Rob Miller and his swinger “Red” George (8G) finished second in the East Coast sidecar championship.
“Red and I could not quite retain the East Coast title we won last year,” Miller said.
“The track was pretty rough.
“But the bike went beautifully, and it’s set us up nicely for the national teams competition this weekend in Gisborne.”
At this stage, the title will be contested by four teams of three bikes.
Ethan Cook (1NZG) picked up two firsts and a second in the saloon races on Saturday night, with some more consistent driving.
“It was a good run for the car; we haven’t been out of town for a while,” Cook said.
He and his brother Daniel (77G) will race for the North Island team in the North-versus-South clash to be held in Huntly on April 13 and 14.
Brenden Gooch (2NZ) scored a first and two seconds in the streetstocks at Meeanee.
It was a best-pairs competition.
“Unfortunately my partner was taken out on the first corner in the first race, and that was him out for the night,” Gooch said.
“We would have done pretty well in the best pairs if he’d finished.
“But I was happy with my performance.”
In addition, Mason O’Dwyer (99G) took third place in the stockcars at Kihikihi.
“It was called the ‘stockcar challenge’, and there were about 25 starters,” O’Dwyer said.
“I wasn’t really expecting to finish that well after a disappointing first heat on what was a new track for me.
“But I was able to bounce back in the next two heats and then was tied for third on overall points.”
A run-off was required to decide third place, and he won it.
“It felt good to do that, especially as the driver I beat to finish third was Tyler Walker, the current New Zealand stockcar champion,” O’Dwyer said.
As Neil Gooch, the Gisborne Speedway Club president, put it: “It was another great weekend for the ‘G’ cars”.
