Trio wins 11 races at speedway

Press, 23 November 1981, Page 20

Trio wins 11 races at speedway

Roger Wright, Wayne Turner, and Mark Williams between them carved out a hat-trick of hat-tricks at the Ruapuna Park Speedway on Saturday. Wright's solo. ■ bike, Turner's sidecar, and Williams’ midget were unbeaten, so that the trio won a total of 11 races, half of the number on the programme. Wright lowered the season’s best time for four laps of the track in three of his four races, settling on 77.9 s in the 3ZB solo “super six.”

A leading Canterbury rider, Gavin Rhodes, was runner-up on three occasions but it was Alan Mason, fresh from a season’s racing in Scotland, who pressed Wright in the "super six” event. Wright, aged 35, is in his first season, with a locally designed Denco engine, which he says he has yet to take to its full limits. Williams extended the dominance he showed last week by winning all three midget car events in his 2.3-litre V.W.

The 32-year-old former South Island T.Q. champion and singlelap and eight-lap midget recordholder at Ruapuna took the handicap race from 200 metres. .Williams, who has emerged

this season, from a three-year •■retirement,” was quick to haul back his handicap and by the half-way stage in the eight-lap race he had come within sinking distance of Rod Robinson’s VW,

The pair cleared out on the field, before Robinson spun out and , allowed Williams to cruise home ahead of Graeme Fineran's Cortina, ;

Turner and his. partner, Lauri McMahon,, stretched their unbeaten spell this season to eight races with another aggressive display in the sidecars. Howard Jones and Craig Hooper; ,in the “rebel” colours, were three times runners-up, coming closest to the winners when they held a brief lead in the opening race, Gary Jemmett avenged an earlier disqualification for crossing the pole line by finishing half a lap clear of the’field in the V 8 Sprintcar feature, Results —

B-grade solo handicap—Race 1; P. McLintock 1, S. Myers 2, R. Brown 3. Time: 65.4. Race 2: T. Duff 1, M.-Tobeck 2, T. Chapman 3. Time: 63.6. Consolation: K. Reid 1, R. Brown 2, C. Searle 3. Time: 63.0. Grade final: T. Chapman 1, L. Begbie 2. M. Tobeck 3. Time: 59.6.

A-grade handicap.-Race 1: R. Wright 1. G. Rhodes 2, S. Hann 3. Time: 78.3. Grade final; Wright 1, Rhodes 2, Mason 3. Time; 78.0. 3ZB Solo Super Six: Wright 1. A. Mason 2, G. Taylor 3. Time: 77.9. Flying 4 Solo scratch: Wright 1, Rhodes 2, Taylor 3. Time: 78.0.

T.Q. Midget handicap.-Race 1: S. Buffon 1. B. Parr 2, R. Cawood 3. Time: 89. Race 2; G. Stone 1. Buffon 2. Parr 3. Time: 85.2. Scratch: R. Cawood I, Buffoon 2, T. Green 3. Time: 83.2. \‘ Sprintcars.—Race 1: B, Todd 1,, P. Leversedge 2. D. Mathias jLNo time. Handicap: P. Levelsedge 1, B. Wendt 2. T. mocks 3. Time: 2;03.8. Feature; G. Jemmett 1, Wendt 2. Levert sedge 3. Time: 2:38.2. ' Sidecar handicap.-r-W, Turnefi 1, H. Jones 2, A. Rodgers 3..Timfc 83.0. S Scratch-Race 1: Turner Jones 2. C. Aitchison 3. Time; 82.4. Race 2: Turner 1, Jones 2, ® Sullivan 3. Time: 81.8. Race Turner 1, Rodgers 2, Atchisoiu&i Time: 82.0. -.43 Midget car handicap, -M.Williams 1, G. Fineran 2,' J? McKitterick 3. Scratch: Williams 1, G. Roxburgh 2, McKitterick 3. Time: 2:39.7. Feature: Williams 4 ), McKitterick 2. S. Woods 1 Nq time. '