Philp, aged 56, retains side-car speedway title

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32561, 22 March 1971, Page 19

Philp, aged 56, retains side-car speedway title

The 56 • year • old Christchurch veteran, W. Philp (1000 c.c. Vincent), continued to turn back the clock when he brilliantly won his fifth successive South Island motor • cycle side - car championship at the Templeton Speedway on Saturday night.

But Philp, who is probably the oldest competitor still competing in speedway, had to call on all his great skill and experience to retain his title.

His chief rival on the night, JL Dwight, sen., another evergreen well past his half-cen-tury, produced some inspired riding in the first of the three four-lap championship heats to win by inches. This put great pressure on the defending champion, but he was equal to the situation. With B. Mulqueen balancing his machine with supertf judgment, Philp went on to win the next two heats and the title.

Dwight challenged him all the way in the second heat, but in the third he misjudged a bend and put a wheel on the grass in the centre. This forced him to drop back to the rear of the field, and he had to be content with third in the heat and second once again in the championship. “I only hope Les (Dwight) doesn’t get any faster,” Philp said after the final heat “It is beginning to get me down.” The winner of the feature scratch race the previous two meetings, L. Dwight, jun., was handicapped with motor trouble and scored only one point. BROWN WINS The South Island solo championship was won in fine style by the New Zealand test rider, A. Brown. He went through the night unbeaten to score 12 points, one more than his close rival and runner-up, K. Wright. Third place went to the defending champion, T. Black, who scored 10.

In the final heat. Brown led from start to finish to record the fastest time of the night, 80.8 sec. It was a great ride but iit would have been so much more satisfying for Brown had the New Zealand champion, F. Shuter, been in the field. Shuter, who was expected to be a leading candidate for the title, did not contest the championship.

Probably the unluckiest rider on the night was the scrambles champion, G. Stapleton. In his three rides he had either Wright or Brown in the field and on each occasion he finished second. I This left him with six points ! and forced him to race off against A. Nesbitt for a place jin the final heat. In this, Nesbitt set the early pace before Stapleton, with great verve, hurtled round the outside i on the south bend to take over [the lead. He soon edged out to a comfortable lead and seemed set for victory. However, on the final bend, a quarter of a lap from the finish, he swung wide and got caught in the soft material at the side of the track. Nesbitt saw his chance and hurtled through to win. His time was an excellent 84.2 sec. One can only speculate what Stapleton’s time would have been had he not misjudged the final bend but for a rider in his first season, it would certainly have been quite astonishing. ROD TITLE P. Annan won the Stan Wheat- 1 ley Trophy and the South Island; super-modified rod championship' when the final heat was held oni Saturday. But he was prevented from ending on a winning note by the rapidly improving J. Erickson.

Erickson powered his way to the front within half a lap of the start and although under constant pressure, held on with a faultless performance to win in 2min 48sec. P. Annan was second and a relative newcomer, S. Everett, third.

Runner-up in the championship was J. Annan. Erickson was third and the defending champion, D. Cameron, fourth. The first official New Zealand championship for the class will be held at Templeton next Saturday. Results were:— MOTOR-CYCLES South Island solo championship (each heat 4 laps).—First heat : T. Black 1, R. McKinlay 2. Time, 84.4. Second heat: R. Wright 1, G. Stapleton 2, S. Foster 3. Time, 83.8. Third heat: A. Brown 1, A. Nesbitt 2, D. Rankin 3. Time, 83.5. Fourth heat: Wright 1, Rankin 2, T. O’Brien (Southland) 3. Time. 82.8. Fifth heat: Black 1, Nesbitt 2, Foster 3. Time, 85.8. Sixth heat: Brown 1, Stapleton 2, McKinlay 3. Time, 82.2. Seventh heat: Wright 1, Nesbitt 2, R. Herdman 3. Time, 83.0. Eighth heat: Brown 1, Stapleton 2, O’Brien 3. Time, 81.7. Ninth heat: Black 1, K. Burt 2, Foster 3. Time, 85.0. Run-off: Nesbitt 1, Stapleton 2. Time, 84.2. Final (4 laps).—A. Brown 1, R. Wright 2, T. Black 3, A. Nesbitt 4. Time, 80.8. Final points.—Brown 12, Wright 11, Black 10, Nesbitt 6, G. Stapleton 6, S. Foster 3, D. Rankin 3, R. McKinlay 3, A. O’Brien 2, K. Burt 2, R. Herdman 1. Solo handicap events (4 laps). —First race: R. Hall (10yd) 1, D. Sincock (20yd) 2, G. Jemmett (10yd) 3. Time, 92.0. Second race: G. Jemmett (10yd) 1, R. Hall (10yd) 2, D. Sincock (20yd) 3. Time, 89.7. Novice solo events (4 laps).— First handicap: L. Ross (20yd) 1, L. Russell (10yd) 2, T. Jemmett (go) 3. Time, 95.7. Second handicap: L. Ross (20yd) 1, L. Russell (10yd) 2, M. Johns (go) 3. Time, 90.3. South Island sidecar championship (each heat 4 laps).—First heat; L. Dwight sen. and S. Unwin 1, W. Philp and B. Mulqueen 2, L. Dwight jun. and G. Cox 3. Time, 89.1. Second heat: Philp and Mulqueen 1, Dwight sen. and Unwin 2, N. Hill and B. Lynch 3. Time, 86.2. Third heat: Philp and Mulqueen 1, Hill and Lynch 2, Dwight sen. and Unwin 3. Time, 86.2.

Final points.—W. Philp and B. Mulqueen 8, L. Dwight sen. and S. Unwin 6, N. Hill and B. Lynch 3, L. Dwight jun. and G. Cox 1. MIDGET CARS

Three - quarter midget car events. —Opening handicap (6 laps): D. Harper (80yd) 1. D. Richens (80yd) 2, A. Palmer (130 yd 3. Time, 2:19.5. S.I. championship points race (6 laps): A. Palmer 1, K. Stephens 2, D. Harper 3. Time, 2:9.2. John Mbrris scratch (6 laps): D. Harper 1, R. Burt 2, K. Stephens 3. Time, 2:9. Midget cars.—Opening handicap (6 laps): R. Clive (40yd) 1, D. Harding (150 yd 2, J. McKitterlck (150 yd 3. Time, 2:7J. Scratch race (8 laps): D. Harding (Auckland) 1, R. Clive 2, L. Millar 3. Time, 2:47.3. Rothmans feature (8 laps): J. McKitterick 1, R. Clive 2. Time, 2:25.4. SUPER-MODIFIED Super-modified rods.—Opening handicap (8 laps): M. Howse (go) 1, D. Cameron (110 yd 2, J. Annan (120 yd 3. Time, 2:55.5. Final heat of S.I. championship (8 laps): J. Erickson 1, P. Annan 2, S. Everett 3. Final points: P. Annan 18, J. Annan 14, J. Erickson 7, D. Cameron 6, H. Pierson 5, S. Everett 4, M. Allen 3, R. Dunn 2, B._ Tullett 1. Final handicap (8 laps): S. Everett (go) 1, P. Annan (120 yd 2, J. Annan (120 yd 3, Time, 2:53.8.