Sidecars to feature, if weather holds

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

THE sidecar champion of champions title goes on the line at Gisborne Speedway Club’s meeting tomorrow night . . . if the weather allows.

Best-pairs racing in all classes will also be run if forecast rain holds off.

The second meeting of the club’s season at Eastland Group Raceway promises to be action-packed.

Six combinations have been confirmed for the Phill Law Panelbeating and Engineering sidecar event. They include 3NZ Russell Stuart and Andy Parker, from Palmerston North.

Gisborne swinger Callum Innes will be the only local racing. He will have Whanganui’s Jason Rees on the bars of his bike 22G.

“We will have teams here from Palmerston North and Hawke’s Bay, and maybe a bike or two from Auckland,” Innes said.

“It’s going to be an open playing field, with tough opponents, so it’s going to be fast and close.”

A stockcar field of 16 to 18 cars will pick up where the action left off in that class last Saturday night, this time without the Rees family.

“The Gisborne Fluid and Machinery-sponsored best pairs will see local drivers paired up with drivers from Rotorua and Hawke’s Bay,” club president Grant MacGregor said.

“They will know who they are paired with, so it’ll be full-on racing.”

It will be the same in the other contact class, the Robert Harris Cafe Streetstocks.

“They will be paired up the same way, with drivers from Hawke’s Bay and Rotorua,” MacGregor said.

“We expect about a dozen cars.

“The drivers in the non-contact classes, like the RJ and RA Deere Production Saloon Best Pairs, won’t know their partners until the results are added up at the end.”

It will be the same in the Heavy Equipment Services Youth Ministock Series.

“We expect more than 20 cars there, and they are coming from all over the North Island,” MacGregor said.

The Professional Fleet Maintenance Saloons event completes the best-pairs programme. There will be 10 of them, with visiting cars, mainly from Hawke’s Bay.

“We are a little bit dubious at the moment because of the heavy rain forecast for tomorrow,” MacGregor said.

“If it goes ahead, it will be an awesome meeting.

“Best-pairs races always bring the best out in the drivers. They race hard for each other, especially when they know who they’re paired with.

“We expect the last race of the rounds will be all action in all classes.”

MacGregor said if the meeting had to be cancelled because of the rain, it would most probably be rescheduled.

“We would want to hold it some time in the New Year, but fingers crossed the weather gods are on our side.”

A decision on the meeting would be made by 2pm tomorrow, he said.

“If the meeting goes ahead, the gates to the Eastland Group Raceway will open at 6pm and the first race will start at 7pm.”