to Tony Bax (10) who looks much fitter and faster now.

This is the race with all the carnage!

Seniors over 30's, man you would have thought these guys were racing for sheep stations the way they have been going at it lately! The mere mention of the state titles a few weeks away and the name Thresher was mentioned and it was on!

Heat three and all was going well into lap two and coming out of Dutton corner onto the backstraight and the leader , John Hill , slid out in front of the pack and bought down Darren Mathews who in turn bought down Jason Baldwin in a chain reaction.

Coming around late on the scene was Craig Blaker who crashed into the crash making it all four on the deck.The race was stopped and St.Johns summoned to the track.Baldwin got a sore wrist, Mathews smashed forks,Hill a broken crank and Blaker some hurt pride!

The race was scheduled to re-run in a couple of races  time to give the old fellas some time to effect repairs on both bike and body.The end result being Hill retiring , Mathews on a different bike and ended up using three bikes on the day.

First out of all this was Darren Mathews (17) Jason Baldwin (12) John Hill ,three races(12) Craig Blaker (7).

Division two had some of the best racing you could want to see and they were flying too!The scores indicate how close the racing was because there were three winners out of four starters and a draw for third as well!

Ryan Edson(the birthday boy) picked up(16) ahead of Cody Chadwick(12),the only rider who didnt get a win and the tie on (11) between Matt Mathews and Nigel Greenhalgh.

The fourth heat in this division was possibly the best heat of cycle speedway racing I have seen in the three years I've been around it.There was plenty of pace,heaps of tactics,with at least five lead changes in four laps,it had a bit of push and shove and a shame all four couldn't win it , Edson won, but boy what a race,well done guys!

 

Back Pedal

 

Numbers well down as Crows beat the Power  by Darryl Daniels

With only 29 riders competing today it was a very quick meet.Those Showdowns are very hard to compete against at the footy and I recon thats where a lot of our members went, myself I couldn't see where it was all worthwhile as my team LOST!

Still the riders that did turn up put on some great finishes and some very close racing , too close in some instances as a couple of monster crashes on the exit from Dutton corner bought a few riders unstuck.

Only three Tiny Tots turned up to race today and even less in Div seven where Holly Greenhalgh was the lone starter so she raced down with the Tiny Tots and at least she had some competition , especially with the handicapping bringing everyone closer together.

Division six had four starters and Dylan Childs is quickly stamping some authority here just like his big brother did last year with a (maximum 20) being backmarker off -4.Second went to Jake Mathews ,who tries hard week after week, with (12)Third went to Mathew Hurley(12) who got tangled up in one of those monster crashes I mentioned.

So did fourth placed Joshua Carden (16) and Dylan Childs , all in a three way pile up. Unfortunately Mathew and Joshua couldn't front the tapes in time and had a DNF each in race two.

Division 5/2 was a masterful display by Lindsay Jolly, who earned a extra bike length  in handicapping , now -3 , has blitzed them all with a (maximum 20) and got Rider of the Week too, Top stuff! Second was a tie between Billy Bax & Annabell  Blaker (12).Third was Monique Mathews on (6)

Div 5/1 had a couple of ring-ins for the day from Div four when Jay Walters and John Stevenson joined in to bolster numbers and because lack of competition in their own division.

Some great racing was created because of this and even though they both rode off -6 both Luke Childs and Jay Walters raced hard and threaded their way through the field to end up with a (maximum 20) going to Luke and (19) going to Jay.

Of course they only scored them points for their own divisions and running second to luke today was Plymouth Christian (13) ahead of Brodie Charlson (12) and Robbie Vella on (5) who seemed to experience some bike control problems today.

Runner-up to Jay today was John Stevenson in div 4 with (16).

Division two raced with division three and there was a couple of good prangs in this lot too!One that readily comes to mind was when Matt Mathews was leading and slid out in front of the field going onto the back straight bringing down Nigel Greenhalgh. These boys are pretty tough and when one stays down for a while you know something not right.

Once again our fantastic St.Johns staff were right on the ball and had everyone seen to in no time, well done guys we really appreciate your time volunteered at the track.

After all the dramas they eventually sorted out some placing's and they went to in first place, Div 3, Daniel Bax (18) with second going to Nathan Condo-Evans (11) third was Tyrone Walters on ( 9) and fourth went to Ben Blaker (6).Many thanks go to Anthony Daniels who sacrificed any racing points he may have got today for giving it up to be Flag Marshall and starter, Well done mate!

Also many thanks must go to all officials for their time and especially Sandy Childs who Pit Marshalled for the day, Thank you.

Get well to Marc Mastrodemenico who has had 4 stiches removed and has 4 to go from his little fall at Findon.

Dressage Hornets;  Jake Mathews,  Orions;  Ben Blaker,   Blackhawks;  Brodie Charlson

 

Back Pedal

 

2007 Annual Memorial Championship @ Findon  April 1st. by Darryl Daniels

On a glorious Autumn day (just happened to be April Fools day but I didnt see any fools about) fifty riders converged on the findon Raceway for their Annual Championships.

Having learnt from past experiences I arrived at the track early to secure a good parking spot.

The track looked a treat and was soaking up water like a sponge but it held together well and only needed minor maintenence.Not many slides today which is a good sign.

Time to race came around soon and the parade lap led into the Aussie National Anthem and it was all go from here on.

The Tinytots had a great time today and some were in awe of the crowd and simply stopped and had a look around ,even Emily Makepeace,who is normally scared of the tapes and starts several meters back from them ,got over her phobia and was up there gating with the best of them.

All these future little champs got a trophy and their names were Emily Makepeace,Paycee Stewart,Jackson Dobie ,David Forester,Miriam thompson & Nathan White.

Division Seven saw six of the best front up today and the guy who showed them all a clean set of heels was Todd Clarke (maximum 20). Steady riding by Baylee Stewart(15) saw second spot go there ahead of a vastly improved Jake Kerley in third (10) fourth went to Mathew Snowden who crashed a couple of times for (4).

Division Three and elleven riders sorted it out on the track , literally, as a few riders bit the dust today.Boy these guys were playing for keeps as several times races were restarted as riders sorted themselves out and finally carved their way throught to the final.

Three riders ended on fifteen points and had to toss a coin to draw gates for the final, they were as follows, Fitzpatrick,Mathews&Priest the fourth rider to make the final was Wills (13).McMillan could feel a bit stiff having four consecutive seconds for (12) only to miss out.

At the end of three hot laps the finished product came out like this First Ross Priest ,Second Robert Fitzpatrick,

Third Matt Mathews, Fourth Farren Wills( keep an eye on that last guy ).

Division Six and another rider carried his bat today and scored himself a (maximum 20) and that was Trent Forester.All six riders were supposed to be in the final but one rider was told he didnt make the finals and put his bike away so only five contested it.

The final was won by Trent Forester (20) ahead of a consistent Matt Bryant (15) Third went to little Jake Mathews (9) and Fourth went to Brendon Brown (5).

Division Five and a freak accident where a young rider slipped from his bike in the staging lanes and gashed his leg open requiring eight stiches.Marc Mastrodomenico riding in his first ever championship wont forget his initiation to Cycle Speedway.

Once again a rider , Shane Bentley (16) carried a maximum into the final in this big field of elleven.

A couple of minor spills put paid to a couple of riders chances and it was good to see all riders coming through relatively unscathed except for a bit of skin missing.All riders remounted today and thats always good to see and the crowd always shows their appreciation.

This division was taken out very ably by Shane Bentley(20) from in Second Nicole Kinross(15) whos flying ahead of Third Plymouth Christan (13) from in Fourth Braden Makepeace(11) who recovered from a spill.

Division Four was ,as stated by track commentator , Mick Harley , the Josh and Jay show!

Josh Debattista had to work a little harder than usual today for his (maximum 20) because of the harrassing riding of Jay Walters (14) being right in his face.John Stevenson (10) picked up Third in front of Lucy Millikin(5)keeping the boys honest,Fourth.

Seniors over 30's Four of the best old racers banged heads today with the gold going to Steve Clarke (19) ahead of in Second Robert Thompson (16) Third went to Darren Mathews,who decided to do it the hard way and the final three laps of the last race was done on a flat rear tyre!Fourth went to Scott Faulkener(6).

Open over four laps!Ross Priest took the honours today with (15) ahead of in Second Brad Gentle (14) with Nigel Greenhalgh (12) picking up Third and Ryan Edson (10) taking home Fourth.

What a great days racing and the new computerised draw worked a treat.

 

Back Pedal

 

Fast Track at Salisbury pre Easter Meet by Darryl Daniels

Its not all that far away from the State Titles at Murray Bridge, as I was reminded during the week , when Salisburys interstate hanger occupant ,Nick Thresher, contacted me about doing the appropriate paperwork so he can be on deck to defend his over 30's title.

Tommorow many of our club members are decending on the Findon Raceway for their Open Championships but thats another story.

Last night we had 30 riders ,including a new rider in division 5/2 who looks the goods but a friendly handicap on his first night will soon be adjusted to make it more competitive for the rest , but an excellent start to his Cycle Speedway career.

As always the meeting kicks off the night with a parade and Dressage where the Ref , Trevor Dutton , checks all the bikes and picks the winners.Sometimes picking a single winner is hard when you have so many great looking bikes , but tonight he did.

For the Hornets, the top bike and rider was Mathew Snowden,for the Orions Annabell Blaker and for the Blackhawks Lindsay Jolly took the honours.

Just before the racing got started Plymouth Christian , took out a relative of his,his brother Anthony Daniels! It was an accident during warmup on the track where they both went down and Anthony caught his brothers handlebars under his left wing.

Anthony attended the St Johns first Aid rooms where Paul Carden examined him and for the first time I can remember , he told a rider that he can't race and Anthony had to sit out the evening.Paul has the final say in first aid matters and stopping a rider from further hurting him/herself is a high priority.well done Paul!

Now for the racing!

Only a couple of little tackers turned up tonight so Jacob Childs(hot lap 18.81) scored himself a maximum(20)while he was racing against a division seven rider Mathew Snowden(hot lap 15.26),who also scored a maximum(20)for his efforts.

A full grid in division six made for some good racing and the backmarker,off -4 , Dylan Childs(hot lap 12.42)picked himself up a maximum (20)with style.Joshua Carden  took full advantage of his handicap and picked up second on (11). Third went to a very consistent Mathew Hurley(hot lap 13.47)with (10) from five consecutive thirds.Fourth went to Jake Mathews(hot lap 13.19) who scored (9).

Division 5/1 saw Luke childs almost get a maximum but dropped only a point for(19). Luke is still the backmarker ,off -6 , and rode well tonight.Runnerup tonight was" KamoKazi Christan" ..Plymouth(hotlap 12.00)on (13).

Third went to a fast Brodie Charlson(hotlap 11.57)who rode very consistently for (11)Fourth went to big Robbie Vella(hotlap 11.70)who is finding the racing much tighter in the higher division for (7)but I'm still sticking with my prediction of big things not too far away for this rider.

Division 5/2 once again had the biggest field and out of the seven riders the best was Linsay Jolly who rode extreemly well for (15) and rides off -2.Second went to a new rider tonight ,Sam Ciappina(13.36), who took full advantage of plenty of cheering and a healthy handicap to pick up (13) for a first up effort.

Third went to Moniqe Mathews(hotlap 13.14) who picked up points steadily all night(10)while fourth went to Tiana Debattista(hotlap 12.61) who picked up a scratch win for (8)who rides off -4.

In division four, two guys who were going at it all night long and ending up first and second, and gave up some of the closest racing on the night were , first Josh Debattista(hotlap 10.79) four wins and a second for (19) and Jay Walters(hotlap 10.95) one win four close seconds for (16)

Third went to John Stevenson(hotlap 11.75) on 10).

Division three saw numbers reduced by the afore mentioned injury the Anthony Daniels but because the div1/2 ranks only had a couple of starters they raced together and some great finishes came as a result.

In the div three ranks , Dean Jolly(hotlap10.99) has the big bike wound up and rode very well for (18) while Ben Blaker (hotlap 11.63) got second with (14) ahead of Tyrone Walters(hotlap 11.07)picked up third on (13).

Seniors over 30's saw a full deck and the man they chased all night was Orions captain John Hill who picked himself up a maximum(20)Second saw Darren Mathews(hotlap 10.78) pick up five consecutive seconds for (15)

Craig Blaker(hotlap 11.91)scored third on(9).

Rick Jolly(10.87), who was toying around with the troupes, picked up(6).

Rider of the week;Sam Ciappina.

This week was our final meet before the Easter break and some fundraising in the form of a monster Easter raffle was run and won by the various winners but the real winner is the club as without the generousity of you the members donating those fabulous prizes ,it wouldn't have happened.Well done all round it was a great success and Thank You and as always thankyou to all the officials on the night and to Trev and co for getting the track shipshape.

Have a safe and Happy Easter from all the members of the Salisbury Cycle Speedway 2007

 

Back Pedal

 

Start of a new era for the Salisbury Jets 24th March 2007 by Daryl Daniels

Fourty riders turned up on a damp track,after a much welcomed dounpour the pre-ceeding afternoon and night.I was at the track at 10 the night before and it didn't look pretty I can tell you ,but , Trev Dutton got the place shipshape and a bit of slippage in the exits of the corners was the only legacy for the amount of water it got.

First up the dressage parade got under way and the ref ,Trev again, saw to it that all bikes were legal and also had a problem separating a few of them so points go to for the Hornets ; Deimian Kemsley,the Orions ; Braden Makepeace & Billy Bax and for the Blackhawks ; Brodie Charlson & JacobChilds.

While the Dressage was underway, four riders of varing sizes , slipped away and changed into the Jets new racing tops and today was the grand unveiling and signals the start of a new era for our racing teams when they front up looking the champions they are.Those four young models who forgave a chance at dressage points today were, Matt Mathews, Dean Jolly ,Mathew Hurley and Mathew Snowden.

Boy with all them Mathews around him I bet Deano felt out of place!

Now for the good stuff!...the racing!

As usual the Tinytots got the ball rolling today and there was a new face on the grid, Kane Mason who not only rode well he also got a max(20) as did Jacob Childs(20) while Emily Makepeace had a bit of a lay down, for a couple of races, for her (12)

Next up was division seven where another new face Brian Mason (16) did well and actually won a handicap race too.But top dog today was Mathew Snowden (19) who , despite giving away 19 bike lengths still only dropped one point!

Moving on to division six and boy it was a last man standing afair today as a couple of crashes which took out three quarters , sorry metric now isn't it , seventy five per cent of the field.Lucky for one of the riders dad is the St Johns officer and he needed dads help twice.

Eventually they sorted themselves out long enough to find a winner and that was Dylan Childs (17) who rode well as the backmarker and the guy who pushed him all day was Jake Mathews (14).Joshua Carden(12) was the rider requiring dads first aid and Mathew Hurley(7),still getting used to the bigger bike came fourth.

Divsion 5/1 and the guy to beat today was Luke Childs (17) the backmarker.Luke had some trouble getting through the field today and as a result the new guy Robbie Vella(9) took full advantage and picked up a couple of handicap wins for himself.Next was a draw between Plymouth Christian(8) and Brodie Charlson(8) fourth was raden Makepeace(7).

Division 5/2 saw Lndsay Jolly(19) only drop a point today while closest to her was another young lady Tiana Debattista(10)Mark O'Toole(9) picked up third ahead of Billy Bax(8),who is getting quicker.

Division Four and boy if you wasnt pleased by the hot racing today between Josh Debattista(18) and Jay Walters (17) then youd be pretty hard to please!Third was John Stevenson(9) followed by Deimian Kemsley(6). It appears that Jay Walters is finally coming to grips with the new bike after breaking his in half a few weeks back.

Division three had eight starters today and seeing only a couple of div two riders fronted they swelled the ranks to ten until the afternoon shift of Ryan Edson turned up and they went back to their own classes.Thank god , I was commentating today and by the time I had read out the entire field they had completed two laps! These boys are pretty quick or maybe I'm getting too slow!

Back to div three, Joel Chadwick(16) is a man on a mission and to see how fast he can carve through a field is amazing , he has lost none of last years speed , in fact he quicker and is still getting quicker!Second to the "Flash"was Daniel Bax(12) who's no slouch himself.Anthony Daniels(9) picked up third and Ben Blaker(8) scored fourth.

Seniors over 30's and some hot action amongst the old bulls so hot that the first race crash of the season happened when Craig Blaker(5) slid out on the pit corner exit in race two for a DNFand picked up fourth.The man to beat today was Darren Mathews(17)who is riding steadily ahead of Jason Baldwin(15)Third went to Rick Jolly(9) who only rode the last three events.

Division two and as stated before Ryan Edson(9) was late and missed the first two races but not missing anything today was Cody Chadwick(maximum20) ahead of Matt Mathews(11) who was sliding around a bit today and ended up with a DNF in his last race.

Summary; Some good hard racing today and the new Jets racing tops look a treat and I'm looking forward to them out there on the track doing what they do best...winning! Good to see some new faces at the meet and thats four new racers we've welcomed this year,I like the trend.

 

Back pedal

 

Salisbury Cycle Speedway President's Medal Closed Championship 2007     by Darryl Daniels

Today was a beautiful Autumn day for our Closed Championship to be held and disapointedly numbers were down and some divisions only fronted two riders each.

The Dressage show started proceedings and some really clean bikes and colourful outfits were on show to the spectators along with some new bikes too!

As this was a Championship there were no Dressage points only a check by the ref Trevor Dutton to make sure all the bikes were safe and legal to race and as usual they all passed inspection.

The first two grades only had two riders in but that didnt stop some close racing action.

The Tinytots got thing underway with little Emily Makepeace and Brittney Jamieson both picking up a trophy, as all Tinytots do in this non-competitive division, but they didn't worry about that they still were checking each others whereabouts and the odd wave to the fans in the crowd.

Next up is Division seven and again only a couple of riders took up the challenge and they swapped win for win and duked it out right to the end with Jake Kerly winning with three wins for (18) and in second spot with two wins was Mathew Snowden one point less on (17).

Division six was next off the rank with all teams being represented and today was Joshua Cardens (14) first win and he was rapt and having taken three handicap wins he had to have a ride off with Jake Mathews who won both gate starts but the handicap he had to give away in the runoff proved just a bit too big for tiring legs and he ended up second with (14)

Mathew Hurley was closeby with (13 1/2) after a draw for third with Jayden Smith in heat three.Could have quite easily have made the ride-offs if he had a thicker front tyre!

Division 5/1 had just about everything from hard luck stories to winning grins.

Week in,week out these four guys usually run second,third etc to the man, Luke Childs.Today however, Luke was absent, and this allowed someone else to claim a no.1 trophy.Actually Luke was the 2006 President's Medal winner and was supposed to present the trophies today to the respective winners,El Presidento Rob Hurley did the duties for Luke.

An unbelievable three way tie for first forced a ride-off for first place and this was ably won by ,new boy on the block,Robbie Vella and he was stoked about his first time trophy,you wont get that smile off his face with a plastic surgeon! I told you to keep an eye on that name,well done mate!

All three riders ended on (13) and once again the championship bug hit Plymouth Christian , when his crank came undone while he was in a position to win outright and advoid the ride-off.Another competitor Brodie Charlson's father tried to fix the problem with the bike before the ride-off but the job wasn't a qiuck fix one and kindly donated his sons bike for Plymouth to use.Thankyou very much!

Unfortunately Plymouth wasn't used to the bike and kept hitting his knees on the bars and came in third.The big winner was as stated before ,Robbie Vella and he was pushed all the way in the ride-off by Braden Makepeace, who rode very consistenly today and he too could have taken out this div quite easily.

One guy who missed out today was Brodie Charlson (11) who likes the gate starts where he showed them all the quick way home twice but struggled in the handicaps.

Division 5/2 and once again all teams were represented ,infact all riders ended up with a trophy!

In closed championships only the first three riders get trophies but today a couple of encouragement awards were given and it was to the two riders in this div that got them.Congratulations to both Mark O'Toole (6) and Billy Bax (10) who lost a close ride-off for third with Lindsay Jolly (10).

First today was Monique Mathews (12) who took advantage of her three handicap wins ahead of  Annabell Blaker (12) ,who once again had a ride-off for first with Monique.Annabell scored consistently without a win for her efforts,well done!

Division four only had two riders today,with the state and aussie champ Josh Debattista missing in action,someone else got to stand on the top rung and that was John Stevenson(19) with two gate wins and a handicap win amongst those numbers.I can tell you his nana, Merle, is pretty pumped about it too,just quietly!

Deimian Kemsley didn't let John have it all his own way either,he made him earn it as Damo picked up a win himself and worried John all the way.

Division three had the biggest field by far today with eight riders and for a change no ride-offs!

Daniel Bax won it outright with three wins and two seconds for (18) ahead of Nathan Condo-Evans who also had three wins and a second for (17).David Hatswell picked up a win and a second for third with (8)

Seniors over 30's and some close racing saw Jason Baldwin (18 1/2) take three wins and a tie for first with second place getter Darren Mathews who also scored himself a win on (16 1/2) from in third place Craig Blaker (10) many thanks for Craig who was at the track late last night preparing the surface for todays racing and it was a pearler too!Same must also go to Rob Hurley who was also helping.

Division two would have been interesting if Ryan Edsons championships hoodoo didn't make him throw a chain while in a good possie in heat one.This guy along with Plymouth Christian would have the biggest finals/championship bad luck I've ever seen!

Today however was Matt Mathews day to top off a great day for the Mathews family by all four getting amongst the trophies with (16) ahead of a hard pushing Nigel Greenhalgh (15) who was wringing that Archie Wilkinson's neck getting all he could muster today to get within a point.

Third after his DNF in heat one and a couple of wins was the luckless Ryan Edson on (12).

The meeting was officially over after the presentaions and a BBQ of steak and sausage sangers kept the hoards fed while some formula 16 and formula 20 races were held and seemed to go on forever but they liked it and really after a days racing I dont know where they find the energy.

After that some mono comps were held with Dean Jollys heaps of practise paying off with Dean miles ahead of the opposition and I recon he could quite easily have lapped the track if other riders weren't on the track waiting their turns.

Some sprint races with prizes soon bought the rest of them alive with prizes kindly donated by Glynis Hurley and were keenly fought after.Everyone won something which was great and all the kids had a great time but I bet they will all sleep well tonight!

Matt Mathews was entertaining everyone with his jumping of up to five people on the track and wanted to go for seven but no more victims could be coached into laying down.In between all this fun a two on a bike race broke out and this also had competitors going in all directions,all good fun and it seemed like the day was a big success all round.

 

Back Pedal

 

Salisbury Riders Sizzle without the heat! by Darryl Daniels

35 riders turned up for a perfect Autumn nights racing at Salisbury cycle Speedway and ,although not quite as fast as last weeks times, they certainly laid down some hot times during the evening.

This time of year thats a pretty good turnout as we have to compete with the likes of the Clipsal 500 (last week) and the Adelaide Cup long weekend (this week).

The day after this meet was forecast for 37c so the Friday night  would see the racing take place regardless.The kids love racing under lights and it always shows.

Dressage always looks good under lights where all the bikes gleam and the riders colours standout , the bikes and presentation that caught the refs (Trevor Dutton) eye were.

For the Hornets;Ryan Greenhalgh, Orions;Braden Makepeace and John Stevenson Blackhawks:Jayden Smith.

As always the Tinytots got the evening under way with their tiny legs pumping like pistons as they race around the track.Brittany Jamieson retired again for the second week in a row to leave little Emily Makepeace to put on a great display of riding for the appreciative crowd.

Emily ended up doing time trials from a standing start and recorded a brilliant 29.43 for her efforts!

Division Seven saw the girls serve it up  with Mary Lang taking three Handicap wins to end up with (16). Jake Kerley scored two gate start wins for (15) for second and a further point back was Mathew Snowden with (14).

Division Six  and Jake Mathews is showing good speed every week to score a win on the night with two gate start wins for (15) while nothing separated second between Joshua Carden (13) and Jayden Smith (13) Third went to Mathew Hurley who is still coming to grips with the bigger bike.

Division 5/1 had "The Dominator" Luke Childs abscent , so someone else got the chance to have a win!

Plymouth Christian took the opportunity to step up and ended up with (18) with 3 handicap wins while Ryan Greenhalgh is getting faster each week with (13) third saw Braden Makepeace get two scratch wins for (12)

Robbie Vella ,who notched up the fastest lap tonight (11.75) picked up (7) and fourth.

Division 5/2 and once again the girls served it up to the boys with the win going to Annabell Blaker (12) and second going to Tiana Debattista (10) Billy Bax picked up third with (9) and a draw for fourth had Mark O'Toole and Marc Mastrodomenicoboth on (7).Fastest in this div was Mark O'Toole (12.16).

Division Four and who else but "Mr.Smooth" Josh Debattista took a maximum (20) and a hot lap of (10.78) in front of John Stevenson on (13) with a lap of (11.68) and third was Deimian Kemsley on (12) and (12.23).

Division Three and no less than six riders missing from the normal lineup gave a draw for first between Nathan Condo-Evans ( 10.59) and Tony Bax (10.85) on (15) a piece.Second went to Daniel Bax (10.55) on (12) while third went to Ben Blaker (11.60) with (5) Anthony Daniels (11.43) scored fourth.

Senoirs over 30s and Jason Baldwin (10.55) took the honours with a maximum(20) ahead of Darren Mathews (11 .18) on (15).Craig Blaker (11.64) picked up third on (10).These were from all gate starts.

Division Two saw the return of Ryan Edson who is still looking for a 175 crank after snapping one in the Aussie titles at LeFevre.He was still the fastest one on the night with a (10.16).The winner though was Nigel Greenhalgh (10.26) which was nowhere near the 9.60 he knocked off last week!Nigel scored (19) dropping just one point to

Matt Mathews(10.40) and (15points). Third was a tie between Ryan Edson and Logan Ireland (5) a piece.

Special mentions to those who gave their time and effort John Stevenson and Matt Mathews , who helped with track preparation, and Chris Mathews for assisting as Pit Marshall also Peter O'Toole as Flag Marshall ,thankyou and well done

Next Week ,Presidents Medal Closed Championship.

 

Back Pedal

 

Weather Gods smile on Racing today. by Darryl Daniels

35 riders turned up to brave the heat today at Salisbury Cycle Speedway and for once it was under 36c so we managed to get the meet through quite well.

the forcast for Wednesday (the official end of Summer) is for 37 followed by Thursday 39 and Friday 40!

I dont know what it is forecast for Saturday but the trend doesnt look good.

Today as always the Tinytots kicked off our meet and being pretty warm it didn't surprise me to see the reduction in their ranks but one guy you can bet your house on every week is Jacob childs.He's there come hell or high water!

Britteny Jamieson was there for the first race then dissapeared,Emily Makepeace took her usual spot at the tapes three meters back and absouletly flew.

At the end of the day , Jacob Childs was racing head to head with the only division seven rider to turn up ,Mathew Snowden. who scored a max 20 for his efforts.

Division six almost always has a full field and today was no different.On (16 1/2) was Dylan Childs who is also the backmarker off -4 from Jake Mathews on (15) who picked up a couple of handicap wins.Third was Jayden Smith who also picked up a great handicap win for (11 1/2) when he dead heated for second with Dylan Childs in race three.

Division 5/1 saw a lot of merit given to a rider from div 5/2 when Robbie Vella was promoted to the higher div and rode well enough to also get the vote for " Rider of the Week",well done son.

Luke Childs as is usual took out this division on (19) from the rider who stopped his max , Brodie Charlson on (12 )Third went to big Robbie Vella (remember that name as one to watch for the future) on (10) ahead of Plymouth Christian on (9).

Division 5/2 had a good field again today and the girls were certainly not going to let the boys have it all their way when Tiana Debattista rode well today ,considering her big crash at practise, for (14).Marc Mastrodomenicopicked up second and a heat win with (13) ahead of Annabell Blaker on(12) with a couple of heat wins.Lindsay Jolly picked up fourth with(9)

Division four saw "Mr Smooth" Josh Debattista take out top spot with (19) ahead of Deimian Kemsley on (11 1/2 )Third saw John Stevenson get (9 1/2)after dead heating for second with Deimian Kemsley in heat four.Fourth went to Jay Walters who retired after heat two with (7) including a win in heat two.

Division three saw a clash of two teams the Orions had a full squad ,if you include their new skipper Daniel Bax ,who got injury points this week after a track crash injured his ankle a week or so back.The other team to field a couple of riders was the Blackhawks , which included their new team captain Dean Jolly and Nathan Condo-Evans.

The score show the Blackhawks taking the points with Nathan Condo-Evans winning with (18) from Orion  Tony Bax (10) with another Orion Anthony Daniels (9) on his new bike and cracking it for a heat win first time up.Another Orion ,Tyrone Walters picked up fourth with (6).

Seniors over 30s and div 1 joined together to have all gate starts again today,Six riders were on deck and five of them qualifying for over thirties still they raced hard and these guys train hard as was demonstrated during training when Darren Mathews got a bit more traction than he expected and severley buckling his rear rim.

All these guys fought it out to the end today and it was a bit warm,but the youngest one quit ,with Josh Ison calling it a day early after three races for a win and a couple of seconds for (10)

Number one today was Nigel Greenhalgh for div one on (15)with Josh second.

For the Seniors John Hill returned to the fray today and picked up some well earnt points on (19)Second went to Jason Baldwin who stopped Hilly from getting his max with a win in heat four.Third went to Darren Mathews on (12) and fourth went to Craig Blaker on (12) , who won a bidding war from the tapes!

Dressage Winners;HORNETS, Mathew Snowden.ORIONS,John Stevenson and Emily Makepeace,BLACKHAWKS,Jayden Smith and Tiana Debattista.

 

 Back Pedal

 

Salisbury sizzles in 40c heat by Darryl Daniels

Once again the heat was turned up in more ways that one when the Salisbury Cycle Speedway had to, once again , change its forecast racing date to the Friday night to get some relief from the heat.

Still thirty one eager riders turned up and put on a great display of riding for the crowd.

What can you do with kids when they want to race all the time regardless of the conditions?the answer let them!

Some pretty fast times were being knocked up by the frontrunners and would you believe it they asked for time trials and when they got their wish the pumped out some pretty good times around the low 10s.

This was also due to the fact that Trevor Dutton had produced a pearler of a track and with the water that it needed to hold together was perfect on the night.

As usual the Tinytots got us underway and only three turned up with one of those retiring towards the end of a hot night.Emily Makepeace had the crowd in stiches when she became scared of the starting tapes and started 3 meters back from them! It worked!

The other two little champs in this division were Jacob Childs and Charlotte Dutton.

Division seven only had two starters but dont let that fool you these two riders both rode well and got some great cheering from the crowd.Jake Kerley has continued on his winning ways with (19) from the fastest pumping little legs on the night Mathew Snowden on (16)

Some good racing between the div six riders saw Dylan Childs (18) taking over this div like his brother did last year from a very fast improving Jake Mathews (16) keeping him honest and making him earn it.Jayden Smith (11) is almost there and is starting to show signs of improvement too.

Division 5/1 what can you say ? Luke wins again! Luke Childs has a start that a lot of senior riders would love to have especially in handicap events.This is where he catches up on the field so quickly and then picks riders off at will.Another maximum (20) for Luke tonight.

In second spot with (13) was Braden Makepeace one point ahead of Plymouth Christian on (12)

Division 5/2 Saw big Robbie Vella keep his winning ways going with (18) and being a relatively new rider is doing well.Another new rider is Marc Mastrodomenico picking up second with (12)Third was a draw a draw between Billy Bax and Mark O'Toole (7) fourth went to Annabell Blaker (6).

A couple of riders had a bit of a crash in this div which slowed them down a bit and both had a DNF in race two.Monique Mathews and Billy Bax.

While on about crashes there was a couple of beauties at practise during the week and one of the riders in this div had a monster.Mark O'Toole hit the track so hard he split his helmet right up the back but was fit and eager enough to race .The other rider,who also raced tonight was Anthony Daniels who is still sporting some huge bruises up his back and buttocks.

Division four saw the backmarker , Josh Debattista , get moved even further back to give other riders a chance of a win. Josh is like Luke Childs in as much as being able to explode away from his handicap mark and catchup in no time.Tonight he didnt have it all his own way as Jay Walters , who broke his bike in half at training during the week , kept him well and truly honest.

Jay actually took out Rider of the Meet for his hard charging efforts.

Results for div four were Josh Debattista (18) Jay Walters (17) and third went to Deimian Kemsley on (10)

In division three the backmarker was absent tonight due to injuries sustained last meet so he got involved by being the flag marshall for the night,well done Daniel Bax.

His brother Tony (15) took out this division with some hard charging along with consistent riding , looked the part .Second went to Nathan Condo-Evans(12) , who has come to grips with the new bike very quickly while third went to Tyrone Walters on (10) Dean Jolly , also coming to grips with his bigger bike, picked up fourth.

The last two events were for the seniors over 30's and division one , they raced together from all gate starts.

For the over 30's Darren Mathews and Jason Baldwin both shared the wins and came out a draw (18) it's becoming scary as these guys are getting faster every week as well as getting more confident. Craig Blaker picked up second with (10).

In division one some great gating from both Matt Mathews and Nigel Greenhalgh was a highlight of their racing .Nigel picked up four out of five wins but dont let that fool you because it was a lot closer than the scores indicated.Results Nigel (19) Matt (16)

Dressage winners; Hornets-Mathew Snowden Orions - Plymouth Christian Blackhawks - Jayden Smith.

At the end of the night a couple of new classes were tried and they seemed to be a raging success.These classes are called formula 16 and formula 20 and are designed primarily to improve fitness and have some fun doing it.So much so that one rider is coming over today to build himself a 20 for next week.

What these classes are about is the older riders in divisions 1-2-3-4 are elegible to ride 20" bikes that are all stock BMX type bikes from gate starts over two laps.Divisions 5-6 are for 16" bikes.These bikes are as cheap as you can get to keep things simple and affordable.

Races are over in a flash and the large initial race saw so many wanting to do it that they had to be held in sections as there wasnt enough room on the gate for all starters.Looks like a winner if any of the comments from the riders who competed were concerned.

These races are nothing to do with cycle speedway racing and were never intended to be ,,just a bit of fun and fitness.There are no points,no trophies,no special equipement and no handicaps!

 

Back Pedal

 

2006 closed championships in 2007.Firstly ,last year on the date chosen to run this meeting it turned out to be 43 .8c!!!!! this effectively canceled the meeting until a later date.

With riders moving up in classes there were handicaps to consider and as no new rider had a handicap in their new division we had to have at least one meet to establish some handicaps for the championships.

This is the first week that all the planets were in line with the gods and allowed us any chance of finally running this meet, and what a great meet it turned out to be too.

As always the tinytots got the meeting under way after the parade lap where 41 riders showed their bikes off to the reasonably large crowd.

Tinytots are a week to week proposition as their numbers fluctuate up and down and this week was no different with only two of these little champs turning up.

Jacob Childs took the opportunity to do some hot laps for the timekeeper and his timer until Aaliyah Falco took to the track and had a shy attack for a DNF.She returned wearing sunglasses and rode well after that! Fashion must make a big difference!

Division seven had five starters and Jake Kerley , the backmarker off -8 was one shy of a maximum on (19) from the rider who stopped that max Nicky Falco(9) followed by Mary Lang (8) ,after a ride off with Mathew Snowden (8)

Division six also had five starters  and as far as I can remember this is the first championship win to Jake Mathews (15) while hard racing from Dylan Child (11) failed to get closer to the leader due to a DNF after a crash in heat four.

Third and getting faster by the week was Harrison Corbett (10) who was also unlucky after getting involved in Dylans prang in heat four.

Division 5/1 backmarker ( -8) Luke Childs showed plenty of class in taking this one out on (19) with the other max point going to Brodie Charlson (10) after another ride off with Plymouth Christian (10) for third.

Second place went to Ryan Greenhalgh (11) who rode steadily all the way and deserved his excellent second.This division also has the most vocal cheer squads of all the divisions and it was great to hear the mums and dads getting involved.

Division 5/2 had six riders and one of the new guys got up and won himself a trophy. Robbie Vella had four wins from four starts for (16) while Billy Bax won both his gate starts for(13) third went toLindsay Jolly on (11)

Division 4 Josh Debattista blitzed them from the backmark of -6 on the way to taking a max (20).Josh not only won his division he was also a unanimous choise for the Howey Bowey Award for the best rider of the championship.A highly sought after award.

Second went to a very consistent Jay Walters with 5 consecutive seconds for(15)not bad for a guy who hasnt been on a bike for a while.

Third went to John Stevenson who had a reasonably ordinary day by his standards.

Division three had the second biggest field with eight starters.

There was some incredibly close racing in this lot but  the winner Nathan Condo-Evans showed that he had come to race with a couple of big wins for (14)Tyrone Walters wasn't going to let Nathan have it all his way and knocked up a couple of good wins of his own for (13)also on (13) was David Hatswell who showed some pace today.

After a ride off between Tyrone Walters and David Hatswell , which was a ripper , David picked up second place rendering Tyrone to third.

Seniors over 30's we had three riders turn up today and the way things are going we are soon going to get a full grid,which is excellent!

First today in his first championship was Darren Mathews on (18) including three wins.Jason Baldwin picked up second on (17) with a couple of wins and in third place today in his first championship was Craig Blaker on (10).

Division one had only two riders turn up today and as the over thirty's had all gate starts they joined in to have some company.That company didnt last to the first corner,as expected, when both Nigel Greenhalgh and Matt Mathews gated away from the feild easily.

They had their own battles to fight and at the end of the day Nigel only dropped a point to Matt with (19) while Matt had to settle for (16).

All the trophies were handed out to their respective winners,and runners up, and a beautiful silver tray was presented to Josh Debattista and that was the Howey Bowey award for the top rider of the meet.

A couple of encouragement awards were also presented to losers of the ride-offs and they went to Mathew Snowden and Plymouth Christian.

Summary; a great meet with only one injury to Daniel Bax after a prang in div 3.I dont know what Daniel has against championships,he seems to have problems in them.I also noted that the only other rider to have a nasty fall was Dylan Childs who came back in the best way possible with a big win!well done mate.

 

 

Back Pedal

 

Practise last Thursday night by Darryl Daniels

I was overawed to see the amount of people turn up for league practise on Thusday night , 18 X 26" bikes including a late bloomer , Craig Blaker.15 X 20" bikes shows some strong riders are on their way up in the club and as usual all the the mums and dads and carers who took the time to turn up,well done.

One old salt who's always around ,no matter what the weather or occaision is , is Kerry Westover and he made sure everything was still in it's place when he turns the lights off to go home.God bless him!

Some pretty hard practise was put in by riders all eager to make the first pick for the league team and at the end of the night all the 26"bikes were congregated in the centerfield like a giant magnet had pulled them there from all angles.

You could hear a pin drop for the first time tonight as the team was called out.

Normally practise times are fairly rowdy times and sometimes extremely loud as some of the younger riders are trying to talk louder than someone else who is already talking louder than the coach, if you get the picture.

Somehow sanity prevails and some great sessions are had.

As I was standing in the crowd of onlookers a tap on my should turned out to be Matt Gentle who floored me with the news that effective immediately he had retired from cycle speedway racing and was keen to sell his bike and spares for $500.

Straight away the reporter in me saw a story here so the usual questions were asked.

Here was a guy standing next to me looking fitter than I have ever seen him giving away something that he has held close for so long and he was still at the top of his game.

The last time I saw him race he only dropped one point ,and that was to the world champ,in the Aussie Titles at LeFevre.

He had won the Aussie title quite a few times , knocked over the odd State tile or two and has won a couple of trophies at the odd few Championships. and has raced the best in the world.

After a couple of questions I found out that business comitments with his "Jims Mowing " franchise eating further and further into his time and the never ending paper chase has just about floored him.

He has now shifted his entire life's path to other things and said "quote" I dont have the heart in it anymore" His family also is showing lack of interest in racing also, which helped making the decision.

I know when we raced against his club , we all wanted to see him fail, but he rarely did, now I guess we all want to see him succeed , and I hope he does, he's been good for the sport and it's always sad to see a champion go be it one of ours or any other club.

Getting back to practise , the turn up tonight was better than some of the meetings held toward the end of last year and was great to see and I would love to see the trend continue.

Another reason for the big turnout could also be the fact that the "City of Salisbury Medal Winner Closed Championships" which were meant to be held last season but was abandonded due to excessive heat , will now be held next weekend and the riders were using this opportunity to sharpen up ,early in the season.

 

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Closed Championship postponed as local temps reach 43.5c by Darryl Daniels

Temperatures locally soared to well over 40c.on a day that was earmarked by the Salisbury Cycle Speedway to end its 2006 season with its annual City of Salisbury Medal Winner Closed Championship.

This would normally put an end to a days racing , but as this was also a day of a monster BBQ and an all in waterfight, with water balloons , and a big raffle with fantastic prizes, more than made up for a lack of racing.

In reallity , I dont think there were all that many dissapointed riders,although many did bring their bikes in anticipation of a race or two breaking out.

The club has a heat policy in place that works something like this, if the forecast weather conditions ,according to our local paper "         Tht Advertiser" says it's going to be 36c or over on the Wednesday of the week, for the following Saturday then that meeting will be held on the preceeding Friday night under lights.

This works fine until the Friday night is 39c! which it was.

At a quickly formed meeting of some of the attending committee , it was agreed to abandon the championship until a later date, to be announced , and that the likely hood of riders that are moving up a division and a larger bike , will still have to race at their set handicaps on the same size bikes that they competed on in 2006 as it is a 2006 Championship regardless.

It would be a disadvantage to riders moving up to bikes they have no experience with and having no handicap on those bikes.

Getting back to the day , even though it was a scorcher , everyone had a great time. The water bombing came on in earnest and finding anyone who was even slightly dry was not that easy.

The bbq went off well with steak sangers and sausage sangers disappearing at a rapid rate , I don't think any of those kids had eaten for a week and I think one cook actually was bitten on the hand while serving a hungry little beast, not really but they sure can eat   those kids.

The monster raffle was well supported and some really outstanding prizes were donated to the cause , I wont say who these people are ,but well done to all concerned, you helped your club immensely , especially the fact that all tickets were sold ,excellent!

Halfway through the water bombing reign of terror , a guy in a bright red sports car drove onto the track and did a lap pulling up right in front of the canteen still on the track.

This guy looked remarkably like Santa and was immediately set upon by all the little kids.

Santas sleigh may have changed but the effect he has on kids hasnt and they all lined up to sit on Santas knee and recive a lollypop and an icecream and say what they wanted for Xmas.All had their picture taken with Santa and before too long Santa did his customary lap of the track and a small burnout and in the wink of an eye he was gone.. .til next year.

A special announcement was made along with a special presentation by our new President Robert Hurley, to the retiring President Trevor Dutton and his lovelly wife Chris .A sign denoting the first corner as Dutton corner was presented as a thank you by the club for 20 years supporting the club in so many ways.

It was well received and a very popular move by the club.

Like everything , eventually the day wore on , the parents wore out , and the kids would've definately slept well that night.I know I did!

At the end of the day I didnt hear anyone talking about racing , or lack of it. It was a great day all round considering the heat.

I would like to say on behalf of the club and its members a Merry Chistmas and happy new year to all who supported us in any way and look forward to the new year and next years racing.

 

 

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Last hitout before the Closed Championship at Salisbury by Darryl Daniels

Quite a few riders turned up at the Salisbury Cycle Speedway for a final tune up before the City of Salisbury Closed Championship and breakup party for the end of the year.

The weather was kind if not a little windy which almost stopped a couple of the Tinytots dead in their tracks going down the backstraight but as the afternoon wore on the wind abated and a fine day emerged.

As expected , now the pointscoring part of the season is over and all the divisional champs crowned , numbers were well down and just getting enough marshalls to put on a meet is getting hard.

Last week one of our young riders did a great job of filling in to do the pit marshalling until a game broke out and left to have a kick , leaving riders to turn up at the tapes without a marble draw for positions. Cant blame him when adults didnt help out and left the job to someone else.

Trevor Dutton touched on about the number of crashes on the track at certain times of the year and they all seemed to co-incide with when certain good looking young St. Johns cadets are on duty,explains the high incident report today!

Some fun with handicapping and riders riding up divisions getting used to newer or larger machines they expect to ride next season was the norm.This was also a reason for a few of the crashes too,I think.

We , like all other clubs , rely on funds , and those funds come in the form of donations , raffles , the canteen revenue , sponsors ,council etc,etc.

We have been lucky to pick up a sponsor , late in the season , with the Jefferies Group joining our list of sponsors around the track.We are so grateful that they have come aboard and hope to have a long and lasting relationship with them.

Todays racing wasnt taken all that seriously but the kids still love having a go and when they are like that the best thing to do is ---let em.

There are no points on offer at these meets as the real racing season starts Sat February 3rd.2007 which is normal racing.

At the end of todays racing was the clubs AGM , where the news was that some of our Committee were retiring ,those being President Trevor Dutton and Secretary Sue Debattista .

After the normal AG meeting was held and all the ends neatly tied up the long task of finding a suitable replacement for a guy that did practically everything at the club was done and after a few names came up a suitable replacement was found in the form of vice President  from 2006 Robert Hurley who was voted in and accepted as the new President of the Salisbury Jets. I accepted the position of Vice Pres and Glynis Hurley was voted in as Secretary.( who later stepped down and took the Canteen Manageress position)

Treasurer remained Chris Dutton , the committee Nigel Greenhalgh , Kerry Westover , Kim Hatswell.Team Manager Nigel Greenhalgh , historian myself , Training coaches 16-20" Matt Mathews 26" Nigel Greenhalgh.

Refs,Trevor Dutton & Rick Jolly. Bike  Mechanic Kerry Westover,

Track Manager & Secretary To be announced.

Unfortunately ,sometimes there are things that happen that outside our normal realms of thinking ,by a minority! This leads us to have to defend our normal caring actions and I'm afraid that it's now come to the point when our First Aid staff have to cover themselves from any arising actions or accusations, not that there has been or will be it's just the way things are.

I feel terrible having to write this but starting from the next race meeting , a responsible adult or authorised carer will have to be present at the care and examination of any child participating at this track.

This is a direct request and unless an adult is present quickly your child could suffer so please as soon as you see or hear that your child is going off track for treatment present youself ASAP.

To all the riders participating next week --Good Luck and let the water bombing begin!

PS Dont forget Santa's coming too!

 

 

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A President Retires. by Darryl Daniels

Popular President and referee , Trevor Dutton has stood down as President of the Salisbury Cycle Speedway and is replaced by Robert Hurley. Trevor said he would still stay involved with the club and maintain refereeing as well. People like Trevor are hard to replace and I'm sure Robert has some big boots to fill but I am also sure that he will be able to do just that.

Having a bloke like Trev around any club is always a bonus as they always seem to have the answer , no matter what the problem. I've seen Trev out on the track on his hands and knees help unblocking drains so a meet can be run in a couple of days time and the drains were blocked.

His refereeing has been a highlight of his involvement in Cycle Speedway and a fairer bloke with a whistle you'd be hard pressed finding, he umpired at International level last year , and did well.

He has always had a soft spot for the Tiny Tots and now his young grand daughter Charlotte is competing you can see a gleam in his eye when she's on the track.

Many people around this club will miss not having him at the reigns but the best part is we still have him at the club and if I know Trevor it wont be much different to having him running the show anyway.

 Editor's note Trevor will there but the new committee and members run the club as it has always been the way

People like Trev  just can't sit around and not be involved , they are the salt of any club and we can always use another half a dozen like him , but unfortunately people like that just don't come along all that often and we seem to hang on to at all cost , anyone like that.

Time is money these days and Trevor is a very busy man and to have been able to put in the time and effort that he did for this club was awesome, I really don't think we could afford him if we had to pay for his time.

Along with the passing of one President a new one is formed and his replacement was also a popular one of Rob Hurley. Rob is also a pretty busy bloke with work commitments etc, but I'm sure he will be able to point the club towards a great future and is ably backed by the new committee.

The Executive Committee

President           Rob Hurley

Vice-President      Darryl Daniels

Secretary       Merle Clark

Treasurer       Chris Dutton

Normal Committee Members    Nigel Greenhalgh, Kym Hatswell, Kerry Westover

Canteen Manageress     Glynis Hurley   (non voting)

 

Volunteers for Official Duties on Race Days

Scorers Wayne Bax , Darren Mathews

Anouncers   Darryl Daniels, Trevor Dutton , Nigel Greenhalgh

Flag Marshall Darryl Hannant Richard Makepeace

Pit Marshall  TBA , Rob Hurley

Track Manager TBA

Referees Trevor Dutton, Rick Jolly, Robert Dutton

 

Other Important Volunteers

Team Manager Nigel Greenhalgh

Trainers  Trevor Dutton, Nigel Greenhalgh, Josh Ison,  Matt Mathews

Historian   Darryl Daniels

 

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PRESIDENT'S  REPORT  2006

Another year, another racing season and at times it seemed a long season, then you look back and reflect on how much improvement was made by the riders on the track and the dramas fade to the background.

The death of the club's Patron, Milton Anderson early in the year was another sad event to be added to the club's history. Many Club members did not know Milton but his input to our club and the sport is a legacy that the Salisbury Club has and will build on in the future.

The Salisbury riders this year stepped up a gear on the track, with racing at club level pushing all riders to improve. This improvement was borne out by the Salisbury Jets Racing Teams, with the Jets bringing all the Shields back to the Hangar. Not since 2002 season have the Division Four, Division One League and Interclub Shields returned to their home

 Top Effect to all the Salisbury Jets Riders congratulations on a job well done.

This year we had some new faces helping when possible around the track which was great to see and I thank you all but as always, we can do with more people to volunteers on a Saturday.

 The Salisbury Club has led the way through the years on many levels within the sport and at times against other Clubs opinions.  But through out this the Club has never forgotten what it is about, our kids racing on the track and if we always keep this goal in our minds then we will always have the Salisbury Cycle Speedway family to support us.

As always the dedication of my fellow committee members must be applauded for their efforts though out the long racing season of Cycle Speedway. To each and every one of you I thank you .

Yours faithfully

Trevor Dutton

 President SCS

 

 

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Salisbury Jets Annual Presentation Day 2006 by Darryl Daniels

On a beautiful 30+ degree day the Salisbury Cycle Speedway Club had it's Presentation day again at Carisbrooke  Park and the final count was performed and first prefference votes worth three points each were done live.All other voting had taken place at a committee meeting and were already tallied up next to the competitors names on big whiteboards on easles.

These votes were for the Presidents Medal and the City of Salisbury Medal , two of the clubs most cherished awards.Halfway through the call the points were tallied up and cross checked , ,just to make sure , and it was still anyones race as there were still plenty of votes left that could change the present tallies.

Some awesome trophies were to be had by their respective winners and everyone was hanging on each vote .Some got cheers when they scored some didn't and some got the "about time"call.

Some awesome pointscoring by the best young rider in Australia , in my opinion , Luke Childs racked up the massive score of 102 points to run away with the trophy for the Presidents  Medal , which was presented to him by Pat St.Clair-Dixon a former Slisbury City Mayor and club supporter , what an outstanding year hes had considering the leg problems he had last year,well done mate!

Daniels Bax topped off a great year by winning the City of Salisbury Medal.Daniel had only one hiccup that I can recall this year and that was slipping off his pedal at the start of the final on grid one at the Aussie Titles after qualifying as top pointscorer,this'll help make it up heaps , well done Daniel. Daniels Trophy was presentet to him by Bonnie Anderson , wife of our late Patron Milton Anderson , who passed away earlier this year,RIP MILTON.

These trophies were all presented under the shade of some big trees and was an ideal setting for all the sporting events that were planned for the day.

First up to recieve thier trophies were the TinyTots And they eagrely accepted thier trophies and gladly posed for photoshoots from the large gallery of paparazzi.These future champs showed that they also take it all seriously and are only too glad to show anyone their trophy.The excited tinytots recieved their trophies from Bonnie Anderson who looked almost as excited as the kids.

Next were the three top Division seven guys and this lot had been at each other all year long and now they stand here together-Champions.Top cocky was Mathew Hurley from Joshua Carden and Jake Kerly,well done fellas! They also had their trophies presented by Pat StClair-Dixon.

Moving on to division 6/2 we see the Childs legacy still working with young Dylan Childs amassing a huge gap to second place getter of 182! Second went to a , fast improving , Ryan Greenhalgh and very close behind was Billy bax who has put in a couple of belters this year .Pat StClair-Dixon also did the honors of presenting the trophies here too.

Division 6/1,what can you say when you someone dominate a sport in such a fashion? Luke Childs , in his class is simply awesome and has taken out this division in a fashion that was slightly better than his brother (only 18 more points) Dylan.His nearest competitor , 220 points back was Plymouth Christian , who said he's happy to be second to the best! and only 13 points away in third spot was Braden Makepeace , who would have to have the worlds greatest smile.After a whole season that close,well done!

Pat StClair-Dixon also handed out the trophies for the boys as well.

In division 5 theres a guy I like to call "Mr Smooth" he also took out this division and thats Josh Debattista . Hes smooth and fast on the track and smooth off the track and Josh has had a great season also only dropping a single point in the div 4 league final was memorable.John Stevenson has had a big year also with club reps at events and was unlucky to miss the league final picked up second . In third possition was that hard charging Diemian Kemsley who is always about the money and will do better.Once again Pat StClair-Dixon did the honors.

Division four was a very closely contested affair with only thirty points separating the first three placegetters for the whole season! Dean Jolly , once again ,what can you say? the guy can sure ride , is the clown prince of the club , is liked by everyone and won this division amongst many great other rides in titles and league which he helped win! The guy's a club treasure and it was a popular win.Very close by in second spot was another workhorse , Jay Walters , who is always there in the thick of it and given an inch will take a mile and is ever reliable.Third went to a newer rider to the club who hasnt always had the best equipement or been the fastest but he's always been there and thats part of what it takes to get a podium finish , plus the fact that he got better as the year went on.Anthony Daniels was that rider and shows a glimpse of promise whilst practicing on the 26" bike for next season,time will tell.

OVER 30s , These poor old warhorses roll out every now and then but nothing is really taken too seriously , although they seem to sweat as much as if they really had. John Hill was picking up points at will and having a great time racing with the younger bucks and doing well.John took out this division by a landslide from Frank Jones who started shakily culminating in some horrendous crashes and finally damaging a rib or two and hasnt been seen since.Third spot went to Rick Jolly who does everything around the club except race enough,top bloke and deserves a trophy whether he raced or not! Unfortunately they didn't collect their trophies,they were all having a bit of a lay down after such a strenuious season!

Division three and another rider that has had an oustanding year and has raced most of that as backmarker and when you realise that 3 out of every 5 races are handicap events ,it sort of puts a different light on things! Daniel Bax topped off a great season with the taking out of this division by a big margin over second placegetter Tyrone Walters.Tyrone reminds me of that old saying about dogs," It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog!".Tyrone would look more at home on a Melbourne Cup filly.Hes a small guy but dont let that fool you hes as big as any of them on the track once that race starts.Top effort mate!In third spot was another Bax, Tony Bax and Tony put in a pretty solid year for his third spot and did some great work with his blocking at interclub events.Another top effort! Salisbury Mayor Tony Zappia , presented these trophies to their winners.

The last division to be presented today was Division one , Young 15 year old Matt Mathews took out top spot and it has also been a good year for Matt although I saw a couple of unlucky rides that didnt help.Matts off to England next year and is in training constantly for that.I wish him well and only good can come out of it. in second place well within striking distance was Nigel Geenhalgh ,who has had a great year also by being a part along with Matt and Ryan in winning the Div 1 league final.Nigel also missed a bit of racing with family comittments and doing a bit of announcing,who can forget his heart rendering rendition of "we are the pride of south australia"!?In third spot is a lad who can be a dead set champion if he really puts his mind to it and thats Ryan Edson ,who only missed second spot by 7 points after putting in limited performances.Hes a pretty fast rider who didnt have a lot of things go his way at titles and events.The breaking of a crank at the Aussie titles and an exclusion sort of sums up what sort of year Ryans had.I can see big things coming from Ryan in the near future.All the above riders were presented their trophies by Salisbury City Mayor , Tony Zappia , who went on to inform club patrons that he likes what we are doing and is willing to assist us in any way possible to help sporting qualities in our youth succeed, same as previous Mayors had done and are still supporting.

Dressage for each team for the year are as follows , for the Hornets Mathew Hurley; for the Orions Plymouth Christain ; for the Blackhawks Brodie Charlson.

Highest Point Scorer in all divisions; Luke Childs 675.

Highest Team Points Blackhawks ; 7068.

Rider Of The Year ; Daniel Bax.

Pat StClair-Dixon Award (most improved) ;Anthony Daniels

Encouragement Award ; David Hatswell.

Track Records ; Joel Chadwick 10.11 sec.Div 4.

Service Awards ; Paul Carden , Coral Bax , Nigel Greenhalgh.

Now the presentations were out of the way it was time to let down our hair and just have some fun.Just before that happened a very important presentation was made on behalf of the entire club to Chris & Trevor Dutton for 20 years with the club coming up fast.Having been on the committee now for a season I see things that normal members don't and the amount of work they both do is well above and beyond at times and with Chris not being 100% well at times it was amazing things still got done.Even today Trevor recieved a phone call as he was setting up the events etc for todays fun , stating his father has just been involved in a motor accident and had to leave to see if his dad was OK.He returned to the Presentation Day and finished the job he had started out to do  and no-one was any wiser,THAT in my opinion was well and truly above and beyond !

 

 

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Division 1 League Final from Le Fevre Cycle Speedway  11/11/06.by Darryl Daniels

Today as I approached the Le Fevre Cycle speedway, I was looking for some fresh,cool air.It was slightly overcast , but very humid , a legacy of the few showers we had experienced earlier.

If I was feeling the heat then what are these guys going to feel out on the track ,giving it all for the last race and final of the league season.As it turned out one of the teams had a rider short when Ryan Edson had car trouble and couldn't make it to the track.That was the Salisbury Jets.

The LeFevre club had just finished it's normal club meet and provided the great setting for the final.

The track looked grippy , thanks to heaps of water from the rain and proved to be a top track for the final and only needed minimal maintenence.

I know the Salisbury team didn't come prepared for such a great track , they trained on a deliberately dried , powdery , slippery track on Thursday night .

Now for the action!

Firstly the ref called the captains to the pits and explained that there is no tollerence of any movement at the tape,move and you are out!No second chance.

 scoring is 4-3-2-1

All gate starts.

12 races

The riders were paraded for each club around the track while the riders were introduced to the small but eager crowd.

For the Salisbury Jets;

Nigel Greenhalgh

Josh Ison (C)

Cody Chadwick

Matt Mathews

Warren Corbett

For the Findon Comets;

Ben Schumacher

Ross Priest

Brad Gentle

Matt Gentle (C)

Damien Clarke

Bobby McMillan

 As I mentioned earlier the Jets were right behind the 8 ball from the start by being a rider down in these very humid conditions and had a fairly large hole to dig themselves out of.

The Jets won the toss and took grids 2 and 4 where Nigel Greenhalgh (2) and Josh Ison (4) scored (6) from Ben Schumacher (3) and Ross Priest (1) for (4).

Progressive score Jets (6) Comets (4)

Race two saw a maximum (7) go to the comets of Brad Gentle (4) and Matt Gentle (3) from Cody Chadwick (2) and Warren Corbett (1)

Progressive score Jets (9) Comets (11)

Race three saw even scoring when both sides scored (5) each when ,Jets Ison (3) and Mathews(2) raced Priest (4) and Clarke (1)

Progressive score Jets (14) Comets (16)

Race four saw things all tied up when Greenhalgh (4) and Chadwick picked up a couple of spare points over Schumacher (1) and Brad Gentle (3).

Progressive score;Jets (20) Comets (20)

Race five and the Jets finally hit the front for the first time since the first race when Mathews (4) and Corbett (2) grabbed those points from Priest (1) and Clarke (3).

Progressive score; Jets (26) Comets (24)

Race six and a timely maximum (7) to the Comets pair of Brad (4) and Matt Gentle (3) leaving Greenhalgh (1) and Ison (2).

Progressive scores; Jets (29) Comets (31)

Halfway and the scores have once again swung in the Comets favor and they must have thought the extra fresh man they had up their sleve would be the edge they were looking for and I think I would have too in that humidity.

Race seven and the Jets bounced straight back with their first maximum (7) for the day when Chadwick (3) and Corbett (4) left Schumacher (1) and McMillan (2) who was also the Comets fresh man!

Progress scoces; Jets (36) Comets (34)

Race eight saw the Comets grit their teeth and bounce straight back with a maximum (7) of their own when Brad (3) and Matt Gentle (4) showed Greenhalgh (1) and Mathews (2) the short way home.

Progressive scores; Jets (39) Comets (41)

This was going right down to the wire folks and the last race of the year could quite easily decide the outcome of this battle.

Race nine and a determined Jets team , still not really being able to rest anyone , picked up a very timely maximum (7) with a good captains ride from Ison (3) allowed Chadwick to pick up (4).The Comets pair of Schumacher (1) and Priest (2) saw the lead change again with only three rides left.

Progressive score; Jets (46) Comets (44)

Race ten and even scoring was not what the Comets wanted so the (3) by Mathews and (2) by Corbett cancelled out the (4) by Matt Gentle and (1) by Clarke.

Progressive scores; Jets (51) Comets (49)

Two races to go and only two points in it , what a final!

Race elleven and the worst possible thing that could happen with one race to go after this is an exclusion! it happened.The comets needed to get some points back right here in this race if they were going to have any chance in the final as the Jets had gate one waiting for them.

At exactlly 4.2 seconds of a maximum 5 second tape time , Brad Gentle was whistled up by the ref for movement and excluded!Brad , being the sportsman he is and the gravity of what just happened , took it extreemly well and should be commended on the restraint he was obviously showing, how disapointing.

The race went to the Jets with a maximum (7) with Greenhalgh (4) and Chadwick (3) the lone gun for the Comets was , the fresh rider ,McMillan (2).

Progressive scores; Jets (58) Comets (51)

The last race in the Championship saw a maximum (7) go to the Comets pairing of Priest (4) and Matt Gentle (3) ahead of Ison (2) and Corbett (1).

Final scores; Jets (61) Comets (58)

The Salisbury Jets are the 2006 League Division 1 Champions

 

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2006 Salisbury Xmas Parade 11/11/06 by Darryl Daniels

Along with my grandson and niece , I helped decorate their bikes and helmets for the big parade in the morning .The next morning came too swiftly as a 21st birthday party in our street kept plenty awake until the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Having revived with copious amounts of black coffee , we set off to Salisbury to join the rest of the Salisbury Jets in group 11C.Getting to our despatch area was more like war games and army manouvers.We finally arrived and spotted the bright colours of our club and joined in.

It was good to see such a good turnout as we had a BMX club also appearing ,BUT, we had an ace up our sleeve,more later on this!

 Finally after running around taking heaps of pictures of the old cars,racing cars,boats,trucks,fire-engines,horses etc , etc , we got moving and this is the fun part.

Rememberance Day has always been a special day for me and today looked like it was going to be extra special right from the start.

Looking around at the glowing faces as the parade moved slowly off , you can easily see why so many parents are involved in events just like this , those smiles couldn't be removed by a plastic surgeon!

Our group was being let by a small SUV towing a trailer with a sign on each side with our name and contact number for interested people to come and check us out.

As the parade meandered along the inner Salisbury streets , the clubs , ace up the sleeve happened unexpectedly on a shocked and awed crowd when a couple of members laid down on the road bringing the parade to a stop!

No police weren't called for , although they were already there in abundance!

Almost instantly a lone rider , Josh Ison , came belting down the short runway and went straight for the two laying on the ground.I had my camera at the ready and got a great picture of Josh jumping over the two victims, sorry voullenteers. No sooner had that happened when a second rider came hurtling in and over , then a third unexpected rider on a smaller 20" bike was coming fast and also cleared those on the ground,much to the applause of the large crowd.

The second rider was Matt Mathews doing the jumps this year for the first time and then came Dean Jolly on the little 20" bike , again for the first time.Well done guys it looked great!

We had this reapeated about four times along the length of the parade and everytime was greeted by ooo's and ahhh's and applause, the crowd loved it and as the riders got more confident more victims were added until the final jump consisted of six laying side by side on the road.Kids don't try this at home ,it's very dangerous and needs adult and expert supervision, or better still join a bike club and learn properly.

Along the way we lost one pilot, when Dean Jolly downed himself on his second jump on the 20". He cleared the jump well enough but when you land you must have your feet on each pedal and when you fall heavily on bitumen in front of hundreds of people itslows you down a bit and like a true Jet just jumped on his bike and carried on.( I saw the bruises later in the day)

During all the jumping the rest of the club was still parading along with one rider dressed as a mini santa towing a trailer with his bike was a big hit with the crowd,you looked great Mark O,Toole.

Our littlest rider also made the entire distance , as did our resident Platypus , who not only is adored by kids but actually scares them when he gets too close!

All too soon we had reached the end of our parade and clubs were starting to disperse when the air-raid siren sounded the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day.

As one the crowd of thousands removed their hats , like a Mexican wave and went silent , heads were bowed and you could have heard a pin drop , the silence was deafening and the respect emence. Well done to all those people of Salisbury who attended this Xmas gathering , that was awesome!

We all said our goodbyes , for some of us though it was on to Le Fevre for the Div League final, and wanded off on our merry ways,TIL NEXT YEAR! CHEERS.

 

 

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