Undera 20.03.04

[cablehogue4671]

hi can anybody tell me if there is a sidecar feature meeting on at undera on sat 20mar04 ty

[Guest Sir Lunchalot]

I can !!

 

It's the Australian teams (pairs) championship. Racing starts at 8 pm but I like to get there early to watch the juniors go round on the junior circuit. I went last year and it was a terrific meeting won by the Victorian pair / team. No beg pardons given on the track and the usual push and shove but everyone seemed to finish up mates after the sound of the engines died down.

 

Are you going ?

[Stats]

Teams announced for 2004 Australian Speedway Sidecar Teams Championship

 

The following seven teams will contest the 2004 Australian Speedway Sidecar Teams Championship at Undera Park Speedway, near Shepparton (Vic) on Saturday, March 20:

 

- Bernard Sheals/Jamie Rainbow Tas & Matt Munday/Tania White

 

- Dave Bottrell/TBA SA & Kane Irwin/TBA

 

- Steve Taylor/TBA Qld & Stuart Firth/TBA

 

- Grant Bond/Victor Gavenlock NSW & Rick Howse/Adam Commons

 

- Andrew Cleave/Dave Power Vic & Jayden Mayes/Jaeben Underhill

 

- Warren Monson/Scott Cameron Vic & Byren Gates/Dean Keeble

 

- Daniel Bell/Brad Baker Vic & Peter Burton/Ben Pitt

[Guest Sir Lunchalot]

Thanks for that Stats.

 

Not sure if I'll go as the line up doesn't seem all that mouth watering a prospect to be honest. Only seven teams with (say) four rides each means only 14 heats so it could be a bit light on for quantity too.

 

And you might be able to shed some light on why the teams title wasn't run in conjunction with the individual title ? Last year they were both run in Victoria a week apart and lots of the outfits stayed here for the week and there was a terrific turn out for the pairs.

[cablehogue4671]

hi

 

thank you very much for your info

 

the sport is indeed fortunate to have ambassadors with the information and enthusiasm of yourselves and is highly appreciated. ty

 

yes, i shall be going as any sidecar night with some "clout" is still in the "creme de la creme" league

 

toodles

[Ozyace]

Stats,

I notice there is no teams from W.A. which is a shame and also absent from the list is Scott Christopher and Trent Koppe.

I understand the WA pairings not wanting to go.

Do know why the Christopher/Koppe pairing won't be there.

[Guest Sir Lunchalot]

I agree Ozy, that's why I asked if anyone knew why the teams weren't run in conjunction with the individual championships.

 

Missing from last year include Treloar/Plaisted and O'Brien/O'Brien and with Christopher/Koppe not there (either year) it does dilute the quality a bit. I'll probably end up going as this will be about my 2nd last meeting for the season and it's a long time till next one starting late October'ish. I will probably end up enjoying it as much as last year !!

 

I was just thinking after my last post, if they decide to have every combination ride against every other one (eg six rides each) then that will mean 21 heats and I will be well happy !! One of the problems with a bigger field is that not everyone rides against everyone else. Last year was an eight team, five rides each (total 20 heats) which meant the possibilty of someone winning without riding against the second place team. Anyone know the meeting format this year ?

[shazzybird]

Do know why the Christopher/Koppe pairing won't be there.

Is Trent Koppe any relation to Steve ex-Canterbury?

[Marty]

I'm reasonably sure that it's his son Shazz.

[Bryn]

I think you'll find that Trent is Steve's nephew, not his son.

[Bryn]

Wondering what Lunchy has been getting up to in Shepparton thus preventing him bringing us a meeting report thus far?

[Guest Sir Lunchalot]

Easy Bryn, WRITING THE BLOODY THING !!!!! (ssshhhh don't tell a soul but I had to come back home to do this report)

 

Before I start can I just say it was a delight catching up with cablehogue4671 by complete and utter accident. With a crowd perhaps getting on for 1000 I managed to find a seat, sat down, started talking to the guy next to me and guess what, it was him !! Lovely to meet such nice people.

 

A very interesting meeting slightly marred by a very bumpy racing line at the apex of turns 1 & 2 and a referee who I thought at times erred in being a little too trigger happy with the red light switch. Thinking about it later the referee was probably right and if he sees an infringement he is duty bound to act on it but from a pure spectating point of view it was frustrating to have them called back as often as they were without it being readily obvious why.

 

The format was a seven team, 6 rides each, 21 heat event. This meant that each team rode against everyone else. A late line up change was Shane Stacy in as passenger for Rick Howes. This was caused by (as in the commentators words) ”Adam has a very pregnant wife who was due yesterday and his brownie points would have slipped into negative”. ‘TBA’s in the program were Steve Cracker (sp?) with Steve Taylor and Dale Irwin with Dave Bottrell. Cleave/Power & Mayes/Underhill were the defending champions

 

Final Point Scores

 

1. Cleave/Power 2,3,3,2,3,1 = 14

Mayes/Underhill 3,1,2,3,2,3 = 14 Total 28

 

2. Bond/Gavenlock 0,2,3,2,2,3 = 12

Howes/Stacy 3,0,2,1,1,2 = 9 Total 21

 

3. Monson/Cameron 2,2,0,2,3,2 = 11

Gates/Keeble 0,3,3,3,0,0 = 9 Total 20 (after run off)

 

4. Taylor/Cracker 1,0,3,0,2,2 = 8

Firth/Chivers 3,1,2,0,3,3 = 12 Total 20

 

5. Bottrell/Irwin 2,0,1,3,0,3 = 9

Irwin/Hayes 3,1,0,0,1,2 = 7 Total 16

 

6. Bell/Baker 0,3,1,1,0,1 = 6

Burton/Pitt 2,2,0,0,1,0 = 5 Total 11

 

7. Sheals/Rainbow 1,1,0,1,1,1 = 5

Munday/White 0,0,0,0,0,0 = 0 Total 5

 

Heat results

 

1. Firth/Chivers, Monson/Cameron, Taylor/Cracker, Gates/Keeble No time

 

This was an unbelievable race. I know I will get some of the details wrong as there was so much happening but Monson & Firth gated in first and second and were at it hammer and tong with the lead changing three times in the first two laps. On lap 3 Taylor decided to get in on the act and while Firth and Monson were looking out for each other Taylor ducked up the inside to go from third to first. Trouble was he then ran a little wide coming out the turn with his extra speed and Firth got by. Monson got past Taylor a bit later and set out after Firth but to no avail.

 

2. Irwin/Hayes, Bottrell/Irwin, Sheals/Rainbow, Munday/White 1.01.40

 

The SA duo cleared out and left the Tasmanian pairing having fun out the back.

 

3. Howes/Stacy, Burton/Pitt, Bond/Gavenlock (excl), Bell/Baker (ret) 1.02.25

 

Heat was rerun. At the first attempt Bell didn’t get off the line and limped into the infield, which quickly left only three. Round turn three of lap 1 Bond and Burton had a coming together with Bond adjudged to be the transgressor and duly excluded. It was the opposite end of the track from where I was and it is hard for me to pass comment. The rerun was a two man ‘war’ with Howes in the lead from the off, Burton getting up the inside on lap 2 with Howes returning the favour on lap 3.

 

4. Mayes/Underhill, Cleave/Power, Firth/Chivers, Taylor/Cracker (excl) 59.43

 

Heat was rerun twice. The first time the tapes rose unevenly with Cleave on the inside nearly getting his helmet caught on the tapes. The second time around there was a huge turn 1 / 2 with all four outfits heading for the same piece of track. Taylor managed to catch the bump in the middle of the turn, got rather untidy and ended up on the infield coming out of turn 2 and he was the next to incur the referee’s displeasure and was excluded. In the eventual running Mayes looked extremely quick in the fastest time thus far with Cleave happy to sit in second.

 

5. Gates/Keeble, Monson/Cameron, Irwin/Hayes, Bottrell/Irwin (ret) 1.02.36

 

Another rerun due to an unsatisfactory start. In the rerun Bottrell gated in first only to have both the Victorian pairs go by up the inside on lap 1. He then retired with what the commentator said may have been the top coming off the carburettor. After that it was race over.

 

6. Bell/Baker, Burton/Pitt, Sheals/Rainbow, Munday/White (ret) 1.04.01

 

Another heat rerun, this time twice. The first effort was brought back because someone was moving at the start, the second attempt was halted as the bump in turn 1 claimed its next victim when a coming together resulted in a lost passenger. Eventually when they got away Sheals jumped in first to lead Bell and the two of them swapped the lead three times in the first three laps. Sheals momentarily forgot about the other Victorian outfit behind him and Burton sneaked past up the inside. I suspect the Tasmanians were finding the overall step up in class a bit daunting but I hope they are not discouraged as they are not without talent.

 

7. Cleave/Power, Bond/Gavenlock, Mayes/Underhill, Howes/Stacy 1.00.39

 

At last a reasonably uneventful heat. Cleave easily assumed the lead from the start with Mayes getting by Bond on lap three to put the defending champions into another maximum points scoring position. However, Mayes had a poor turn 4 on the last lap, lost traction and allowed Bond by to spoil the party. It’s fair to say Mayes was not overly impressed with himself after they crossed the line.

 

8. Taylor/Cracker, Firth/Chivers, Bottrell/Irwin, Irwin/Hayes 1.01.11

 

Heat only rerun once due to the tapes going up unevenly. Uneventful rerun with no passing and ‘as you were” for four laps

 

9. Gates/Keeble, Sheals/Rainbow (ret), Radford/Putkanz (Reserve - excl), Monson/Cameron (excl), Munday/White (DNS) 1.02.71

 

What a comedy of errors this heat was. Four attempts were needed to end up with a result of only one outfit scoring any points. First time out Monson was well over the white line in turn 2 and was invited by the referee to sit this one out. Take two and the tapes rose unevenly again so back they went again. Take three and there was adjudged to be too much push and shove in turn 1 and so guess what, “lets have another go at starting lads”. Take four and they managed to get away at last. Gates was well out in front but the fun continued behind as Sheals had a bit of a moment exiting turn 2 and in order to avoid him Radford finished up in the infield and was excluded. Sheals then promptly retired due to a mechanical problem.

 

10. Cleave/Power, Mayes/Underhill, Bell/Baker, Burton/Pitt 1.01.29

At last some relief as I was in serious danger of getting writers cramp. It was a race that was out of place as nothing exciting happened. The defending champions easily.

 

11. Bond/Gavenlock, Howes/Stacy, Firth/Chivers (excl), Taylor/Cracker (excl) NTA

 

The last heat was too good to be true and back we went to a heat that was started four times. First off was some over enthusiastic push and shove in turn one that got them all brought back. It was about now I was getting frustrated with all the restarts !!! Second time and Taylor had a bit of a lose in turn 1 & 2 and half turned around and ended up being clipped by their partners. Third time and Firth was excluded for clipping Howes. The final running was a non event as the two NSW outfits cruised around for maximum points.

 

Interval was taken and the track regraded. After that both the times and the quality of the riding improved with far less eventful happenings in the second half of the meeting.

 

12. Gates/Keeble, Monson/Cameron, Bell/Baker, Burton/Pitt 58.98

 

13. Bottrell/Irwin, Bond/Gavenlock, Howes/Stacy, Irwin/Hayes (excl) 59.24

 

Heat rerun as Irwin baulked Howes in turns 1 & 2 and was excluded.

 

14. Mayes/Underhill, Cleave/Power, Sheals/Rainbow, Munday/White (excl) 58.43

 

Munday excluded for running into the infield but other than that easy for Mayes & Cleave

 

15. Firth/Chivers, Taylor/Cracker, Burton/Pitt, Bell/Baker 59.64

 

16. Monson/Cameron, Bond/Gavenlock, Howes/Stacy, Gates/Keeble (excl) 59.47

 

Heat rerun due to a coming together in turn 3. Three outfits were very close and it was difficult from where I was to comment but Gates was adjudged to be the culprit in clipping Howes causing Stacy to have what at first looked like a nasty departure from the bike. After a short delay Stacy was well enough to walk away and take his place in the rerun. In the rerun Bond gated in first but had the lead pinched from him by Monson with a very aggressive move up the inside on turn 3 of lap two.

 

17. Cleave/Power, Mayes/Underhill, Irwin/Hayes, Bottrell/Irwin (excl) 1.00.13

 

Irwin led from the start but a huge “look out I’m coming through no matter what” move up the inside by Cleave relegated Irwin to second. On the next bend Mayes repeated the process and Irwin must have wondered where they were coming from. Bottrell wound up on the infield and was excluded.

 

18. Firth/Chivers, Taylor/Cracker, Sheals/Rainbow, Munday/White (ret) 1.00.59

 

No disrespect to the Tasmanian pair but the gap in class was evident. It as becoming a long night for them with Munday retiring again.

 

19. Mayes/Underhill, Monson/Cameron, Cleave/Power, Gates/Keeble 59.44

 

The defending champions had already won the event so nothing hinged on this race. Mayes looked very fast out in front but Cleave swapped second with Monson twice before deciding it wasn’t worth risking any damage and settling for third.

 

20. Bottrell/Irwin, Irwin/Hayes, Bell/Baker, Burton/Pitt 1.01.31

 

For the teams down the bottom of the field in the last few heats the adrenalin levels had dropped and they were just riding for a bit of pride or fun depending on their outlook. Easy for the SA pair.

 

21. Bond/Gavenlock, Howes/Stacy, Sheals/Rainbow, Munday/White 1.01.39

 

The only interest remaining was would the NSW team get enough points to clinch second place. They needed a 5-1 to do it and that’s the way it finished against the Tasmanian team who must have been glad the night was over.

 

Run off for 3rd

 

Monson/Cameron, Firth/Chivers 59.83

 

Cleave/Power & Mayes/Underhill were a cut above the others on the night and deserved the win but it would have been interesting if O’Brien/O’Brien (retired), Treloar/Plaisted (injured) and a few others like Christopher/Koppe were riding.

[Marty]

Easy Bryn, WRITING THE BLOODY THING !!!!! (ssshhhh don't tell a soul but I had to come back home to do this report)

 

.

Get kicked out or need a rest

 

 

P.S. Any solos ????

Edited March 21, 2004 by Marty

[Guest Sir Lunchalot]

Easy Bryn, WRITING THE BLOODY THING !!!!! (ssshhhh don't tell a soul but I had to come back home to do this report)

 

.

Get kicked out or need a rest

Hmmm ... forgot about you Marty.

 

In speedway terms, meeting postponed due to unforeseen circumstances !!

 

Yes there were solos but only four B graders and not meaning any disrespect to them but there was nothing to really get excited about. Mick Evans who you would have seen at Broadford won three races and Wayne Morrison the other one.