Images supplied by: Christopher Scrimgour

Classic Sidecar Championship A Fitting Season Finish

A rescheduled season finish at Southern Bolts & Fasteners Oreti Park Speedway saw the Southland club the last of the lower South Island Tracks to run a meeting this season, and a balmy autumns day is what greeted...

By Daryl Shuttleworth2 May 2023

(Disclaimer - results as seen by myself while commentating, results may have changed slightly due to relegations etc. - This article or extracts from it are not to be used by any other form of media without prior permission.)

While only a small number of spectators were on hand when the meeting kicked off on the Saturday morning, the crowd grew to what was a pleasing turn out by the end of round one of racing, and all those in attendance were certainly treated to some great racing across all the classes, in particular the Northside Sand And Gravel Southland Classic Sidecar Championship.

Heading into the event it was a bit of a lottery with just four local Oreti combinations entered, the most experienced pair being Gary Wells and Jamie Harpur who were a dominant force back in the eighties at Oreti Park, they would battle it out against combinations who are still riding at a competitive level now, including current 2NZ teaming of Paul Humprey and Chris Chatfield.

Heat one would give some sort of form guide as to who was going to be the movers and shakers in this championship, and it took no time for the experience of Wells and Harpur to show their experience with the pair powering into turn one ahead of the pack and remaining unchallenged for the rest of the race. Behind them there was a solid fight on for the minor placings but it was Humphrey and Chatfield who would get home in second ahead of Jase Kennedy and Jonny Casey in third.

The second heat was a good battle up front with Humphrey and Chatfield leading early before being taken down the inside by a tactical move by Wells and Harpur, Humphrey would try and stick with the new race leader but Wells and Harpur negotiated the corners a lot better than other combinations, looking smooth and fast to take a second race win, Humphey and Chatfield second while Bradley Sharp and Erwin Tree would this time steal third spot.

Heat three and you would be brave to bet against Wells and Harpur going three from three, and to be fair despite the margins closing up, these guys were also just hitting their straps, putting in yet another dominant performance to all but seal the title, second was Sharp and Tree with Humphrey and Chatfield third.

The final heat to decide the Southland Classic Sidecar Championship saw the best battle of the day with both Humphrey and Sharp getting into turn one ahead of Wells who looked to bog down somewhat off the start line.

Wells would give chase and make a move on both Sharp and Kennedy to slip up into second and start to give chase on Humphrey, this race was certainly one for the ages as neither combination would give an inch, Humprey and Chatfield looking as if they would cause the upset of the day but the experience of Wells and Harpur working his magic off the back of the bike saw the unbeaten combination fly down the outside on the back straight to steal the lead away, a lead that would not be challenged and see both Wells and Harpur take the race win and the Southland Championship, Humphrey and Chatfield were made to settle for second sport and second in the championship, while in this heat Kennedy and Casey would get third but third overall would go the way of Sharp and Tree.

Pee Wee's would kick off the days entertainment and no one would get anywhere near Oreti rider Carey Sharp who was dominant in all four Pee Wee heats, Sharp got solid starts in all heats and powered off on the small track to remain unbeaten all day.

The battle for second and third was much more evenly matched with two up and coming Oreti Park riders exchanging results across the day, heat one saw Eva Chapman Grab second ahead of Max Cracknell, while the results were reversed in heat two, Cracknell also claimed second in heat three when Chapman stalled her bike on the line, but would come back strong in heat three to claim second ahead of Cracknell.

The overall results in Pee Wee were Sharp first ahead of Cracknell in second with Chapman third.

A strong field of 125cc Solos were on hand and produced some of the days best races. Heat one saw Oreti Park rider Slade Fordyce take a race win, looking fast ahead of clubmate Jack Chapman and Cooper Lang of Moore Park third.

The second gate of bikes was dominated by Oreti's Mauger Kelman who was all class, using every inch of track available to him to grab an early points haul, second was Ollie Cunningham also of Oreti Park with clubmate Jack Campbell third.

The third heat for 125cc Solos saw Cunningham race off to a fast start and never looked challenged the entire race pulling off a solid race win, second was Fordyce with Lang home in third.

Heat four and again Kelman was a cut above his competition getting out to a lead early and again taking the checkered flag with ease, unfortunately behind him Chapmans race would slip away with a mechanical drama on the last lap allowing Oreti's George Kennedy to snatch second place.

Heat five and this time it was Kennedy who turned on the gas, taking a well deserved win, the race win looked to be going the way of Fordyce but Fordyce gave a bit of a gap on the very last lap that would allow Kennedy to swoop and grab the race win, Fordyce came home second just ahead of Chapman in third.

Kelman again would come out in heat six and take apart his rivals, the young local rider showing his skills off to claim his third race win in as many starts, second was Cunningham with Lang third.

Heat seven and again it was Kelman, smooth, fast and piecing together a perfect day out by bagging his fourth race win of the day, second place went the way of Fordyce with Kennedy third, then the final race of the day for 125cc Solos was taken out by Cunningham ahead of Lang in second and Chapman third.

This gave Kelman the overall win for the day, second was Cunningham while Fordyce would take third overall.

Next up on the junior track was the 200cc machines who would battle it out over five heats, race one saw Oreti Park rider Kadin Cracknell take an early race win in what was a top ride against strong competition, second went the way of Chase Lang of Moore Park with Jack Campbell of Oreti third.

Heat two and this time around Lang would go one better taking a solid win after getting away from the tapes smartly, Campbell would also move up the order with a strong second while Cracknell would settle for third place.

Heat three would see a repeat in the order of placings, Lang really starting to stamp his authority on the field, but an upset was on the cards in heat four when Campbell would ride his best ride of the event upstaging both riders who had already won races to win this race, Lang had to settle for second ahead of Cracknell.

The final race for 200cc Solos saw the race order again shuffled around, Lang found himself back at the front of the pack, Cracknell this time delivering a strong second placing with Campbell third, overall results went the way of Lang, Campbell second with Cracknell third.

Hot favorites going into this event in Sidecars were the combination of Humphrey and Chatfield, the current 2NZ team being the benchmark in the grade all season.

Heat one saw them upstaged in an epic fight with Oreti Park combination Shaun Kerr and Harley Biddle who looked very fast considering they are a new combination, Kerr and Biddle would hold Humphrey and Chatfield off to take the win, Humphrey home second with Jason Harpur and James Dawson back in third place.

The second heat of the day saw the local riders upstaged by Moore Park duo Ben Morris and Graham Partridge who got off to a flying start and beat the rest into turn one and managed to ride away from the pack with ease to take the race win, second was Josh Heenan and Dion McDonald while Oreti's Scott Ayto and Ramon Nikora Balloch would place third.

Kerr would show in heat three that his first up win was no fluke at all, he and Biddle again upstaging Humphrey and Chatfield to take their second win of the event, Humphrey would place second with Gary Stalker and William Little of Moore Park third.

The fourth race saw some late race controversy, Harpur and Dawson were comfortably out in front while Morris and Partridge were up in second when behind them Ayto's machine would come into contact with clubmates Dallas Kelman and Brent Nicholson, Kelman being deemed the cause of the contact handing the third placing to Ayto and Nikora Balloch, second was Morris and Partridge while Harpur and Dawson would take the win.

The fifth heat for Sidecars looked as if Humphrey and Chatfiled would finally get back to top spot, leading Kerr and Biddle by a handy margin for the majority of the race, the checkered flag was out, Humphrey powered out of turn four to take the heat win only to stop mid track with mechanical dramas putting them out of the race meters from the line, again Kerr and Biddle would win, second went to Morris and Partridge with Kelman and Nicholson third.

Next up in race six Harpur and Dawson were again in sublime form, getting away from the tapes fast and powering off to bank another well deserved race win, behind them in second was Ayto and Nikora Balloch while third went to Stalker and Little.

The final round of heat races for Sidecars was up next, heat seven and finally Humphrey and Chatfield got a clean break to turn one and despite a solid challenge from Harpur and Dawson they would take a hard fought race win, Harpur rode well all day and he and Dawson would place second with Morris and Partridge third.

The final Sidecar race was another quality battle and caused the upset of the day, if you were a betting man you would have put the house on Kerr and Biddle but the pairing struggled off the line and despite putting in one hell of a chase it would be Heenan and McDonald that would snatch a popular race win, with Kelman and Nicholson pressing them hard in second, Kerr and Biddle left to settle for third spot.

This result still gave Kerr and Biddle the overall win for the event ahead of Harpur and Dawson with Morris and Partridge third.

Heat one for Solos saw an early upset when Oreti Park rider Dakota Crengle stole the show on a borrowed bike, racing off to a solid start to race off and claim a heat one win on a surface that was testing for the Solo grade in the early heats. Second would be Crengle's clubmate Finn Reed with Alex Cunningham also of Oreti third.

Heat two saw Reed the current 3NZ and Crengle put on a tight fight in the opening lap, unfortunately for Crengle he would drop his bike in turn three of lap one but he would get back on and try and charge back through the field.

Out front Reed was storming home fast and had the race win in the bag when Crengle was racing back through, unfortunately for Crengle the bike high sided in turn one of the very last lap sending him out into the safety fence hard, leaving the young rider injured on the track. Crengle would get back to his feet after being checked out and would walk from the incident but not return again, the win would go the way of Reed with Lucas Colvin second and his brother Ryan Colvin both of Oreti Park third.

The track team went to work on the track surface after this incident for some time, producing a far better racing surface for the meeting to resume.

Heat three and Reed stole the show, taking the race win by almost half a lap, this time around Ryan Colvin would snatch second upstaging his brother Lucas who was third.

The fourth heat and again Reed did it easy, the youngster showing why he holds the 3NZ currently and why he will be a force in the Solo class for some time to come, his speed and skills an absolute joy to take in, again Reed would win with ease Ryan Colvin placed second with Cunningham third, these results would be replicated in race five giving Reed the win for the event, Ryan Colvin second and Lucas Colvin third overall.

The final grade to run was the Classic Solos and Oreti Park rider John Tuffley was simply untouchable across all five heat races, Tuffley would have looked competitive in the A Grade Solos with the dominance he showed across all five heats, leaving the real battles for second and third.

In race one it was Oreti Park duo Les Payne and Allan Crosbie battling for the minors with Payne grabbing second ahead of Crosbie, these results would be the same in race two but Crosbie would turn the tables in race three coming home in second spot.

Payne wouldn't be upstaged again though and would take second place ahead of Crosbie in the final two races of the event, giving Tuffley the overall win, Payne second and Crosbie third.

Lucas Colvin was awarded the Sportsmanship Award for the day, while all competitors where split into teams, five teams combining individual points for an overall team winner which went the way of the White Team consisting of Shaun Kerr and Harley Biddle, Lucas Colvin, John Tuffley, Mauger Kelman, Jack Campbell, Paul Humphrey and Chris Chatfield and George Kennedy, they took this title by a hefty margin.

This meeting was also the unveiling of Cunningham Lane, the entry road to the pits, named in honor of the late Russell Cunningham who had been an integral part of Oreti Park Speedways history, as a competitor, sponsor and official for a number of seasons, this was a fitting way to cap off another very successful season of action at Southern Bolts And Fasteners Oreti Park Speedway.

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