Marsden Magic Shines At South Island Title

Andrew Andrew

• RACE REPORTS

Marsden Magic Shines At South Island Title

Beachlands Speedway

Shuttleworth Motorsport Media

Photography by Robin Simpson

Images supplied by: Christopher Scrimgour

(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.) Custom Signs Beachlands Speedway hosted what was meant to be a two day South Island Saloon Championship last weekend in Dunedin. The event sponsored by Lammermoor Distillery was scheduled to run both Friday and Saturday nights but a heavy down pour about an hour prior to race start meant the club would have to pull the pin on racing and do a reshuffle to the championship format. The club and drivers agreed that a three group, three heat, twenty five lap winner takes all format was the way to go, with each group facing off against each other once. Heat one and newly crowned Otago Saloon Champion Aaron Andrews of Dunedin got off to a flying start, using his home track knowledge to full advantage, Andrews was chased hard by one of the championship favourites Peter "Dutchy" Schouten of Christchurch. The pair battled hard mid race, lap upon lap Schouten trying to find a way around the outside of Andrews, but Andrews holding a nice defensive line that would make Schouten have to work hard if he wanted to take the lead. As the race rolled on Schouten backed himself to make a pass on Andrews which stuck, and from there Schouten drove off to a handy lead and a race win to take maximum points from heat one, Andrews was well rewarded with second while Christchurch driver Billie Woodhouse was impressive in third holding off many challenges for that spot. Heat two and all eyes were on Christchurch pair Ryan Marsden and Willie Woodhouse. Woodhouse got out to a handy lead and looked to be in control, but as Marsden started to challenge Woodhouse looked vulnerable, throwing everything he could at Marsden to keep him at bay. Eventually Marsden would slip past Woodhouse only to have to slot back into second place when Wellington's Clayton More would spin in turn four.

Marsden would go to work once more on Woodhouse and make the pass that would see him take over the lead of the race. Marsden started to drive off to a handy race lead, only to be bought back to the pack when Lee Morris of Christchurch stopped with damage to the front of his car. At the restart Marsden again cleared off, eventually taking the heat win, Woodhouse fell back to third place after Dave McCallion of Dunedin pressured Woodhouse for the spot. The third and final heat saw Graham Williamson of Invercargill and More of Wellington start from the front row of the grid and when the race went green the two cars made solid side by side impact, More heading off the track spinning to the infield. The race would go yellow as the cars reformed, More was confident he would go back to his original starting spot alongside Williamson despite being instructed by officials to start from the rear of the field, being deemed the cause of the restart. More circulated a number of times not moving to where he was meant to be, he even stopped and spoke to the clerk of the course and the message came through that there would be a full restart, once again More shot to pole position only to be told to go to the rear once more. Eventually after multiple laps all cars were where they were meant to be and the race went green with Williamson getting away to a handy lead early on a track that was starting to really shine up. Williamson was chased hard and the gap he had pulled eventually evaporated and he was attacked from both Marsden and McCallion with Dunedin duo of Ryan Bennett and Andrews also within striking distance of Williamson. Williamson looked to have his hands full eventually allowing both McCallion and Marsden to take over the lead of the race. McCallion looked on song, the car coming into its own on a slick surface, leading home Marsden for a heat win, Marsden second with Williamson just holding on to third. The twenty five lap feature would crown a new South Island Champion, it was winner takes all and Marsden and McCallion would occupy the front row bagging the most points from the earlier heat races. By this stage the track was black, it was almost like glass, but it was the same for everyone, all drivers had a chance in the heats to grab the best spot in the final that they could. The green flag dropped on the final and McCallion got to turn one first, getting a slight advantage, cars were tapping and rubbing panels trying to gain a spot of their rivals, unfortunately for McCallion the early race leader he would make contact with Schouten and puncture a tyre, putting him out of the race within the first lap. Marsden had now taken control, Woodhouse and Andrews sat right behind Marsden but Marsden drove off into the distance, pulling a couple of car lengths each straight until the lead was a sizeable gap. Schouten tried to be the pioneer parking his car out wide to try and leap past Woodhouse and Andrews but while he was matching speed he couldn't get enough drive to move past the pair eventually struggling to keep up, having to settle back in the pack in fourth. The race was a clean affair, some great battles were developing and the crowd was anticipating a caution at some point, but to the drivers credit they kept the race clean and it went the distance without a single caution. When the checkered flag dropped Marsden had over half a lap on the cars battling for second and third, absolutely destroying the competition to claim the South Island Saloon Championship, Willie Woodhouse managed to hold off a fast charging Andrews to take second while Andrews grabbed a popular third placing in front of his home crowd. Stockcars were racing for the Otago Stockcar Championship which was presented by The Woodford Glen Shop, and a field of twenty three cars lined up to do battle. Heat one didn't stay green for long at all, the red light coming on when Dunedin's Zara Lee Tuhara parked up in front of the pit gate early with mechanical dramas, this sent her to the infield. As the race restarted all eyes were on Harley Robb of Christchurch who got down to work, a clinical drive that saw him pick off one car at a time to soon be in control of the race lead. The next stoppage was when Dunedin's Shannon Simon put a hit on clubmate Josh Lamb in turn two, a large ball of flames came from Lamb's car but went out as quick as it ignited. Robb would again race off at the restart and take the heat one win over Cromwell's Casey McEwan and Dunedin's Mark Taylor home in third spot. Heat two would see Robb start from the front row, and to be fair it was pretty much game over from turn one where Robb started to pull away and drive a very clinical race. Taylor who was third in race one would end up out of the race early parked up on the infield, ending his title aspirations early, while the sole red light came out when Simon was sent into the wall at turn three very hard, also leaving him a spectator. The race would go the distance with the same race leader, Robb would make it two wins from as many starts, Dunedin's Trazarn Ryland Annabell would hold off a fast finishing McEwan to claim second, McEwan keeping himself in the title fight with a strong third. Heat three and you would expect Robb to have a target on his back, Robb would start well down the field and have some work to do to stay away from any drivers in the pack who may want to spoil his party. An early stoppage came when Invercargill's Kahu Moxham got put up the wall on the back straight by Dunedin's Brian Nicolaou, just as Moxham went to drive off the wall the race was called red meaning he would have to retire to the infield, and extra couple of seconds and Moxham would have been back racing but would instead have to park up. At this point Dunedin's Liam Squire had got off to a decent lead and was keeping his nose clean up front, further down the pack Robb was working his way through the field while his closest points rival McEwan became a target of Dunedin's Zac McClenaghan, the tank putting multiple shots and attempts in on McEwan, eventually ending McEwans race. The next stoppage came about when Zane Tuhura the current Otago Champion took Riverside's Peter Knight to the wall hard in turn four, Knights son Shanan Knight also of Riverside chimed in trying to dish out some punishment on Tuhura but all three cars suffered damage putting all three cars out of the race. This ultimately freed up the pack and allowed Robb to work his way up the pack even further, Squire had the race in the bag, racing off to a heat win, Robb did everything he could to chase down Ryland - Annabell who drove another solid race scoring second with Robb solid in third. This result would see Robb crowned Otago Stockcar Champion, Nico Tuhura of Dunedin was consistent all night claiming second with Squires race win elevating him to third. Modified Sprints were also racing for the Southern Motor Group Otago Championship and cars from Riverside, Ruapuna and Beachlands were all on hand to contest the title. Christchurch driver Liam Astle got off to a flying start in heat one, building a lead early and having to defend it on multiple occasions due to incidents unfolding on track. The first stoppage happened when Brendon Hopkins of Christchurch spin in turn four but managed to keep going, unfortunately Riverside's Vernon Helms was coming in hot and spun to avoid Hopkins and got collected by Christchurch driver Shane Cornelius, ultimately ending Cornelius's night. The race would restart only to come top a halt once more this time it was Hopkins again who rolled on turn four causing a sizeable delay. Astle would again have to defend up front from Riverside driver Jayden Fraser, the race went green only to last a couple more laps before Dunedin's Michael Gimblett would park up in turn four bringing out yet another caution. Astle would gain an advantage early at the restart and eventually hold on to take a race win, Fraser came home strong in second with Harry McIntyre of Christchurch grabbing third spot. Heat two saw Ewan Stewart of Dunedin lead early before coming undone in turn three spinning up and relinquishing the race lead. The second caution was Hopkins who had done well to get his car back on track after his heat one roll over, Hopkins would spin in turn three, condensing the pack which by this point had Dunedin's Glenn Johnston leading. Johnston would show a clean pair of heels and race off to a heat win ahead of Fraser and Astle.

For heat three the drivers would line up in the accumulated points order meaning Fraser and Astle would share the front row, it was always going to be a race to the first corner to try and gain track advantage, this was a race that Fraser won and started to build a nice lead prior to the first caution which saw Stewart roll in turn four. Once the track crew cleared a desponded Stewart Fraser got back into a rhythm once more, Astle tried to challenge but didn't have the car pace to get near Fraser who was in sublime form. Fraser would go on to win the race and the Otago Modified Sprint Championship, Astle claimed second with Johnston coming home third overall. There was a third Otago Championship on the line at this event with the up and coming starts of speedway the Youth Saloons set to do battle for the regional title. Race one got off to an interesting start with Riverside's Caydan Race getting flicked to the infield on lap one leading to a full restart. At the restart Dunedin's Brooke Soper wasted no time at all getting to the front of the pack and powering away to a convincing but hard fought race win, behind Soper was Dunedin clubmate Max Kemp in second with Riverside's Joshua Richardson home in third. Kemp would turn the tables in heat two, Kemp got to the front early and led what was a very tidy race with no cautions at all, a real credit to all drivers on track. Kemp showed his class to win heat two ahead of Jayden Cron of Dunedin and Soper who got up to third spot. Heat three saw a couple of restarts, the first when Maia Johnston stopped on the main straight early putting her out of the race the second incident happening when Dunedin clubmates Dresden Constable and Caitlyn Bennett were battling solidly down the pack, the pair made accidental contact causing Bennett to roll in turn four. Credit to the modern safety gear and well built cars Bennett walked away unscathed but both cars would remain parked up. Kemp had worked his way to the front of the pack early in this race and again was just a level above anyone else on track, once Kemp got to the front there was no one that could catch him, Kemp taking his second race win, Richardson second with Soper again third. Kemps win would see him crowned Mulford Holdings Otago Youth Saloon Champion, Soper second with Richardson third. Streetstocks were racing for the Adele Stanger Memorial, heat one was fast and clean with no stoppages, a rarity in contact grades. With only Dunedin cars entered Ben Jenkins would take out heat one, Mitch Lavender was second and Braden Adams third. Heat two and had a couple of stoppages, one for debris the second when Baily Gillam lost a wheel in turn two. Again all the fast cars made their way to the front of the pack, there would be plenty of tap and spin in this heat but this time around Lavender was the driver to prevail with the win, Cody Glover race up to second with Jenkins claiming third spot. The third and final heat and Lavender was again in red hot form, building a decent lead up over the pack. It was another good fast clean race that saw the leaders having to work their way through lapped traffic. Lavender looked assured of another race win but Jenkins made a move on the very last lap that would see him take the race win and force a run off for the Memorial Trophy, Lavender settled for second and Glover third. Lavender got off to a flying start in the run off and all Jenkins could do was sit in behind and watch, Jenkins wasn't interested in slowing down and waiting on Lavender, happy enough to settle for second overall, Lavender taking the Adele Stanger Memorial with Glover third. Round two of the Invercargill Tractor Servicing and Repairs Production Saloon Tri Series was also taking place, the Central Chargers from Central Motor Speedway were heading into round two with a healthy forty six point lead over The Beachlands Young Guns of Dunedin with The Riverside Rats from Invercargill well down in the points a further one hundred and six points behind. Heat one didn't start well for the Chargers with Brad McTaggart one of the key members of the Central team losing a wheel in turn four putting him out early, while the Young Guns would lose Olivia Glover. Up front Young Guns driver Aaron Brookland who was bought into the team fought off Charger's drivers Gavin Hurring and James Woods, Brookland just too fast on home soil claiming a solid race win, Hurring came home second and Woods third ensuring the Chargers were still building plenty of points. Race two and it was again a stray wheel that bought the race to a caution, this time Riverside Rats driver Aaron Reed losing a wheel and left parked up infield, exactly what the Rats didn't need as they sat at the bottom of the points table. Tyler Kelk from the Young Guns would ensure the Dunedin team would keep chipping away at the points lead of the Chargers taking a heat two win ahead of Hurring and Brad Fitzgerald of The Rats in third. Race three and the Young Guns had shortened the overall lead to just being eleven points behind the Chargers, this race could change the whole complexion of the Tri Series with just one round to go at Riverside. This race had a bit of a false start, Kaleb Marshall from the Outlaws got pinged off the start for a jump which he was sent to the rear of the pack, Marshall would protest this with the Clerk Of The Course who liaised with Speedway New Zealand officials, earning his starting spot back. Marshall would then waste no time getting down the inside of Bryce Hyde of the Chargers early and getting out to a race lead, behind him it was again Hurring who was the standout driver for the Chargers giving chase with team mate Des McTaggart working his way up to third spot. These positions would not change Marshall ensuring that the Young Guns were back in business and up to the challenge with one round remaining. Hurring took second with McTaggart third. Custom Signs Beachlands Speedway will now take a well deserved break in anticipation for the Cando Fishing New Zealand Super Saloon Championship in February.

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