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Ron Johnson Memorial


Guest Sir Lunchalot

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Guest Sir Lunchalot

I've been asked to post this on the forum

 

19.01.2007

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

 

SOLO SPEEDWAY – RON JOHNSON MEMORIAL INDIVIDUAL CLASSIC

 

PINJAR PARK, PEDERICK ROAD, WANNEROO

SATURDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 2007, 7.30PM

 

 

The full line up for the event is now confirmed, the toughest line up for many years when the best Western Australian solo riders will compete with international riders from NSW, Victoria, South Australia and New Zealand. Local British League boys Tai Woffinden (Ocean Reef), Dave Cheshire (Woodvale) and Steve Johnston (Sorrento) will enjoy most of the local support but some of the best young guns in the world will fancy their chances.

 

Kiwi, Mitch Shirra, with over 30 years of international racing experience is not coming here “for a haircut” and will be bringing his unknown protégé Ricky Wallace from NSW.

 

Double Australian Under 21 Champion Chris Holder and Jason Doyle (also NSW) were team mates last year in the British Premier League both making rapid progress despite their youth. Holder equalized Simon Stead’s track record at British League Sheffield, officially the fastest race track in British Speedway during 2006.

 

Young Victorian Tom Hedley also showed his class in the British League finishing third in the Top Gun event at Sheffield.

 

Sorrento based Steve Johnston will lead the West Aussie charge following his third place in last week’s Australian Solo Final staged over five meetings in the Eastern States.

 

Ocean Reef 16 year old Tai Woffinden is vastly experienced on the technical Pinjar Park circuit and will be hard to beat around his home track in preparation for his debut season in the British Premier League.

 

Double WA State Champion David Cheshire of Woodvale along with Frank Smart, both veterans of British League, will add vast experience to the line up. Trevor Harding III also having just returned from the Australian Final is in the best form of his career currently following his British track King’s Lynn’s domination of the Premier League.

 

 

Full Line Up:

 

Johnston, Holder, Doyle, Hedley, Shirra, Wallace, Smart, Cheshire, Gittus, Munroe, Winchester, Cass, Harding, Johansen, Woffinden, King

 

Former World Champion Peter Collins MBE will ride a Weslake speedway machine for the first time at Pinjar Park which will obviously add nostalgia to the occasion.

 

Fast food and licensed bar.

Admission – Adult $20, Under 16s Free.

Look out for 2 for 1 vouchers in the local press.

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Guest Sir Lunchalot

No problems Ozy.

 

See you at Mildura for the Jason Lyons testimonial. We had Brendon Gledhill refereeing yesterday at Broadford and he announced that Simon Stead is a starter. That means something like the Oz championships numbers 1,2,3 & 5 will all be riding.

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Add Jay himself into the mix and it is gonna be a hell of a meeting.

 

See you there cobber. Are you going to the testimonial dinner or do you just do lunch? :P

Lunch, Dinner and everything in between and he STILL weighs less than an oily rag! GRRRR!

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Guest Sir Lunchalot
Lunch, Dinner and everything in between and he STILL weighs less than an oily rag! GRRRR!

It's all due to good clean living I keep telling you !!

 

Just doing the meeting and not the dinner, got some family duties here in Melbourne on the Friday (and I need to keep in Mum's will somehow !!) :blink:

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Thank you Lunchy, BFD and Ozy for keeping us up to date while we suffer a dreary British winter - looking forward to hearing how the boys do in this meeting - give Johno a cheer from me - by the way,I hope his good looks weren't damaged the other day ;) - Karen

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Apparantly Mitch Shirra has been practicing on a junior track for this meeting.

 

Was talking to the WA connection at the Under 16 meeting and the size of the track was confirmed (very small) with the juniors (under 16's) racing on the same track as the 500's.

 

That in itself is very unusual in Australia.

 

Should be a great meeting, Johnno will be hard to beat after his spell at Arena and stop off to ride in the States on his way home.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unofficial practice was last night by all reports Mitch Shirra, was looking fast and smooth.

 

I have just got of the phone from talking to PC, himself, son Chris and James Wright are spending a day over at Rottnest Island, it's 38c here today and there would be no better place in the world to be but there.

 

Douugal i'll give Johno a hoy for ya, btw what good looks. There's no good looks on a baboons butt. ;)

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Unofficial practice was last night by all reports Mitch Shirra, was looking fast and smooth.

 

I have just got of the phone from talking to PC,  it's 38c here today and there would be no better place in the world to be but there.

 

 

Damn you Ozyace - was trying to acclimatise to being back here in the UK but now wishing I was back there in Oz drinking a Bundy!

:rolleyes::wink:

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Just saw the weather forecast for Perth, absolutely scorching hot, they've even warned the elderley to try to stay cool.

 

Probably not ideal speedway weather but certainly better than what we are having in North Queensland right now, its been bucketing down for days and starting to flood, so obviously no pre season practice at Ayr tomorrow.

 

Looking forward to hearing all about the action from Pinjar Park, everyone speaks highly of the track there.

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thanks Ozy, hope you all have a good meeting despite the heat - keep your fluid levels up - dehydration affects performance.

 

not sure what I can do to help Johno if his face has turned into a baboon's ass - torn hamstrings and bruised muscles I can fix - plastic surgery is a bit beyond my qualifications! :lol:

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Some good interviews with tonights competetors courtesy of http://www.radiofremantle.com/

 

Includes indepth comments from Chris Holder and Mitch Shirra

 

Go to archives, then the Saturday speedway show.

 

One of the interesting things about this venue is its size, its so small that the 125cc Juniors run on the same track....like in the USA, but different to the rest of OZ where the Junior tracks are inside the main circuits.

Edited by whowasthatberntpersson
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Not yet Tanya, I'm working on it......I guess West Australia is a long way from everywhere.

 

I spoke to Mitch Shirra on the afternoon of the meeting and he was having major bike problems, borrowed bikes during the practice and had to rebuild the bike he was going to ride during the meeting.

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Johno won the meeting in one of the best races ever seen in Perth, Johno rode the boards the whole race and picked of Jason Doyle on the line.

 

Now don't leave us in suspenders Ozyace mate! Who else was in the final??

:lol:

 

And I take it you had one or two lemonades to celebrate Johno's victory? Might have a Bundy myself er...later - what AM I doing wide awake at 7.00am on a Sunday????? :unsure:

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Johno won the meeting in one of the best races ever seen in Perth, Johno rode the boards the whole race and picked of Jason Doyle on the line.

It's a crisp, clear, frosty morning here near Swindon, blue skies, birds singing, fresh pot of Sunday morning coffee brewing - and the icing on the cake is reading your news Ozy - good on ya mate - and well done to Johno :D - strong, fit and winning - looking forward to more of the same in England this season - Karen

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Scunthorpe Speedway Press Release:

 

Scunthorpe Scorpion’ Tai Woffinden claimed an impressive fourth in the Ron Johnson Memorial Meeting at Western Australia’s Pinjar Park on Saturday night. The quality field included Steve Johnston (Oxford), Chris Holder (Isle of Wight), Jason Doyle (Poole), Tom Hedley (Newport) and Trevor Harding (King’s Lynn) who all competed in last month’s Australian Championships along with former British League riders Frank Smart, Mitch Shirra and David Cheshire.

 

Woffinden rode well to win three of his qualifying races and claim twelve points and a spot in the semi-final. That race saw him finish second behind Frank Smart to make the Grand Final by defeating Tom Hedley and Trevor Harding. The Final pitted ‘Wuffy’ against Steve Johnston (3rd in Australian Championship) and Jason Doyle (6th) along with Smart, the ex-Newport, Swindon and Exeter heat-leader. Doyle led Johnston from the tapes with Woffinden and Smart close behind. In a race where the proverbial blanket could have covered all riders for much of the race it was Johnston who edged home, closely followed by Doyle, Smart and Woffinden.

 

Afterwards Woffinden’s delighted father, Rob, claimed “The Grand final was amazing, unbelievably close racing. Fourth place for Tai was a mega result in the strongest field in Western Australia for maybe 25 years”.

 

That was Woffinden’s last meeting in Australia before he returns to Britain to race for the Scorpions, and Rye House in the Premier League, at the beginning of March.

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