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SIDECARS WHIP UP A STORM

By Phil Michell  12-11-06 

Murray Bridge held their third meeting of the season last Saturday night (November 11) with a diverse racing program headlined by the Wally’s Bottleyard Sidecar Feature and the Autopro Murray Bridge AMCA Feature. Despite threatening thunderstorms in the area all evening and a short delay after a power failure the features were completed just minutes prior to the rain sweeping over the venue.

The main attraction of the night attracted thirteen of the states leading sidecar combinations but it proved to be Mark Plaisted / Sam Harrison benefit after the youngsters remained undefeated throughout their three heats before claiming the second semi and the final in devastating fashion. Second place in the feature went to Mick Headland and Paul Waters with Kane Irwin / Jeremy Sherwood claiming the final podium position.

The V8 AMCA Nationals made their second appearance of the season with a smaller than normal field but the action was pretty intense on track. With Michael Miller going for his third feature race victory of the South Australian season all eyes were on the #36 machine but it was good friends Mick Brougham and Matt Crimmins who dominated proceedings. After taking out the opening heat Brougham backed up his opening performance with a strong second placing behind Crimmins in heat two with Crimmins then winning heat three. After starting on the front row Crimmins then went on to dominate the 15 lap feature in his locally built Hurricane chassis winning from David Hartman, Brian Chadwick, Dennis Miller and Michael Miller. Shortly after the chequered flag fell on the AMCA feature the flood lighting at the venue went out forcing a short delay in the racing program.

For the third successive meeting the Formula 500’s were on the program with fourteen cars in the pit area including former Australian Champion Jason Loveday and Victorian visitor Russell Brimacombe. Heat one saw the Formula’s run on a very heavy track with cars not performing to their full potential. After starting from position four Michael Wise drove to the front to win ahead of Christopher Brooks and Tom Bowey while Luke Bowey claimed the second preliminary defeating Tom Bowey and Wise. The feature event saw a great battle early between Luke Bowey, Christopher Brooks Richard Clavell and Wise before Wise was forced to retire. Luke Bowey went on to win the shortened feature after Ballarat racer Russell Brimacombe rolled on the back straight. Second place went to Brooks ahead of Clavell, Tom Bowey and Joe Mercorella.

The V6 Sprints were also on show with a slightly larger field present with several rookies joining the domestic class. Former Junior Sedan and Street Stock driver Shannon Readett, Sam Chapman and Mark Brown were all making their season debuts but it was the more established stars who shone bright. Ben Brown and Nick Hall shared the heat victories with Nathan Squires taking the feature victory. Last years Rookie of the Year Bradley Keller had a strong run finishing second in all three starts.

In the final two racing categories, the Super Sedans and Junior Sedans, the numbers were well down with only six Supers in the pit area and only a handful of Juniors present due to a majority of the locals racing in Victoria. Veteran Bill Miller paced the field in all three Super Sedan events with Gil Worthley the best of the rest. In the Juniors Tom Pritchard managed to secure two victories, including the feature, with Dylan Richter also taking a heat win.

The next event at the Murray Bridge Speedway on November 25 will feature the first of two events for the 2006/07 season for the 360ci Sprintcars. Already the class has made a strong start to the local season and a full field of the winged wonders can be expected including the likes of National Champion Jamie Cobby, Michael Burford, Darryl Wright, Ryan Jones, Owen Pitt, Michael Caruso and Jamie Hendry. The Speedcars are also set return to the 360 metre venue along with the V8 Dirt Modifieds, Modified, Super and Street Stock Sedans and round 3 of the statewide Selectrucks Junior Sedan Series.