Sidecars in contention

CONTENDERS: Gisborne's Rob Miller on the bars and his swinger 'Red' George have raced with a 'P' on their bike this season, as they are contracted to the Palmerston North track, but they are still 'Gizzy proud'. Tomorrow they take on 24 crews to decide the New Zealand sidecar championships. Picture by Le Pro Photography

SPEEDWAY

THE rescheduled New Zealand speedway sidecars title will be decided in Gisborne tomorrow.

Eastland Group Raceway will be the scene of high drama as 24 combinations try to dethrone 1NZ driver David Gannon and swinger Daryl Pearce, of Kihikihi. They will be here to defend their title.

Gisborne contenders include Callum Innes and Jason Rees (22G), who have been racing well this season, and Stuart Priest and Kerwin Arnaboldi (52G).

While Gisborne's Rob Miller and swinger “Red” George (8P) have a Palmerston North “P” on their bike, they have a “G” in their hearts.

They must be considered serious contenders for a place on the podium.

Bikes have been entered from all over the country for the Stubbs Contracting-sponsored championships.

Qualifying will start at 1pm tomorrow, with afternoon admission free of charge.

“We decided to run the event all in one day to allow the public to look at the qualifying heats in the afternoon, with no gate charge,” Gisborne Speedway Club president Clyde McGrory said.

“Our last meeting was rained off after only five and a half races and as a sign of good faith the club wants to offer the fans some recompense.”

Qualifying will take about two hours, with racing to restart at 6pm.

The 25 crews will be divided into three groups. They will each get four heats to decide the top 20 for the finals.

Gisborne's Clive Ireland (56G) will not be racing as he continues to recover from a crash injury. He was one of the main hometown hopes for the podium.

“Clive's mending well and is keen to get back on to his bike at some stage,” McGrory said.

The support programme includes TQs, stockcars, saloons, production saloons, and youth ministocks.

“We've again got a big field for the stockcars, including the drivers who tried so hard in the Gladiators team in the recent national stockcar teams championships in Stratford,” McGrory said.

The Gladiators were second in the second tier of the championships.

“They've done really well for a young team,” McGrory said.

“The club will really get behind them next year, mentor them and help them with vehicle and mental preparations.

“We plan to give the whole team a good boost, from the drivers' attitude to the tyres on their cars.”

For the main part of the programme, the gates open at 5pm tomorrow night and the first race is at 6pm.