Cycle Speedway
Cycle Speedway (Australia): South Australian State championships @ LeFevre Speedway.
By Admin
May 5, 2008, 10:28

It 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 cant 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 substancial 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 Tinytots 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.

Thats not a bad effort,we have two exclusions in the very first race and the tapes havent even gone up yet.

The remaining three riders had to be woken up after the tapes went up,I dont 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 wouldnt 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 birthin 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 hes 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 overPaul 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 frony 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.