Larry Ross is still the man to beat in South Island Speedway. The 54 year old should not be able to out gate his younger rivals. But he does. A trade well learned but never forgotten is providing a much needed challenge to the young hopefuls of our sport.
Ross won the South Island title at Oreti on a maximum of 15 points. Grant Tregoning was second, losing only to Ross while the local resident rider Alex Cunningham came third on 11 points.
When I started covering speedway here in NZ, it was Ross that dominated the local scene right up until the time he retired. Some 20 odd years later, it would seem the clock has been turned back or I am the official benefit writer for Larry Ross. You cannot say anything else because the rider inspires, has a unique ability and is still the scalp all the young guys want. He still features in every meeting he competes.
Larry thinks it was 1976 when he won his first South Island title. He went to England in 1975 and rode in the first division. Disappointed at his 4. something scorecard for the season, (he wanted a 5 average) he returned home. “Mum and Dad took me down to Oreti in the Rover. Don’t know how the bike got down here, and I won my first South Island title.” “I went on to win my first NZ title that year as well”. He said he came home disappointed at his first English season, but did not appreciate how much he had learnt and how good he had become, simply by having to compete in the top division of the sport at the time. While Ronnie has taken a step back now and Ivan still does his segment for the sport each year, Larry Ross is still riding at a high level. He is starting to put something back in on the local scene to a sport that made him a speedway household name.
Fresh after their Short track win, Fraser Gillespie and Dave Uitentuis went on to win the Peter Blick Sidecar Memorial Trophy. They were clear winners on 15 points. Craig McMaster and Robin Poole on 10 were 2nd with Grant Thomson and Chay McWilliam 3rd on 9. It was Thomson who provided Gillespie with the best challenge of the day in an earlier heat. It was a great battle with Thomson winning the start while Gillespie had to play catch up. A spirited battle eventuated with neither giving way. It which required a last chance attempt by Gillespie to take Thomson on the line.
The junior races were won by Jake Gillespie, (Fraser’s son) in making it a good weekend for the family. His 12 points were followed by Brodon Johnson on 10. Third equal were too close rivals, Conner Spriggs and Daniel Shuttleworth on 9 points each. These small infield tracks provide some quick close racing where some throttle control, balance and ability to read the surface can be learnt. Brodon Johnson stood out as the one who read the track a little better than the others today and was rewarded when the points were tallied.
