Somersaulting bike scatters field

Press, 24 December 1979, Page 19

Somersaulting bike scatters field

I Ruapuna Park Speedway was more like a battle ground than a raceway on Saturday night. Every class; 'had its moment of drama; ithe worst, incident occurring in the sidecars’ first heat 01 the night. On the first lap at the Prison Bend, Charlie Finch's machine somersaulted into the air, scattering the rest of the field. Finch was taken to hospital where last evening he was reported to be in a fairly comfortable condition. Bruce Turner and Bruce Hegglun went on to win the re-run and were beaten only 1 once throughout the night when Turner snapped his spark plug with his knee. Riding with his left hand across his front seat to keep his plug in one piece. Turner rode his machine with one hand for three laps, taking a fourth place for his effort. Ben Chapman/Greg Oakes and Howard Jones/Ted ■Sagar had some great races I to gain their second and third races respectively. There will be some sore; bones among the solo riders' as they all wanted to play; skittles; machines and riders! were scattered in almost' every race and it certainly; was great entertainment.' Luckily, nobody was seri-i ously hurt. Rogert Wright, returning1 to racing after being injured' in England earlier this year., showed great style and was well placed in his races.! Grahame Stapleton, returning to the track in the New Year, will bring the solo class back to full strength. Tony Briggs fell in h ; - • first race, and Larry 7 P- . chasing hard after O ..me Beardsley, dived through on i the inside of Beardsley at | the Prison Bend. In spec-; tacular fashion ’his front)

'• wheel dug in, bringing Ross ■to an immediate halt and j dumping him over his j handlebars. He was unhurt ‘and won all of his remain-, ; ing races. Kym Mauger again parted : company with his machine but this time it was a costly mistake. Six riders were competing in qualifying races for the one and only vacancy left in the South Island final (to be held at Invercargill on Boxing Day), This is the first step to the! : world final.

All credit must go to ■James Moore who rode with 'skill and determination to win all three races but he jalso had some luck. I In the first heat his machine had fuel problems, but Moore managed to nurse his machine into first place. Moore was again away to a igood start in the second; !heat with Mauger racing hard into second place. In the qualifying heat, Moore leapt from the gate] for the best start seen this; year and was never really! ’challenged. Mauger again .came second. Having quali-j 'fied for the South Island; final Moore now faces the! Jong drive to Invercargill for' I his well-deserved win. The sprint car class also' ihad its moments, with the; 'return of Roger Gleeson inj his 350 Chevy. An eight-car j field contested the first tight) 'race. Selwyn Everett over-! came his handicap and did well to head the field by the !end of four laps. In the second race, Glee-! son spun on the first lap and the caution light was used. Before Gleeson could catch up with the rest of the field the green lights were! on and the cars were away. Gleeson, obviously unhappy. • stopped his car at the iStart/Finish line but the ref-i

,eree did not stop the race. iGleeson protested, the race I was declared null and void, land was re-run at the end of ithe meeting. In the re-run ! Gleeson made no mistake, 'winning with ease from start to finish. There were mixed fortunes in the midget class. With Kevin Proctor and Alan Palmer driving in the North Island the field was smaller Jthan usual. Norrie Chandler was not able to get his (machine to steer around the (bends, and it was left to Roxburgh to provide I two wins and a second. Solo qualifying for S.L. Cham- : pionship.—Kace 1: J. Moore 1, ;A. Mason 2, R. Pavitt 3, Bu.4sec. j Race 2: J. Moore 1, K Mauger 12, M. Pavitt 3, 80.0. Race 3: J. Moore 1. K. Mauger 2. A. Mason 3, 78.3. Points; J. Moore 9. Solos team race.—Race 1: G. Beardsley (R.R.) 1, M. Brown . |R.A.> 2, A. Crosbie (R.A., 3.

75.4. Race 2: R. Wright (R.A.) 1, iG. Forscutt (K.R.) 2. K. Browne I (R.R.) 3, 80.5. Race 3; L. Ross (R.A.) 1, G. Forscutt (R.R.) 2, M. Brown (R.A.) 3, 75.2. Race 4: IR. Wright (R.A.) 1, T. Briggs '(R.R.) 2, C. Blackett iR.R.) 3, 177.6. Flying six: L. Ross 1, T. (Briggs 2, K. Wright 3, 76.4. ! Solos. B grade.—Race 1: R. (Lang 1, F. Gibson 2, M. Mci Creanor 3, 63.0. Race 2: J. (Sparks I, B. Wilson 2. M. Me(Creanor 3, 60.15. Consolation: R. 'Brown 1, M. Chapman 2, A. Bayard 3, 65.0. Final: J. Sparks 1, R. Lang 2, B. Wilson 3, 60.2. Sidecars.—Race 1: B. Turner/ B. Hegglun 1. H. Jones/T. Sagar 2, I. Begbie/T. Henri- 3. 85.0. Race 2: B. Turner/B. Hegglun 1, B. Chapman/G. Oakes 2, M. Jones/T. Sagar 3, 81.6. Race 3: B. Turner/B. Hegglun 1. B. Chapman/G. Ooakes 1. M. Jones/ T. Sagar 3, 82.2. Race 4: B. Chapman/G. Oakes 1 .M. Jones/ T. Sagar 2, I. Beggbie/T. Henrv 3, 83.5. Midgets.—Race 1: P. Smith 1. G. Roxburgh 2. M. Fergerson 3, 2min 4.osec. Race 2: G. Roxburgh 1, J. McKitterick 2. T. Curtis 3. 2:2.0. Race 3: G. Roxburgh 1, M. Fergerson 2, T. Curtis 3, 2:9.0. Sprints.—Race 1: S. Everett 1, K. Silcock 2, R. Gleeson 3. 2:6.0. Race 2: S. Everett 1, R. Gleeson 2. W. Wright 3. Race 3: R., Gleeson 1, S. Everett 2, W. Wright 3. 1:20.0.