Two New Southland Champions Crowned At Riverside

Andrew Andrew

• RACE REPORTS

Two New Southland Champions Crowned At Riverside

Riverside Speedway

Photography by Daryl Shuttleworth

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.) With eight grades running and six titles on the line it was always going to be a big day of action in the deep south as Aotea Electric Riverside Speedway hosted the Southland Championships for both Saloons and Streetstocks, the Brett Cooper Memorial for Modified Sprints, the Sprintcar Stag Cup, the final of the Invercargill Tractor Servicing and Repairs Production Saloon Tri Series and round two of the Six Shooter Mini Series.

A big crowd rolled into Riverside, some spectators starved from speedway action in the last couple of months due to various titles being run at tracks around them.

A couple of steady rain showers threatened early meaning the club was late starting as all the good work the track crew had done leading up to the event had all been undone, and wheel packing became a necessity.

As the rain cleared and the sun fought its way through the clouds to dry things up the track actually came back nicely and drivers were loving the drivey surface that was on offer.

A solid field of Streetstocks were entered to have a crack at the Southland Championship, cars from both Beachlands Speedway in Dunedin and Riverside would do battle over three heat races, the Riverside lads keen to bring the title back home.

Heat one went off without a hitch, no stoppages, go hard fast racing with the odd tap and spin. Out front Riverside's Chris Kergozou raced off to a healthy lead, a lead that he would extend throughout the race to bag the win and take maximum points. Troy Dryden of Riverside also looked fast but had to battle hard with clubmate AJ Lapsley to grab second place, Lapsley looked quick and drove a tidy race to take third.

Heat two and an early stoppage on lap two for debris on the track also saw Dryden have to retire to the infield with mechanical dramas. The second stoppage would come late in the race when Dunedin's Jacob Campbell would stop on the back straight, Campbell looking menacing up until that point.

Out front a surprise leader Regan Constable of Beachlands was just circulating keeping his nose clean while all the faster cars around him were either retiring or being tied up in battles throughout the pack.

Constable would lead with a margin, but behind him Riverside's Dillon MacHattie was chasing hard to catch the race leader. MacHattie had suffered a mechanical issue in heat one putting him out of the race but certainly looked fast in heat two. MacHattie got right up to Constable with one lap to run, it was a two car sprint to the finish line MacHattie looked to get across the line in first place by the smallest of margins which was confirmed by the lap scoring team also, but his transponder stopped reading early so the win was given to Constable who proudly took the checkered flag on its celebration lap. In third was Steve Dryden of Riverside who was debuting his new car nicknamed "The Tank".

Race three would decide the Southland Championship and it was Kergozou who looked odds on favorite to win the title. Kergozou started well down the grid but worked his way up to the front of the pack within a couple of laps and he had protection from MacHattie to get him home. However Kergozou came under fire mid race and suffered steering damage, no matter how much Kergozou tried to keep going it would only be a matter of time before he would become stranded and watch his title hopes go down the drain. The race would stop late to clear Kergozou from the track, and really open up the championship with a number of cars now back in contention.

The race would restart and Troy Dryden would take control of the race, Dryden having a good battle with MacHattie all the way to the flag but Dryden would take the heat three win, MacHattie second and Constable third.

Dryden and MacHattie had amounted enough points even with a DNF to be tied equal for third place and would face each other in a runoff which Dryden won despite MacHattie putting in a monster shot on lap one.

Much to his surprise Constable would be crowned Southland Streetstock Champion, not a bad effort for a guy in his first season who was just coming South for a skid, Lapsley was well rewarded with second and Dryden took third via the run off.

The Southland Saloon Championship saw a very classy field of cars entered, and red hot favorite George Phillips of Cromwell was looking to make it three in a row.

Heat one saw Otago Champ Aaron Andrews of Dunedin get off to a flying start taking an early lead but he soon had company in the form of Phillips who was challenging for the race lead.

The pair would make contact coming out of turn four and both cars would tangle and hit the wall on the main straight with force bringing the race to a caution. Both cars were fine with minimal damage and were both allowed to rejoin the race.

As the race went green again the battle between Andrews and Phillips recommenced, the pair raced side by side, lap after lap, Riverside's Graham Williamson sat patiently in third place, giving himself enough breathing room to pass if the leaders had another incident.

Andrews looked as if he had done enough to take the win, leading in the very last corner of the last lap Phillips took one last dive and the pair made contact once more, sending Andrews spearing towards the infield, Williamson welcomed the contact and slipped by to take the race win with Phillips second and Jason Gold of Beachlands third, Phillips however would face relegation dropping him to fourth with Dan Black of Riverside promoted to third place.

Heat two and more frustration for Phillips who would retire early with mechanical dramas meaning the three peat was over and we would crown a new Southland Saloon Champ.

Williamson would start on the front row of the grid and win the drag race between himself and Gold down into turn one. Despite Gold throwing everything he had at Williamson it wouldn't be enough, Williamson bagging two race wins from as many starts, with Gold second and Andrews getting up to third.

Heat three and Phillips was back, out of the title chase but determined to leave his mark on the meeting. Paul Carr of Beachlands would cause an early caution after making contact with the wall coming out of turn two.

From the restart Phillips would lead the charge and control the race up front, behind him Williamson looked quick but almost apprehensive to challenge Phillips knowing the championship was his to lose, but he also needed to be weary of Gold who was all over the back of him looking for a way past.

Phillips would eventually bag the heat three win, Williamson getting home in second just ahead of Gold who gave it his all in third.

This result would give Williamson the Southland Saloon Championship, a result that has been a long time coming for the local driver, Gold was thrilled to grab second while Black was rewarded for consistency in third place.

A small field of Modified Sprints were on hand to contest the Brett Cooper Memorial, disappointing considering the prestige this trophy holds within the speedway community.

There was really only one thing that would upstage Riverside's Jayden Fraser and that would be a mechanical issue, with Fraser currently in dominating form both at home and away.

Fraser would win all three heat races with ease, in heat three he almost put a lap on the car that was in second place, and was cracking out lap times that wouldnt have looked too out of place with the Sprintcars.

Fraser took out race one with Riverside's Mason Whelan second and Ewan Stewart of Dunedin third, he also claimed heat two but this time around Stewart got up to second place with Whelan having to settle for third.

While Fraser had the title all but wrapped up it was really a battle for the minor placings, Fraser would win heat three with Whelan holding his nerve to grab second with Stewart third.

Fraser was the deserved winner of the Brett Cooper Memorial a trophy he has won now multiple times, Whelan took second with Stewart third overall.

Sprintcars were a welcome addition to the program and would run for the Stag Cup, a trophy that is in its third year of existence. Last time around it was in conjunction with the Southland Championship and was run as best pairs, this time around it was two heat races and a twenty five lap, winner takes all feature final.

Heat one and Jason Scott of Central Motor Speedway got off to flying start and looked to have the race well under control, behind him Steve "The Gasman" Duff of Christchurch was stealing valuable metres out of the lead and looking like he would threaten.

Duff could get to Scott but was possibly a lap too late to make a move, Scott taking a well driven win, Duff home second with Nigel Colvin of Cromwell third.

Heat two saw two of Sprintcars hottest young talents go toe to toe, Adam Evans of Central Motor Speedway who won the Southern Sprintcar Series last year and Jacob "The Silverback" McIntyre who currently leads the War Of The Wings drove hard out front, Evans led the majority of the early laps before McIntyre sent his car down the inside at turn one to take the race lead.

As bad luck would have it McIntyre would have to slot back into second spot due to Bailey Patterson of Christchurch spinning up in turn four, and the starting order rolling back a lap.

Evans was certainly not going to let McIntyre through at the restart and would race off to slight lead, but McIntyre would work away on the back of Evans applying pressure, eventually Evans cracked and went slightly wide in turn two of the last lap allowing McIntyre through to claim the win, Evans bagged some good points in second while Colvin again took third.

This would now set up the twenty five lap feature final, and much to the credit of every driver in this field they did the unthinkable ..... they went the entire race distance without a single caution, a rarity with and Sprintcar feature.

Out front it was McIntyre in front of his home crowd who got the early advantage racing off to a sizeable race lead, however like he did in race one Duff would find his groove and get up to challenge McIntyre, at one point even challenging to take over the race lead.

Duff appeared to negotiate lapped traffic a little better than McIntyre which allowed the lead he had to decrease considerably, but McIntyre kept his cool and would regroup to pull a big enough gap which he would carry to the flag to win the Sprintcar Stag Cup for 2023, Duff did all he could but would need to settle for second, with Colvin taking his third third placing for the day, narrowly beating home Evans.

Six Shooters were running round two of the Six Shooter Mini Series and a strong field of eighteen cars were on hand to do battle. Round one in Dunedin was full of drama and controversy so round two was hopefully going to run a little smoother.

A welcome addition to the grade was George Phillips who would make his debut filling the seat left vacant by Luke Shearing of Cromwell, the current 2NZ now having raced a Saloon, Super Saloon, Stockcar and Six Shooter throughout the current season.

Heat one was all one way traffic with race winner Emma Gordon of Cromwell winning this race by over half a lap. The battle for second and third was thrilling with Riverside's Jason Jenner and Cromwell's Jake Shearing fighting hard the entire race. Shearing would eventually get the job done with Jenner still well rewarded in third.

Heat two saw plenty of action with Shearing getting to the front early and taking the overall race win only to face relegation at the end of the heat, a great battle between two Riverside drivers Harrison Brown and Daniel McIntosh went on lap after lap before the two tangled sparing out towards the wall, narrowly avoiding what could have been a major smash, both cars continued to race on.

At the conclusion of all the dramas it was Brown who took the race win ahead of Tony Creighton of Cromwell and McIntosh getting up to third.

Race three was another incident filled event with a number of stoppages throughout the race. The first stoppage was when Riverside's Danny Livingstone spun up, then the race leader Hayden Graves of Riverside spun and took his clubmate Nigel Marshall out with him, the pair still allowed to restart from their original spots on track. The next stoppage involved four cars all parked up in the wall at turn one, Shearing, Creighton, Gordon and Phillips all involved, all managed to restart although Philips time on track was short lived when he rolled taking abrasive action when Brown spun in front of him at turn two.

After multiple restarts it was Graves who kept his cool to take a well deserved race win, Gavin Read of Riverside led a fair chunk of the race came home in second with Blair Smith of Cromwell third.

Riverside would also host the final round of the Invercargill Tractor Servicing and Repairs Production Saloon Tri Series, the Beachlands Young Guns came into this event with a slender six point lead.

Heat one saw Riverside Rats driver Brad Fitzgerald upstage the competition to take his first ever race win in front of his home crowd, Fitzgerald looked quick getting through the pack to give the big crowd plenty to cheer about despite the Riverside Rats being well down on points. Kaleb Marshall would claim second for the Young Guns with Brad McTaggart home in third for the Central Chargers.

Race two and another good clean race with no cautions, points were equal between the Young Guns and the Chargers heading into this race, exactly what the series needed. Tyler Kelk of the Young Guns ensured that they would be tough to beat with only two races remaining, taking the race win ahead of team mate Aaron Brookland with McTaggart ensuring the Chargers were still in the fight coming home third.

The last race would determine the championship and it was Olivia Glover from the Young Guns who led early but McTaggart would slip by to take the race lead. There was controversy throughout the race with contact between Kelk and Des McTaggart from the Chargers leading to protests at the conclusion of the event.

Brad McTaggart would lead home the field and bag some much needed points from the Chargers, second was Glover with Brookland home in third.

It was a shame the final race of a very good series had to be determined in the Speedway New Zealand office, but it certainly adds a bit of spice to next seasons event.

Central Chargers were crowned Tri Series Champions taking the overall win by just five points with Beachlands Young Guns second and Riverside Rats third.

Two support grades were also on show, in Stockcars Casey McEwan of Central Motor Speedway grabbed two wins while Riverside's Shanan Knight claimed the last heat, and in Youth Saloons race one went the way of Riverside's Joshua McIntyre with Max Kemp of Beachlands winning the final two Youth races.

ARE YOU READY TO MAKE A MOVE?

Your number one platform for dirt track racing. Purchase tickets, merchandise and watch your favourite videos right here, on Driven By Dirt.

Explore

Account

Support