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Lifesaving 22/1/08
North Barrier Branch Lifesavers returned north yesterday bathed in glory even though they did not collect a Gold Medal. Picnic Bays team of 30 Lifesavers achieved as a unit fourth place over all behind top Sunshine Coast Clubs, Alexander Headlands, Dicky Beach and Noosa Heads. Alexander Headlands in winning the Club Championship collected 54 points ahead of Dicky Beach on 40 points, Noosa Heads on 38 points while Picnic Bay collected 35 points. Ingham Club Forrest Beach also achieved well placing sixth in the Club Championship.
The most outstanding performances without claiming gold came form Picnic Bay Pair of Max Braddick and Casey Chalkley. They entered all three age groups that they were eligible for in the First Aid competition and came away with a two seconds and a fourth. The pair last year was runners up at the State Championships in the U15 age group and then went on to win that age group at the National Titles by a comfortable margin. They paced second in their U17 age group and remarkably in the Open competition with their fourth in the U19 age group. Their second in the Open class was an outstanding achievement considering they were pitted against Lifesavers in some cases more than twice their age. Their scores were good as well considering the winners in the Open scored 547points while Braddick and Chalkley scored 532 points in second. They were only 11.5 points off the pace in their own U17 age group as well.
In the prestigious Open Champion Lifesaver, a disastrous Board race where he scored 0 points cost Bill Hall of Picnic Bay second place. He finished in third place only 4.75 points behind Finley Taylor of Northcliffe and a further 10 points behind Michael White of Alexander Headlands. The three have been on the podium now for the past two years with Hall also being placed at the National Titles last season. Hall scored 35 out of 40 for his Theory paper, 38 out of 40 for his Resus scenario, won his Swim race placed second in his tube rescue and fifth in his Beach Sprint. Scott Gibson of Forrest Beach also competing in the Open Champion Lifesaver for the first time placed 6th with 87.75 points. Gibson was strong in the Resus scenario and the Beach Sprint.
Shannon Morgan of Picnic Bay was another to place in the Champion Lifesaver division when she came in behind Martha Kneale of Noosa Heads in the U15 age group for women. Kneale amassed 101.25 points while Morgan had 93.50 and third place went to Jordan Cotis of Kurrawa with an 88.50 while Montana White of Forrest Beach placed fourth with 87.25. Theory, Board and Sprint were areas that Morgan can look to improve to achieve higher results while White was the highest marked in Resus and high marked in Theory but needs to improve in the water events to claim higher results.
The Forrest Beach U15 Patrol team is basking in the Glory of being the highest placed of the Forrest Beach patrols teams. The Club has had great success at the State and National levels with their Patrol teams in past years but the placings achieved on the weekend could suggest that they might not get the chance to go to the National Titles this season. The U15 team of Alice Chiesa, Jared Cantoni, Lindsay, Blanco and Montana White were only 1.45 points away from winners Dicky Beach who scored 72.85 points with third going to Alexander Headlands with 53.85 points. With no National Titles for the U15 age group the team can prepare for next season in the knowledge that minor adjustments in some of the aspects that make up the Patrol team competition will see them at the top.
In the U17 Patrol Competition Forrest beach turned the tables on their North Barrier opposition Picnic Bay but both teams were off the pace when it came to the medals. Forrest Beach scored 57.60 for fourth place while Picnic Bay placed 6th with 45.65 points. Like their U15 team mates the Forrest Beach team were top points scorers in the Resus scenario some 6.75 points ahead of the next best team but their water events let them down as far as gaining a medal. The Forrest Beach team in the Open team Patrol competition placed third behind winners from the past two seasons, Northcliffe and Alexander Headlands in second. The Forrest Beach theory and water events cost the team a shot at second and possibly the third State gold for four of the members of the team. Zac Lowth, Daniel Lahtinen, Adrian Newton, and Ryan Sheahan have won gold at the last three State Rescue Titles from U15 to U17. They chose to take the next step to Open bypassing the U19 competition and to do that they needed to add to the team as Open is a six person team competition. Nathan Adcock and Scott Gibson made up the team that finished only 1.53 points behind second placed Alexander Headlands on 69.71 while winners Northcliffe collected 81.21 points to be convincing winners. The team is a chance of making the nationals but will need for a number of teams from other States to be down.
Forrest Beach U19 competitor Adrian Newton was a surprise second place getter in the Champion Lifesaver competition. He came in second behind Adam Douglas of Maroochydore with third going to Ryan Hedley of Northcliffe. Newton has been in the shadow of Daniel Lahtinen in the individual competition in past years but chose a great time to step up and possibly gain a berth at the National Titles. Forrest Beach had three competitors in this event with Daniel Lahtinen in fourth place and Nathan Adcock in seventh.
Others to score points for their clubs were Emma Horrocks 5th in the U19 Champion Lifesaver, Ryan West 4th U15 Champion Lifesaver, Eamon Anderson 5th U17 Champion Lifesaver, U17 Patrol team from Picnic Bay 6th, U15 Patrol Team from Picnic Bay 5th, Picnic Bay U19 First Aid Team(Parry&Cooper) 5th all from Picnic Bay. From Forrest Beach other point’s scorers were, Amanda Raty 5th U14 Champion Lifesaver. ENDS
Speedway 27/12/07
Townsville Solo riders Josh Grajczonek and Mitchell Davey take on their biggest challenge in their senior Speedway careers when they compete in the first round of the Australian Solo Titles at Mildura on Saturday night. Grajcjonek is included in the main event while Davey is second reserve for the title meet to be run over five nights with the final leg to be run at the Sydney Showgrounds on January 11.
Grajczonek will do well to learn from some of the best riders in Solo racing in the World that make up the 16 man field. To finish in the top 8 will be a achievement that he will be happy with especially as he has aspirations of racing in England and Poland next European season. While the Title field is made up in the main of Australian riders three European riders are included in the field. The main name rider from Europe is Fredrik Lindgren who was second highest points scorer at the resent World teams event behind two Aussies in Jason Crump and Leigh Adams. Adams and Crump were placed second and third respectively after the 2007 Grand Prix season that Crump won in 2006.
Of the Australian riders, Chris Holder looks the best after winning the West Australian Solo Title on December 1 and during the coarse of the European season was placed in the World U21 Title. In the Western Australian Title Holder defeated three other Australian Title aspirants, his brother James Holder(2nd), Trevor Harding of WA in third and Tyron Proctor of Victoria in fourth place.
Grajczonek will be out to impress over the five nights of racing in a field that does not match the quality of last years first time at the five night format. While Mildura host the first round on Saturday night, Gillman in Adelaide host the next round on Wednesday January 2, Round 3-Mt Gambier Saturday January 5, Round 4-Newcastle January 9 and the final round at Sydney Showgrounds on January 11.
Grajczonek goes into the title with indifferent form having won the Queensland U21 Solo Title at Brandon on November 17 and then having bike trouble at the Queensland senior Solo titles at the Gold Coast on December 8. In that event he only managed 4 points from 2 of 5 rides. Davey on the other hand finished fifth in the Senior State title with 10 points while he finished second to Grajczonek in the U21 title. Both Davey and Grajczonek during the year have been to England and Europe to test the water as to gaining rides in teams next year.
Speedway 10/1/08
Townsville Speedway Solo rider Josh Grajczonek has gained plenty of fans following his first up appearance in the rounds of the Linddales Hire Australian Solo Titles. After four rounds at Mildura, Gillman, Mt Gambier and Newcastle he sits in 13th place from a field of 16. The field which is almost solely made up of riders competing in the English Premier and Elite league as well as Sweden’s Freddie Lingren and Czechoslovakian Philip Sitera. The later have both ridden in the World Grand Prix series this past season.
Grajczonek’s talents were recognized by the organizers of the Australian Solo Title event when he was invited into the starting lineup. Local and overseas Speedway media have noticed Grajczonek and have been complimentary of his efforts noting that he had a good future ahead of him especially for one so young. Grajczonek won the Queensland U21 Title at Brandon Motorcycle club track in December.
Grajczonek(17) the youngest in the field of 16 plus 3 reserves has found out about the complexities of racing at the elite level. “I have learnt that it is rough and tough and there is no quarter given especially in the charge for the first corner” he said. “I can look forward to improvment and being associated with some of the top riders in the World has been a big benefit” he added. “I have ridden against Robert Kseizak who will be a teammate at Glasgow Tigers who I have signed with for the Premier League in England this year” “I also got to meet the team captain (Glasgow Tigers), Shane Parker how is also an Aussie”
Last night (Wednesday) at Newcastle, Grajczonek(17) managed only three points but his best ride was up against the current Championship leader Chris Holder. Grajczonek finished a creditable second to Holder who at the same age some two years ago was in a similar situation and point’s standings as Grajczonek is currently. Holder, the current Australian U21 Champion and was placed second in the World U21 Titles currently leads the Australian Solo series having won the “A” finals at all four venues thus far and looks certain to be crowned the winner at the final leg at the Sydney Showground’s on Friday night. Chris Holder leads the four round series ahead of another Queenslander, Troy Batchelor.
While Josh Grajczonek will be chasing his glory in Sydney on Friday night Rising Sun Honda Sidecar duo of Scott Christopher and Trent Koppe will be competing in the Victorian Sidecar Titles at Mildura this Saturday night. The one time Australian and World Title holders are chasing entry into the Australian Titles and an entry to the FIM event this year to be held at Collier St Speedway in England. Their task of winning the Victorian Title will not be made any easier especially with the quality of sidecars entered. Leading the entries is the Current FIM World Title holder Mick Headland and passenger Paul Waters of South Australia. Headland and Waters won the FIM title in Adelaide last November ahead on Gary Moon also of Townsville. Current Australian Title holders Darrin Treloar and Justin Plaisted are also nominated for the Mildura event. The Townsville pair would need to win the title to get an automatic entry to the Australian Tile to be staged at Gillman Speedway in Adelaide over the Easter holidays.
ENDS
Speedway 23/1/08
Two Townsville riders have jetted out to Mildura to take part in the Australia U21 Speedway Solo titles. The two Josh Grajczonek and Ashley Cathcart are part of the 16 riders and 2 reserves that will compete on Saturday night. Grajczonek is the Queensland U21 title holder a title he won at Brandon Sports Ground late last year, while Cathcart is a surprise inclusion into the starting line up. Cathcart was not in the top three for the State Title at Brandon but will experience greatly from competing at the titles this weekend.
Grajczonek will be racing against a number of riders that also recently competed in the Australian Titles. The riders that will compete on Saturday night at Mildura are, Jake Anderson, Troy Batchelor, Ashley Cathcart, Sam Dore, Josh Grajczonek, Tom Hedley, Chris Holder, Robert Kziezak, Sam Masters, Dakota North, Tyron Proctor, Ryan Sedgmen, Hugh Skidmore, Kozza Smith, Aaron Summers, Richard Wallace, Reserve Riders:1. Beau Evans, 2. Toby Proctor.
Of these Holder, Batchelor, Hedley, Kziezak, Proctor, Smith and Summers were all in the Australian Senior Titles recently held over five rounds with Holder taking the Title ahead of Batchelor. Australia’s stocks of young riders are at a high when 8 of the Senior Fields are still able to race in the U21 age titles. Holder and Batchelor will be the two to beat after their efforts in the Senior Title, while Holder will be attempting to win his third Australian U21 Title to add to his 2nd at the World U21 Titles last year.
The Titles on Saturday night will once again see future team mates Josh Grajczonek and Robert Kziezak race against each other prior to both heading off to England to take up their contracts with the Glasgow Tigers. Grajczonek will also be joined by another Townsville rider Mitchell Davey who will be riding for Glasgow.
Cathcart has had an up and down season last year where at times he looked like he could beat any one, but consistency was he down fall on a number of occasions. He will be looking to kick off the year with a good performance in Mildura where he will be pitted against some of the best riders from Australia with at least two riding in the English Elite League and another six in the Premier League. Cathcart has ambitions of riding in England in the near future and this would be a good chance to measure his ability.
ENDS
23/1/08 Lifesaving
An Australia Day tradition for the past 6 years will once again be run on the Strand this Saturday. The Junior Twilight Surf Carnival will be hosted by the Picnic Bay Club with competitors coming from Forrest Beach, Ayr and the two Townsville clubs, Picnic Bay and Arcadian. The Carnival is not a club against club event rather those that attend will be broken up into three teams, Sharks, Dolphins and Stingrays.
The concept of the Carnival which is for Junior Lifesavers from Fluros to U14, is for the juniors to mix with other Lifesavers from other clubs to promote a friendship amongst the juniors. The three teams will compete for a specially designed Trophy that is in fitting with the Australia Day theme of the Carnival. Over 100 Juniors are expected for the carnival with the major numbers of Lifesavers coming from the two Townsville clubs.
Competitors will compete in all the traditional Junior events of Swim, Board, Wade, Beach Sprint and Beach Flags with the final beach events being the team relays. A number of the older Juniors will be using the Carnival as training for the Up coming Branch Titles to be staged in Bowen on the 9-10th February. Good performances will see high achievers at the Branch Championship selected to teams both Club and Branch to then participate at the State Titles at North Kirra on the weekend of 28-29 February and the 1st of March. The Picnic Bay Twilight carnival will commence at 4pm at Net 2 on the Strand in front of Strand Park and should be completed by 6.30pm.
ENDS
Townsville Karts 23/1/08
The Townsville Kart Club comes out of recess this weekend with its first round of the seven Round Club Championships to be staged at the club’s Shaw’s Road complex on Sunday afternoon. Extensive works to the track have taken place during the Christmas break following recommendations from the National Karting Council after the Townsville Club was awarded the National Titles for Easter 2009.
The dogleg at the top of the main straight has been eliminated thereby extending the main straight. It was reasoned by the National body that if there were to be 40 karts in a National final the elimination of the dogleg gave those at the back of the field an even chance with those at the front. The Townsville track is one of few in Australia that is licensed to have 40 karts racing in any event. The track modifications cost the club $30,000 and that followed the expenditure by the club of another $30,000 for the purchase of a transponder system. The club has one more building project set to be finalized prior to a July inspection by the National Karting Council and that is the construction of a cover over the out grid. The latter will cost the club in excess of $75,000 and President Ken Cann is hopeful all work will be completed by March-April in readiness for the facilities inspection in July. “We are about to sign the contracts regarding the Shade cover which will be the last of the major works needed for us to be up to scratch for the National Titles needs” he said.
The purchase of the Transponder system while not part of the recommendations for the hosting of the National Titles will be a valuable tool for the club and its members. “A number of members are not used to being involved in big meetings where times are the governing thing with Qualifying” said Ken Cann, “It will give the members valuable practice at how to use the information coming from Time trial situations” he added, “The purchase of the transponder equipment was a club initiative and it is expected that most clubs throughout Australia will be equipped with similar equipment in the near future” Cann added.
The Townsville Kart Club is expecting between 80-100 karters to race at the Sunday afternoon meeting which will see racing commence at 4pm. The Club this year will trial a new format to the Club Championships with the first 7 meetings to the end of June all part of the Championships. The club till the end of the year will then stage monthly Trophy Meetings with at least one big event at this stage announced. The club has programmed a big Rookies and Midgets event which will be sponsored by Hogs Breath with this to be run in the later part of the racing year.
With the June end to the Club Championships the Club will hold a presentation night which is anticipated to be held at the track under the new cover structure for the Out grid in July. The theme of Christmas in July will apply to the presentation night as in the past, presentation night has been held in the weeks prior to Christmas and has not been well supported by members, “We hope that the new format will encourage members to be involved not only in the racing but also the Presentation Night” said President Ken Cann.
The experimental TAG 100 class looks set to stay this year but will not be part of the Club Championships. Participants in the class decided to keep things in place from last season and it is expected to still be the biggest class to race at the Townsville track. The class is seen as a cheap fun way of racers having an involvement in Kart racing with most being parents of kids that also race. The TAG 100 class was trailed at a number of centres throughout Australia last year and could well be a regular part of racing in the near future.
ENDS
Greyhounds 26/1/08
Big Alford trained by Brad Belford of Gumlow near Townsville was much too good for his rivals in the final of the GRA Young Guns final over the 380 metre journey on Saturday night at the Townsville Showgrounds. The promising third grader won the event worth $1,250 to the winner by 5.75 lengths in the time of 22.27 which was the best of the night for the journey. Big Alford won his heat on Thursday the 17/1/08 in a time of 22.45 and then came out with a fifth place when the Townsville Club backed up for a Monday night meeting on the 21/1/08.
Big Alford was having its thirteenth start on the track and there was no bad luck associated with the 13th start. He jumped quickly from the two box and once clear of the pack after the first fifty metres he was never going to loose. Second home was State Journey and third was Murranji Mary.
The Townsville City Mayors Australia Day Trophy for the best 8 over the 498 metre journey saw She’s A Classic make it six wins on end in taking out the event. The White Mark x Arncliffe black bitch received a Trophy and Rug from Deputy Mayor, Jenny Hill for winning the race. She’s A Classic went around the 498 metre journey in 30 seconds neat and was also a comfortable winner ahead of kennelmate Just Unload and in third was Bentley Jane.
Owners of the dog said she would possibly be heading for Brisbane in the near future for a stint at higher goals. “Michael Campbell our trainer has suggested the move as he thinks she can do well in the Brisbane area” said owner Keith Jackson, “ He(Campbell) has done a great job of getting her to where she is and he thinks she can do well so we will look to give her a chance”. “We are looking at the end of February as a possible time to send her south” he added.
The win of She’s A Classic topped off a good night for trainer Mick Campbell as he trained a winning treble on the night. Danny Blue won the first event while Kinen Lad won the second to add to the win of She’s A Classic.
ENDS
Surf Lifesaving 27/1/08
The increasing participation from Junior Lifesavers from throughout the district could see Picnic Bay Surf Club have to revise the program for its Australia Day Junior Twilight Carnival. A total of 180 Juniors from Fluros(U7) through to U14’s took part in the Carnival which started at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. There were Lifesavers from host Club Picnic Bay, Arcadian, Ayr and one competitor from Etty Bay in Innisfail.
The Juniors were broken up by age into three teams, Sharks, Stingrays, and Dolphins with members from all clubs in the three teams. The idea of the Carnival always staged on Australia Day has been to promote friendship in competition with the Juniors. Sharks were this years winners with 502 points ahead of Stingray with 491 points and third was Dolphins with 462 points.
While some of the Juniors were there for a bit of fun there was those that were using the events as a hit out prior to the Branch Championships in Bowen on the Weekend of 9/10th of February. Good performances are necessary at the Branch Carnival for Juniors to be able to go to the next step, participating at the State Championships at North Kirra on the 7/8/9th of March.
Everyone this Carnival was more a fun thing and the pictures taken(Bully) both as vision and stills are really the story.
Jesse(WIN) your guy was there so you have footage. Jesse(7) I will drop in a DVD for you from what I shot. AYR Advocate pic to come
END
Surf Lifesaving 5/2/08
Over 400 Lifesavers from U8 to Masters will descend on Bowen this weekend for the annual North Barrier Branch Surf Lifesaving Championships. This is the third year the Championships have been in Bowen which is the middle of the Branch which extends from Ingham to Sarina. One of them most heartening things to come from the Championships is that host club Bowen has 22 Lifesavers nominated which is high that Sarina with 21 Lifesavers nominated. Bowen has been in danger of closing down through lack of membership but Bowen President Ian Shields and his committee have dome a lot of work to upgrade the image and interest in Lifesaving in the area.
Townsville based clubs Picnic Bay and Arcadian lead the way with nominations with Picnic Bay having 99 and Arcadian with 79 nominated. Great response from the Ayr club as well with 58 nominated, Forrest Beach 44, Eimeo and Mackay 42 with Bowen and Sarina with 22 and 21 respectively. A number of the Mackay, Sarina, and Bowen Competitors will be new to competition with many not traveling to Carnivals run in Ingham and Townsville during the course of the season thus far. The O/50’s the oldest age group in the Masters with 5 competitors all seeking to collect the maximum points for their clubs. Arcadian’s, Barry Rasmussen and Forrest Beach competitor, Eric Darby are fairly even with both doing plenty of training. Arcadian Boatie, David Reeves, Brian Heyer and Paul West of Picnic Bay make up the veterans division. While there might be 5 Masters that will be looking for a beer after their competitions, 22 beginners to Lifesaving in the U8 boys and girls events will still have plenty of beans following their events. Their needs for drinks will be to stop dehydration.
The premier events of any Championship the Open Ironman and Ironwoman are well supported with nominations and if all compete in the heats it should see some great and close racing in the finals. In the Ironman, 44 competitors have nominated for the event and while many of the Masters competitors that have nominated will not back up in this event it looks that Bill Hall, Daniel Lahtinen, Jarrod Martin and veteran Aaron Findlay could be the ones to fight out the title. Mackay’s Aaron Findlay has strong Board and Ski legs and if those components of the event are first he could have a big lead going into the swim leg. Bill Hall of Picnic Bay had an ordinary start to the season with work and travel commitments costing him training time. Daniel Lahtinen of Forrest beach also had issues with his health at the start of the season but has been back in full training since Christmas in an effort to do well here. Jarrod Martin of Picnic Bay could show why he has been selected in the National High Performance team. He has in the past been the bridesmaid but could look to step out of others shadows and take this event.
The Ironwoman with 20 nominations could be a whitewash for Picnic Bay with, Morgan Heery, Emma Horrocks and Jane Dowker all doing well in lead ups to this event. Amy Kostin of Arcadian and then unknowns Dupreez Edelweiss of Eimeo and Jade Heidrich of Bowen will be interesting to follow if heats are necessary for the Final. A total of 244 events will be run off over the two days of the Carnival that commences at 10am on Saturday and then again at 8am on Sunday. Events including Ironman and Ironwoman, Board, Ski, Belt, Surf race, Board Rescue, Tube, Surf Boats, March Past and R&R will make up the long list of events to be contested. Some competitors will be using the Branch Titles as a stepping stone towards the State and National Titles to be staged later this month and in March.
Disappointingly one of the precision events of any Surf Carnival the R&R has only one team competing, that being the Picnic Bay U15 team. The team under the guidance of Club President, George Clarke and Life Member, Deanne Dowker has had some solid training sessions in resent weekends. With no two man R&R nominated officials must be worried at the decline in interest in this prestigious event.Notable omissions from the Championships are Picnic Bay’s Eamon Anderson and Anika Wright who would have made the Open events interesting. The U17 competitors who have both won the open water events at all the Branch carnivals this season have chosen to compete in the first round of the Ocean assault series at Southport over the weekend. Both won the right to compete in that carnival with impressive performances and being chosen in the Queensland High Performance squad.
With no Eamon Anderson, Sam Hoffman of Arcadian will have an easier task in wining the clean sweep in the U17 age group. Both Anderson and Hoffman have been in good tussles throughout the season with honors evenly split. Beach events in the Open division will be keenly contested with 50 men and 34 Women looking to be the fastest on the sand in the Beach Sprint. In the men, Jarrod Rossato of Ayr, Scott Gibson from Forrest Beach while Justin Woodward of Bowen and Darren McGrath of Eimeo will represent the unknown factors in the race for the gold Medal. The women’s sprint is very open with many having chances as no one woman has shown during the season, Rachael Clarke of Picnic Bay, Kellie Preston of Arcadian, Carmen Josey of Forrest Beach and Leah Sladden of Ayr all with chances.
In the Open women’s flags Arcadians, Hollie Wakeham will be the interesting competitor. She gained a place in the U15 State Flags championship last year and has in resent times undertaken specialist training in an endeavor to maintain that high standard. The step up in age will not be a problem for the U17 competitor as many of the opposition are in the same age area. Surf boats are down in numbers from last years Branch Titles with the biggest division being the veterans 160 years age group with teams from Mackay, Forrest Beach and Arcadian taking part.
ENDS
Surf Lifesaving 11/2/08
Picnic Bay’s senior team won the club, the Branch Club championship at Bowen over the weekend with a 105 point win over fellow Townsville club Arcadian. Arcadian won the Masters section and the Junior section of the Carnival but some big efforts from the seniors from Picnic Bay helped them take out the overall title. At the end of competition on Saturday night the two clubs were within 30 points of each other. Overnight heavy rain caused damage to a number of club tents that had been left up following the Saturday events. Wind and weight of the rain water on the tents saw at least four fold up tents written off. Over 130mm of rain was reported to have fallen in a 6 hour period overnight.
Picnic Bay scored 1,151 points overall with Arcadian 1,046, Ayr 481, Eimeo 344, Mackay 333, Forrest beach 302.5, Bowen 68 and Sarina 57. In the Masters Arcadian won with 225, Picnic Bay second with 93 and Eimeo with 70. Seniors was won by Picnic Bay with 562 points ahead of Arcadian on 292 and Forrest Beach in third with 225. The juniors saw Arcadian 529; win ahead of Picnic Bay 496 and third to Ayr with 354.
The highest individual winner for the Carnival was Picnic Bay’s Ashleigh Adams who won a total of 6 individual events as well as being involved in winning teams. Adams who competes as an U17 competitor won all four of her water events in her age group and then won two more events in the Open division. In her age group she won the Ironwoman, Surf Race, Board and Tube while in the Open division she won the Board and Surf Race. Adams has been in the shadows of Anika Wright over the course of the season but with Wright competing in the Ocean Assault series on the Gold Coast it was Adams chance to shine.
Another Picnic Bay performance worthy of note was that of U14 competitor Caillan Arthur. Arthur collected 4 individual wins with his two Ironman victories set to stamp him as a Surf Sports Lifesaver of the Future. He won the Junior U14 Ironman from club mates Joshua Doyle and Jacob Wamersley while then competing up in the Senior division of U15 he defeated Frank Von Knorring of Arcadian and Ryan West of Picnic Bay. West went into the event the favorite after winning his Tube and Surf Race and finishing second behind Luke Heery in the Board. The younger Caillan Arthur was on level terms with West when they came out of the swim leg of the event but then went away from West in the Board leg. Von Knorring’s effort was pleasing and was a result of a heavy training schedule of late. Caillan Arthur also had wins in the U14 Board and Surf Race.
Eimeo’s, Toni Chapman while not scoring the win numbers of others, looks set to have a bright future in Surf Sports in Lifesaving. “Chappie” as she is called won the Surf Race and the Ironwoman events in the U14 age group and placed second in the Board and all in her first season of competition. She has done swimming training for the past three years and friends talked her into joining Eimeo Surf Club. “I really enjoy being a part of the Club” she said “To win here today in awesome”.
Oldest competitor in the Carnival, Barry Rasmussen of Arcadian did his bit to ensure a win for the Arcadian club in the masters section. He won the Surf race and the Tube in the over 50’s age group and competed with distinction in team events in the Masters. Fellow Arcadians, Paul Demopoulos and Lisa Nugent both collected four wins each with Nugent winning an event in the Open division against competitors in some cases nearly half her age. Nugent who lives on Magnetic Island won the 30-39 age group Flags, Beach sprint and Board event, while she won the Beach Flags in the Open division where she beat U17 Arcadian Hollie Wakeham. Demopoulos won the Ironman, Board, Flags and Ski in the 30-39 age group.
Shannon Morgan was another to shine in the overcast conditions in Bowen. She won four events in her U15 age group, taking the Ironwoman, Board, Surf Race and Tube. She has been dominant in the age group all season and will now head to the State titles aiming for higher goals.
Mackay’s, Aaron Findlay showed he still has the skills when it comes to his pet craft event the ski. Findlay won the Open Ski and with encouragement from a large supporter group finished third in the Open Ironman. While outclassed by his Picnic Bay rivals Jarred Martin and Bill Hall a smiling but exhausted Findlay said after the event that he had not been in training for long this year and was looking to improve towards the State Titles.
Jarred Martin of Picnic Bay claimed his first Open Ironman Title on Saturday ahead of clubmate Bill Hall and Aaron Findlay on Mackay. Hall lead following the swim leg but Martin put on the pressure early in the Board leg and looked like he would run away from Hall and Findlay. To Halls credit he stuck with Martin and in the Final Ski leg moved up alongside Martin with 30 metres of the Ski leg to go. But Martin a member this season of the Australian High Performance squad came away in the run from Hall with Findlay in third. “I learnt plenty at the Australian High performance camp that helped me win here today” he said after the win” to beat Bill and Aaron was great for me” he added. Jane Dowker of Picnic Bay took out the Ironwoman ahead of club mate Emma Horrocks and Arcadians Amy Kostin. Morgan Heery also of Picnic Bay was expected to take the women’s event but she sat out the event on Doctors advice.
Multi winners from Clubs
Ayr.
Brianne Rossato was the most impressive individual performer winning three individual golds in the U13 age group. She won the Ironwoman, Surf Race and Board and had placings in the Beach sprint and Flags. Her brother Jarrod took out the Beach double of Beach Sprint and Flags in the U19 age group an achievement matched by Club President, Shane Great in the over 40 age group. Chris Wellington who placed at last years State Titles in the Beach Sprint will be looking to better that effort at this years Titles following wins in the Sprint and Flags in the U13 age group over the weekend. The excellent Beach results by Ayr competitors were maintained when Joshua Richards also won the Beach Double in the U14 age group and Sharni Wight kept up the Beach double record when she claimed the titles in the U8 age group. Ayr’s ladies Boat crew of Angie Dickinson, Lauren Baxter, Leah Sladden, Lee-Anne Darby and Sweep Robert Great won the Open Boat event.
Arcadian.
The Koenan family collectively won nine individual events with placings in other individual and teams events. Dirk Koenan in the U8 age group won the Wade and the Deep Water Wade, Alyssa competing in the U11 age group won the Ironwoman and Surf Race, Cara competing in the U12 age group won the Ironwoman and Surf Race and last but not least Brianne won the Beach Double in the U13 age group. Another Magnetic Islander, Annelise Pretzsch-Kalsgaard claimed a treble with wins in the Board, Surf Race and Wade in the U10 age group. Stefaan Demopoulos now got his eyes set on Medals at the State titles following wins in the U13 age group in the Ironman, Board and Surf race. He has collected minor medals at the past two State Titles and is keen to add Gold to his Silver and Bronze. Jennifer Wheatley competing in the over 40 women’s events claimed wins in the Surf Race and Tube, Cameron Crouch collected a double with wins in the U9 Board and Wade events. Mitchell Nugent could not match the feats of his mother Lisa, but he did do well in winning the U11 Ironman and Board Events. Jack Dunn collected a double in the U12 age group winning the Ironman and Board events.
Bowen
Bowen competitor Jacqui Golding collected the clubs first Gold medal for many years when she won the U9 Beach Flags and then backed that win up with a good second in the U9 Breach Sprint and a sixth in the Board. Jacqui was part of a 22 member team which mainly comprised juniors that collected 61 points in the junior section. Other juniors to collect points for the club were, Jordan Heilditch U13, Ashleigh Sanders U12, Alyssa Granter U9, Bradley sanders U9, Connor Fraser U10, Katie Golding U11 and Chris Sanders U11. Justin Woodward competing in the U19 age group placed second in the Beach sprint behind Jarrod Rossato of Ayr and ahead of Ryan Sheahan of Forrest Beach.
Eimeo
William Lansbury collected a Beach Double taking out the Sprint and the Flags in the U9 age group. Dylan Burnett also collected a Beach double in the U12 age group.
Forrest Beach
Forrest Beach are renowned for their Beach sprinters and while some of their better brigade stayed home their Open Beach relay team kept up a tradition for the club. Daniel Lahtinen, Nathan Adcock, Ryan Chiesa and Ryan Sheahan were too strong for Ayr and Arcadian. Ryan Chiesa then stepped out in the Open Beach sprint and Flags which he won. He backed up his Open Sprint win with a win in his U17 age group. Logan Moroney collected gold in the U10 Wade and Surf Race. The 160 years Boat crew of Chris Cantoni, Eric Darby, Leonardo Chiesa, Pietro Chiesa and sweep Bill Johnson placed third, while the Open women’s crew placed second to Ayr. The Women on the Open crew were Kathy Brumley, Pamela Chiesa, Rhonda Romano, Tracey Chinotti and sweep Bill Johnson.
Mackay
Sophie Webb collected the Beach double in the U11 age group as did Megan Cass in the U12 age Group. Mackays Surf boat crews performed well only to see them beaten in the overall Club trophy on a count back from Arcadian. The Open crew of Daniel Coonan, Peter Crowley, Scott Birnie, Steven Hearl and Rod Leach placed second behind the Arcadians while the 160 years crew of Daniel Coonan, Peter Crowley, Rod Leach, Scott Birnie, and Steven Hearl won ahead of Arcadian and Forrest Beach.
Picnic Bay
While there were some standout performances from the Picnic Bay team it was an overall effort and a weight of numbers that won the day. Darren Bragg competing in the 30-39 age group won the Surf Race and Tube while Brad Skinner competing in the 40-49 age group won the Tube and Surf Race. Abby Doyle won the U9 Surf Race and Board.
Sarina
The Club had no multi winners but had some good performances in their total of 57 points overall.
ENDS
Karts 13/2/08
The weather could play a major part in the number of Karts to front the starter this Saturday for Round 1 of the Townsville Kart Clubs Club Championship. The weather and road conditions could limit travel from karts from Mackay and Cairns that played a big part in the big fields at the Australia Day weekend meet. At that meeting over 80 karts took to the track with just on 30 coming from Cairns and Mackay.
The Townsville Kart club has taken a different approach to this years Club Championship with there being only 5 rounds of the Championship as opposed to 10 rounds last year spread over the length of the year. This year the club will have its last round of the Club Championships on May 17 with this meeting being used as a lead up to the NQ Sprint Titles staged at Shaws Rd Complex on June 7/8.
If the roads play a part in the driver ranks it should play into a number of local driver’s hands as a number hand to take placings behind the visitors. Dave Price will be out to re-establish his ranking as the Premier TAG 100 driver here in Townsville following having to settle for second in the Australia Day meeting. At that event he had to settler for second behind Mackay’s, Bevan Gerioch. While the winning margin between the two was .567 of a second Gerioch was in control after passing Price mid race. Interest will be in the numbers in the TAG 100 section as it has been the best supported class of racing at the Townsville track with as many as 25 karts nominated for some meetings.
Junior National Light driver Brandon Doolan will be in the same boat as Price as he too was beaten in the final at the last meeting by another visiting Mackay driver, Jarred Ebzery. Doolan had been consistently the fastest around the track in the lead up to the final with his fastest lap being in the heats with a time of 52.099 seconds and with an average speed of 70 kph. In the final however his best was a 52.30 lap which gave Ebzery the winning edge.
Father and Son Graeme Chetland and Mitchell Chetland will do battle in the Tag125 class. Young Mitchell was having his first outing at the last meeting in the TAG 125 class which is the fastest class to go round the Bohle track. Dad, Graeme competes in the Heavy Class while son Mitchell competes in the Light class. Colin Minuzzo has taken all before him in the class since a kart change at the end of last year and will be the one for the Father Son duo to catch.
Midgets and Rookies is a challenge for Midget driver Zac Pattel to firstly keep at bay the ever improving Madison Dunstan and then to mix it with the Midget drivers. Pattel in his last year in the Midgets is set to retain his spot as top driver in the Midgets but chasing the Rookies who last year were in the Midgets is his aim. Joshua Smith cost himself the major prize last meeting in getting a little carried but with guidance from his crew chief “Dad” he looks set to aim at the winner’s points. Matthew Flay will also be out to claim the winner’s points following his win at the last meeting.
Subject to the weather racing will commence at 4pm following qualifying at 2pm. Each class will run two heats a pre-final and a Final.
ENDs
Rodeo ABCRA Coach Clinic Charters Towers 20/2/08
This weekend the progressive committee of the Northern zone of the ABCRA will host a clinic in Charters Towers for Rodeo competitors both young and old. The clinic is designed for both the younger competitors and their parents so that while the youngster may learn on the day the involvement in most cases of the parents will see the retention of the skills learnt.
Over 50 Cowboys and Cowgirls will participate in the clinic aimed to pass on skills and knowledge to those in attendance. Those nominated so far range in age from 6-40+ and will be shown skills in all facets of Rodeo for both Cowboys and Cowgirls. The participants and the coaches that have given up their time come from all over North Queensland.
Norm Stagg, President of the ABCRA Northern Zone said he was hoping that the young ones attending could learn from the seasoned coaches and get to a higher level in a shorter time frame than some of the teachers. “Some of us running the Clinics took many years to get to the levels that we achieved” “ We are hoping that by attending these clinics that they reach their potential level much quicker than we did” he added.
Three times World Bull riding Champion, Troy Dunn will be the highest profile teacher at the weekend. Dunn will be hoping to pass on to the young Bullriders some of his mastery of the Sport that has seen him rise to the top of the tree in the sport. In passing on his knowledge it is hoped that from the Clinic will come the Bullriders of the future that have consistent skills to ride time in the demanding form of Rodeo. Dunn now runs Bull rides throughout Australia under the flag of the PBR and would hope that youngsters get to a standard that they can compete in his Rodeos.
Mark Gibb has won many Allround Titles in the NQ Zone but also has an Australian All round Title to his credit. Gibb, currently is an accomplished Steer Wrestler, Saddle Bronc rider, and Roper will be running clinics in those three aspects of his expertise. ABCRA Northern zone President, Norm Stagg is no slouch and if the Cowboys and Cowgirls attending can pick up anything from him it will be a wealth of knowledge. Stagg has won 3 NQ Allround titles as well as many Roping and Saddle Bronc titles. He also represented Australia for Roping in the NARC Finals in the USA.
Girls will not go short with the experience of their Clinic teachers. Jane Stagg, Mini Sheahan and Dannielle Brazier have all won Zone titles in Allround, Barrells and Breakaway Roping.
Norm Stagg reflects on the bullriding” In 3-5 years Bullriders may not have the skills to be able to ride time placing pressure on the Sport that currently has a very high profile” “ Troy Dunn attending this Clinic can be seen a a way of Troy putting back into the Sport which he has made a successful business out of “ “ The same can be said of all the teachers, many have had to learn the hard way but are this weekend trying to help the younger Cowboys and Cowgirls learn and retain tyheir knowledge”
The 8 main Coaches are Norm Stagg, Troy Dunn, Mark Gibb, Lee Lavier, Graham Cashion, Jane Stagg, Mini Sheahan and Danielle Brazier. The Clinic starts at 8am at the undercover arena at Charters Towers. Sunday will commence at the same time. There are still places available anyone interested can contact Norn Stagg.
Rodeo ABCRA 24/2/08
Just on 100 Cowboys and Cowgirls attended the Australian Bushman’s, Campdraft, Rodeo Associations, Rodeo Clinic staged in Charters Towers over this weekend. The Clinic the first for three years saw all facets of Rodeo covered and saw participants ranging in age from 6 through to 45. The idea of the Clinic was to help upgrade the skills of those that attended and the encouragement was to show the parents the same skills so they could retain the knowledge learned and keep passing it on the juniors.
Cowgirls out numbed the Cowboys marginally and had plenty of opportunities to learn from three of the best senior Cowgirls going around on the Northern Circuit. Jane Stagg, Ilene Sheahan and Danielle Brazier have won numerous All-round, Barrel Race and Breakaway Roping Titles both in North Queensland and Nationally. The girls put those attending their session with their horses through drills that taught the horse to turn and work patterns. Following the drills they were then taken to an arena where they put their drills into practice.
By far the most popular clinic was that delivered by World Bull Riding Champion, Troy Dunn. Dunn the current President of the Professional Bull Riders Association demonstrated everything from how to use your equipment properly, how to set yourself on a bull and how to get started in a ride. His emphasis was to make sure all bull riders had themselves properly setup in the chute prior to the gate opening. Dunn can speak with plenty of knowledge behind him. Currently 41 he started riding bulls as an 11 year old and has gone on to many successes both here in Australia and overseas.
“This clinic has been a surprise for me, as the numbers of young bull riders that have attended” Dunn said, “These guys are the future of our sport and they need to be taught properly right from the start” he added. “There is a good living to be made these days in Rodeo especially from bull riding” he added.
NQ Zone President, Norm Stagg took clinics in Roping and Bronc Riding as well a Calf Roping and had good groups to pass on his knowledge. Guy Hall another bull rider who has ridden overseas took a clinic with the Junior Poddy riders from age 6-10 years. Guy put them all through a junior bucking machine drill and showed them all how to use their equipment properly.
Steer Wrestling, Roping events, Bronc Riding, Bull Riding, Barrels and Breakaway Roping were all covered in the Saturday Clinic. On Sunday the organizers decided to program a mini fun Rodeo to see in competition situations what they had learnt at the Clinics the day before.
Norm Stagg President of the NQ Zone of the ABCRA said “ This is by far one of if not the biggest Clinic the Zone has ever run” “ We have had participants from Mt Isa, to Bowen to Atherton Tablelands as well as good numbers from Charters Towers and Townsville” “ This is an ideal facility here in Charters Towers with the main arena undercover, and I think we will be looking at another one sometime this year depending of dates available” “ The Coaches have voluntarily given up their time to come and do this Clinic and to pass on their knowledge”
The first Rodeo that the Cowboys and Cowgirls will have a chance to put their new found skills into action will be at Einsleigh on Easter Saturday and then Charters Towers on Easter Sunday.
ENDS
Rodeo 27/2/08
Tomorrow 10 am at the Townsville Showgrounds at the horse stalls to the left of the main entrance of the Showgrounds the NQ Zone of the ABCRA will launch the dinner and Reunion of the History of Rodeo in the ABCRA in the NQ Zone. One of the Organizers of the event, Vicky Keioskie will be in attendance as well as the current Australian All-round Cowboy, Ron Finch of Townsville. Finch will have some of his memorabilia from his high profile career in Rodeo. Keioskie will also have some of the things that she and her committee are looking for.
Keioskie will have some of the memorabilia already collected and will be appealing for more items to come forward. Attached is a release put out by Vicky and her team as a starting point. Both Vicky and Ron with their memorabilia will be available for interviews and photos. As an alternate to the horse stalls in case of rain the get together will be held under the Grandstand near the Bar area. Attached is part of what Vicky has put together.
ENDS
Karts 28/2/08
Last months first round of the Townsville Kart Clubs club championship was cancelled owing to over 400mm of rain falling prior to the meetings being run. Roads into the track were flooded hence the cancellation and with rain predicted again this latter part of the week the club has it fingers crossed that that same conditions are not repeated.
Karters from Mackay through to Cairns and out to Charters Towers are expected to make the round at the Bohle track if all roads from the south and north are passable. The club has embarked on a five round Club Championship this season which will be finalized in late June ahead of the NQ Sprint Titles that the club will host in July. If there is the slightest rain it would be a good experience for the locals as they have been found out in wet conditions at other tracks over the coarse of previous racing seasons.
It is expected that TAG 100 class which has been the most popular class of racing at the Bohle track will once again hold sway with competitors numbers. Dave Price, Gordon Caddies and Adrian Marsden look set to be the locals at the front of the pack. Should he be able to attend, Bevan Garioch after a finals win at the last meeting to be run at the track in January could top the locals. Three of the four were all within .6 of a second of each other at that meeting showing the closness of the racing in that class.
Brandon and Corey Doolan will be looking to the locals flying the flag in the Junior National Light class. In what is expected to be the next biggest class after the TAG 100s, the brothers will look to be the force in the class. While they were beaten in January by Mackay’s, Jarryd Ebzery, there is doubt that Ebzery will be able to make the event following all the rain that Mackay also has had to endure in resent weeks.
Bradley Belcher will be looking to maintain the form he showed in the Clubman heavy division in January when he showed his opposition a clean pair of heels. Bevan Gerioch of Mackay if a starter will be one of his main opponents. Should the Gerioch family attend the meeting the two sons of Nathan and Justin Gerioch will be pushing for points in the Clubman Light and Junior National Light Classes. Local driver Kayden Iverson will be keen to take both classes this weekend to get his season off on a winning note. Iverson is a member of a motorracing family with his father Allan, the mechanic at the Karts, a one time State Title holder for the Formula 500 speedway class.
Matthew Flay has moved from Midgets to Rookies with a win at the January meeting and will be keen to keep that form intact especially against his main rival Joshua Smith. Smith was a little to eager in his first attempt at Rookies costing himself wins with some over zealous driving. After the first experience he is sure to come to grips with the class and give Flay a run for his points. Zac Pattel looks set to keep his winning run going on Midgets but Madison Dunstan is all the time improving to the stage where she could give Pattel a bit of female hurry up.
Practise and Time trials start at 1pm with racing commencing at 3pm at the Shaws Rd complex.
END
10/3/08 Lifesaving
A total of 38 Lifesavers venture south this weekend to participate in the Crazy Johns Senior and Master State Lifesaving Titles. The events to be conducted at Kurrawa commence on Thursday for the Masters with the Senior Titles events starting on Friday. Arcadian has the biggest team venturing south with 25 members in the team while Picnic Bay has 10 and Forrest Beach has three.
Picnic Bays team has a number of titles hopes with the current U14 State Junior R&R Champions stepping up to the senior age group of U15. The rules and the way the drills are performed is the same for both Senior and junior in these age groups. The team of Mikayla Cowie, Katie Lorenz, Lillian Roberts, Kelsey Heyer and Brittany Andersen will be hoping to pull off a unique feat in winning at senior level while still juniors. The girls in winning the Junior Title drilled 3 points which is a very good score.
Picnic Bay’s, Anika Wright and Eamon Anderson have had plenty of experience in recent times at competing at the highest level as both have participated in the Ocean Assault series with Wright being the most successful making finals. Both are members of the State Junior High Performance squad and they will be joined by a member of the Senior National High Performance squad Jarred Martin. Martin of Picnic Bay won the Open Ironman Title at the Branch titles at Bowen recently while still eligible for the U19 age group. Picnic Bays other two competitors are Ryan West and Luke Heery. Both will be competing in the U15 age group with Heery a specialist Board competitor while West is a specialist Ironman and Surf swim competitor. The pair joined up to take out the U15 Board rescue at the Branch titles and look sure to be involved in the final of the same event at the Titles.
Arcadians charge at the medals will be lead by their two R&R teams coached by Noel Henderson. The teams are both current State and National Title holders for their age groups last season and will be looking to maintain their placing at the top of State listings. The current U17’s will be one tested the most making the transition from U15’s as the R7R changes with the older age group in that the patient has to swim to a set of cans to be rescued by the Swimmer and times in getting to the patient count towards possible deductions. The U17’s of Katie Artis, Samantha Ackers, Kellie Preston, Becky Brunker and Marissa Cluff will be set a testing program. They will compete in their own age group and then compete against the clubs older team in the U19 and Opens. The U17’s currently have 2 National Titles and 1 State title to their list of credits.
The U19 team of Kasey Brunker, Rachel Boniface, Jacinta Mellor, Michelle Combridge and Elise Latham has so far amassed three National Titles and Five State Titles in their four seasons of involvement in R&R. The girls have only two age groups to compete in and officials of the teams will be kept busy catering for the needs of the two teams especially when they come up against each other hopefully in finals.
Arcadians other Individual competitors are in the Open Titles are Bjorn Pretzsch-Kalsgaard, competing in the U15 age group, Sam Hoffman competing in the U17 age group, Hollie Wakeham U17 age group, Lisa Nugent Open and Masters, Barry Rasmussen Masters. While all would expect to make finals, Hollie Wakeham and Sam Hoffman look certain to make finals. Wakeham was a surprise third last year at the State Titles in the U15 Flags competition. She has had a lot of technical and skill training in resent times with her placing second to Lisa Nugent in the Open Flags at the Branch Titles. Hoffmann has been consistent all season and has had wins over Eamon Anderson of Picnic Bay in Surf Swim and Ironman. He is expected to make the finals of the Ironman and the Surf Swim and the Board.
Masters competitors also look the goods for medals with Barry Rasmussen competing in the 50-55 years age groups and medals are his prime aim. Lisa Nugent will compete in the Open and Masters Flags and Beach Sprint and with a win in the Open Flags could well be a favorite in the Masters section. The two Arcadian master’s boat crews will be looking for a change of luck over efforts of past seasons. The now 200 year’s age group team placed third last year after looking the winners with 20 metres to go in the final. The older crew while out of the placings last year lead their final till and wave hit them and sent them sideways cost them any chance of winning.
Forrest Beach’s three competitors, Carmen Josey U15, Ryan Chiesa U19 and Mark Sheahan, Masters will all be competing in their best disciplines on the beach. All are noted Beach Sprint and Flags exponents with Chiesa winning the Open Flags at Branch Titles at Bowen recently. Sheahan will be an interesting competitor and is part of a family that has ties with representing the Forrest Beach club at the highest level and claiming State and National Medals.
ENDS
Speedway 16/3/08
North Queensland Speedway riders and passengers were in action in all parts of the World this weekend with Townsville pair, Josh Grajczonek and Mitchell Davey making their Solos debut for Glasgow Tigers in English Premier League, while sidecar teams were in Adelaide at Gillman as a prelude to the Australian Titles next weekend.
Grajczonek scored 6 points paid 7 from his four rides in his team Glasgow Tigers loss to Edinburgh Monarchs. Glasgow scored 38 points while Edinburgh scored 51 points. Mitchell Davey had an unhappy night colliding with the fence in his first heat and was excluded from the restart. He was excluded once again in his third heat and two fourths made up his 0 points for the night. Grajczonek was paid a win in his first heat after a restart and other riders having put the bikes down following racing incidents. He scored two more seconds and a fourth to accumulate his 6 paid seven points.
Four senior and two Junior sidecar teams competed in Adelaide as a prelude to the Australian Titles to be run at Gillman Speedway next weekend. The four senior teams of Scott Christopher/Trent Koppe, Gary Moon/Mick Ing, Jason Aldridge/Joel Aldridge and Josh Sinnott/Hamish Golding were joined by Junior teams of Dylan Blain/Robert Gottardi and Tyler Moon/Denny Cox.
Following the meet Darrin Treloar looms as the favorite for next week following him scoring 13 points from his five heats and the win in the final. Christopher and Koppe and the Aldridge brothers also scored 13 points from their five heats but found Treloar and his passenger Justin Plaisted too hot in the final. Gary Moon and Mick Ing had a disappointing night scoring only 5 points in their five heats while Josh Sinnott and Hamish Golding scored only one point.
The Bowen/Ayr combination of Dylan Blain and Robert Gottardi went through their five heats in the Junior sidecars undefeated ahead of the Townsville and Sydney combination of Tyler Moon and Denny Cox. The Juniors were part of a eight bike field that were having a prelude as well to their unofficial Australian Title next week as part of the senior Australian Title. Qualifying for the Senior Title will be run on Thursday night the 20th at Gillman where 26 sidecar teams will run off to make the Saturday night final. The qualifying night will see two sections with 13 bikes in each section and the teams will go through a 13 heat series per section with the top 5 from each section meeting the six seeded teams in the final on Saturday night.
A total of six regular Pioneer Park sidecar teams will compete in the Qualifying heats headed by Christopher/Koppe, Aldridge/Aldridge, Sinnott/Golding, Dave Bottrell/Ben Pitt, Rob Patterson/John van Eerde and Cairns pair Scott Lohmann and Melody Carriger. Gary Moon and Mick Ing are seeded through to the final as last years Queensland Title holders with the 2008 Title event postponed at Rockhampton a couple of weeks ago.
I will be at Adelaide so will send through a report following the heats on Thursday night ready for Saturdays papers and Friday
ENDS
Lifesaving 17/3/08
Townsville based Lifesavers came away with 4 gold 3 silver and 3 bronze medals as well as a number of other top six performances that earned their club points towards the Club Championship. Arcadian Masters competitor Lisa Nugent started the medal haul with a win in the 35-39 years Beach Flags. She crossed the line first in the same age group Beach sprint but was disqualified as she was in the throws of falling as she went across the line and the rules state that as runner has to be on their feet at the finish line. Nugent is one of the guiding lights behind the Arcadian Club recruiting so many Magnetic Island juniors and their parents into the club. She was not as successful in the Open competition but she is now looking forward to competing in the Masters National Titles in Perth in a fortnight.
In a remarkable effort the Picnic Bay U15 R&R team claimed gold following an injury to one of the team on Wednesday prior to leaving on Thursday. Mikayla Cowie bloke her arm and the team looked set to have to sit out the titles but for the inclusion of Shannon Morgan who has previously done R&R in other Picnic Bay teams. The team of Brittany Anderson, Katie Lorenz, Kelsey Heyer, Lillian Roberts and Shannon Morgan qualified for the final via two heats and went through the final drilling a 3 with next best being Southport on 7 and Currumbin on 8 points. The team will now head to the National Titles in Perth full of confidence as they have now produced drills of 3 in both Gold medal winning events over the past three weeks.
Arcadian was named the champion R&R club of the State when their U17 team won and then placed third in the U19 and second to the other Arcadian team in the Open women’s section. The U17’s of Bekki Brunker, Katie Artis, Samantha Akers, Kellie Preston and Marissa Cluff have now won two State and One National titles at three appearances in their age groups and provided they can stay together look set to match the efforts of the Arcadian U19 team.
The U19’s of Kasey Brunker, Ellise Latham, Michelle Combridge, Jacinta Mellor and Rachael Boniface missed their age title for only their second time in five appearances at the State titles. Their only other loss was two years ago when one of the team competed with a broken hand and had to use a hook which was an excellent effort under the circumstances. The girls made up for the loss in their age group when they beat the Arcadian U17 team in the final of the Open women’s event. The U19 team will go to the National titles in Perth as defending Champions in the age group while the U17 won their National title last year as U15’s.
Picnic Bay’s Eamon Anderson had a good carnival taking second in the U17 Belt Race behind former Arcadian now competing for Alexandra Headland, Lachlan Swann. Anika Wright placed fourth in the final of the U17 Surf Race and she also made the final of the Open Surf Race but was out of the placings in that event. Wright is capping off a top season as she has competed successfully in the E Toll Ocean Assault series against some of the best female Lifesavers in the country. Anderson has also aquitted himself well in the Ocean Assault series.
Surprise placings in the Open Female Belt event saw Arcadians Marissa Cluff and Ellise Latham score a third and fourth places respectively. Latham however was disappointed with her swim as she headed for the wrong buoy costing her a higher placing behind Rebecca Creedy of Met Caloundra and Hannah Jacobsen of Kurrawa and Cluff in third.
Arcadians were once again in the points when their two Masters boat crews claimed a third and fifth in their age divisions. The 220 years crew of Brian Geaney, Ted Coxon, Ian Dockray, John Jones and Bob Patrick claimed the bronze behind Coolum Beach and Currumbin. Last year the Arcadian younger team claimed a Bronze but this year the older team got their deserts for some good performances throughout the year.
Picnic Bay’s, Matthew Twomey, made the final of the U17 Beach sprint and placed sixth earning his club a point in the Club Championship. His point got Picnic Bay to 18 points and 23rd spot while rivals Arcadian scored 33 points and placed 16th in the State. All competitors will now be training hard for the national Titles to be held in Perth in a fortnight.
ENDS
Speedway 23/3/08
Following exhaustive preparations by all five Townsville area teams to make an impression at the Australian Sidecar Titles only former South Australian Dave Bottrell and his passenger of Ben Pitt qualified for the final. Mechanical problems saw the teams of Gary Moon/Mick Ing, and Jason and Joel Aldridge finish their nights racing after their third heats while Christopher and Koppe had to resort to their second bike and it too had problems.
Bottrell went through the night with four wins and a third which had him equal second highest points scorer after this five heats. Overall favorite Darrin Treloar and Justin Plaisted scored 14 points having their colors lowered only once and that was in their first heat to Christopher and Koppe who at that stage looked the goods. The other finals qualifiers were Grant Bond and Glen Cox with 13 points and current FIM World Title holder Mick Headland and Paul Waters on 12 points.
Following their first heat win Christopher and Koppe had fuel pump problems in the second and third heat and when switching to their second bike even it was beset with fuel pump problems. Gary Moon and Mick Ing in race one stalled on the line and got going to finish last in the second heat the clutch caused more problems with the team having to rely then on their second bike. It as well had fuel pump problems in the third heat and that was the night for the team. The Aldridge brothers from Ayr had fuel problems as well but their problem saw dirt get into the tank and then into the engine during heat three, night over for them as well. Christopher and Koppe finished with 5 points, Moon and Ing (2) and Aldridge and Aldridge (2). Not the best of nights for an area that had four teams in the final sixteen.
Bottrell was there however and he was out to put his stamp on the final, unfortunately in the wrong ways. He had so much speed in his bike that it was proving hard to control on the track. At the first attempt at getting the final away, Bottrell after a slightly slow start came from behind early leader Darrin Treloar taking him up to the top of the track with Treloar touching the fence and spinning. The race was stopped with all riders back for the rerun. The second attempt saw Treloar get away well again to lead for the first two laps. Coming out of turn four of the second lap Bottrell was under Headland and the pair headed for the fence with Headland scraping the fence. Headland came around the outside then of Bottrell who got a heap of drive once again colliding with Headland and Waters with Paul Waters coming off the worst. The diminutive passenger was holding his back and after some minor treatment got back on the bike to take his place in the rerun.
Bottrell was excluded by the Steward and while he pleaded his case was out of the third attempt to get the final run and won. Once again it was Treloar that won the start and this time there would be no stoppages with Headland in second and Grant Bond and Glen Cox in third. The win by Treloar is his fifth Title win which sees him as the winner of the most Australian Titles with five to his credit including the last three in a row one of which was at Pioneer Park last year. His other wins were in 1993 and 1995 with differing passengers.
Speedway 23/3/08
Bowen Junior Sidecar rider Dylan Blain, along with his Ayr passenger, Robert Gottardi showed composure to take out the inaugural Glen and Nathan O’Brien Junior Sidecar Title at Gillman speedway in Adelaide over the Easter weekend. The event was run in conjunction with the Senior Australian Sidecar Title. The event is hoped to see the commencement of an Australian Junior Sidecar Championship to be run along side the Senior Title or separately.
The event was decided over two nights with each of the 11 riders having three rides on each night with the top three point scorers going into the final. Both Blain/Gottardi and Tyler Moon(Townsville) and Denny Cox(Sydney) were equal in 16 points following the two nights of heats with both teams only dropping two points from their six rides. South Australian brother and sister of Aaron and Teagan Hartwig were the third finals qualifiers with 14 points.
The final was a little rough caused by the dive that the track was offering, but patience saw Blain take the lead in the back straight on the second lap when Moon and Hartwig had a coming together leaving a gaping hole on the low side of the track for Blain to fly through and take the lead once their he was never headed. Blain/Gottardi took the win and the trophy ahead of the Hartwigs and third was Moon and Cox.
“This is the start of a big year for me” said Blain after the win “ I have been selected in and Australian development squad that travels to Europe” The trip to Europe is relating to Junior Solo speedway riding which Dylan is top dog at the moment in North Queensland. Gottardi said “ We have had a big week, as we won here at Gillman last week posting a maxium” “To back that up with a win tonight is awesome” he added.
Karts 31/3/08
A light shower of rain which lasted just on a minute saw what to onlookers seemed like chaos at the Shaws Rd facility of the Townsville Kart Club on Saturday night. Drivers not used to negotiating the slippery conditions spun on and off the track with some of the fancied drivers either out of the placings or did not finish their heat. Drivers were also dashing for their trailers to dig out the unused wet weather tyres. Lap times also went astray with variations ranging from 12 -15 seconds between the dry track and the rain affected track. A total of 72 drivers took to the track in round two of the Townsville Kart Clubs club championship round.
While the rain saw some drivers miss a clean sweep for the night five drivers managed the feat. Cairns youngster Lydon Dodge went through the Senior Clubman Light class with win in the heats, pre-final and final. His efforts were matched by Scott Douglas and Graham Chetland in TAG 125 Light and Heavy, Corey James and Brad Belcher in the Senior National Light and Heavy.
Corey James’s wins were by far the most impressive as in the first heat he came from the back of the grid and he had to work his way through the field and then he came away for a strong win. His next heat from the front saw him straight to the lead and was never headed with similar results when starting from pole in the pre-final and Final. Kayden Iverson had dominated the class last year but James coming from juniors to seniors has seen that superiority cut back. Iverson finished second in the final with third to Jamie Boulter. Brad Belcher competing for the first time in the Senior National Heavy class while conceding weight to the lights got amongst some of the slower karts having some fun in the course of his four wins.
Scott Douglas and Mitchell Chetland were close early in the heats but over the course of the nights racing Douglas’s winning margins in the TAG 125 Lights class grew, with the winning margin in the final being 14.8 seconds. TAG 125 Heavies was a closer affair with Graham Chetland taking all four races ahead of Geoff Stanford and Anthony Jones.
Cairns youngster Lydon Dodge was also impressive in his wins especially the Pre final win when the light shower came across the track. He had gone from lap times of 47.66 out to 59.92 in the wet conditions. In the rain affected race he still managed to outclass his opposition taking the win with 17 seconds to spare. Dodge was the round one winner as well and leads the Senior Clubman Light class by a handy margin. In the 12 lap final he clocked 9.43.30 for the race ahead of Blake Harris and Kaydon Iverson.
One of the most spectacular near misses happened in the first heat of the TAG 100 when Tim Parke was lucky to come out unscaved from what potentially could have been a serious accident. Tim was turning into the front straight and received a shunt from behind that sent his kart on its side while on its side another kart hit the airborne kart straightening it back onto the right course. Tim shock his head coming down the straight and got back into racing. Parke showed his cool in the wet when others were spinning out he kept a constant safe speed and had his first win at the Townsville track. The win saw him take pole for the prefinal but by then the track had dried out and Tim on the dry track spun out failing to finish the event. Corrie Belcher had the two most important wins in the class taking the prefinal and the final. The final looked all parceled up with Gordon Caddies well in control, but with three laps to go he slowed markedly allowing Belcher to overtake. Caddies fought back and at the drop of the chequered flag only.1 of a second separated the two with John Roger Still in third place.
Biggest fields for the night were in the Junior National Light/Heavy class with 13 drivers greeting the starter. Brandon Doolan has become the yardstick in the lights with him once again dominating. He had a hiccup on the wet track finishing eighth behind Christian Clark. Once the track dried out however he claimed the prefinal and the final ahead of brother Coorey Doolan and Aidan Wright. Brandon Doolan went from a lap time of 1.07.9 in the wet heat to his winning final lap time of 52.28.
In what proved to be the closest class three drivers at any one time in their races was jousting for and taking the lead only for a slip up on the next lap and another driver would take the lead. Sportsman Heavy saw Ben Walsh take three of the events but missing the final behind Scott Armstrong and Damien Caddies. The race lead changed many times in the final only .08 of a second separated Armstrong and Caddies with Walsh .9 on a second behind in third.
Joshua Smith got his act together in taking the final of the Rookies class ahead of Matthew Flay and Brandon Granata. Flay has dominated the early rounds on the track with Smith having the ability but not always producing the goods. The class was lucky as they did not have to deal with the wet track with time variations only 3 seconds when Matthew Flay took the Prefinal. That was the only race that Smith slipped up on. Zac Pattel also had his colors lowered in the Midgets class when beaten in the first heat by Madison Dunstan. There was only .02 of a second difference between the two that then saw some frantic action in the pits from father Steve. Pattel then came out and won the next heat and the prefinal and Final ahead of Madison Dunstan and Quinlan Price.
ENDS
Lifesaving 31/3/08
Arcadians U19 Female R&R team will be hoping to go out winners at their last National titles as a team when they compete at this weekends Titles in Perth. The team has been together winning National titles since 2003 and would rate as one of the most successful Lifesaving teams to have come out of North Queensland. They have won four National gold medals and a silver with the silver coming when one of the team Rachel Boniface competed with a broken hand and a hook attached in the cast. The team of Rachel Boniface, Michelle Combridge, Kasey-Lee Brunker, Jacinta Mellor and Ellise Latham will be hoping to follow they efforts at the recent State Titles when they won the Open Womens event plus placed second in their U19 event to Bribie Island. “We are aiming to make the finals and defend our title in the U19 event and go out winners” said team member Michelle Combridge.
Their steps are well and truly being filled by the second Arcadian team who will be attempting to win the U17 title this year after winning the past two National Titles