Pitstop: Speedway ace Shirra back on home track

By BOB PEARCE

Veteran Mitch Shirra, back home after riding professionally overseas for 22 years, will be racing in the World Motorcycle Derby at Rosebank Domain on Sunday as the international speedway troop return for another North Island tour.

Intrepid promoter John McCallum has lined up five other international riders for nine meetings over the next month.

They will race at Western Springs on Saturday for the New Zealand Grand Prix.

The other internationals are race-hardened. Englishman Stuart Robson rides for Coventry in the Elite League in England and for Team Norspeed in Sweden. Jason Bunyan is with Reading in the Premier League and German club Melsungen.

Eighteen-year-old Chris Schramm was a member of the Young England Team last season and rides for Reading in the Premier League.

Simone Terenzani is the Italian champion and Scott Fisher is the Queensland champion.

Shirra was seven times a world finalist, three times NZ champion and runner-up in the world long-track championship (1992) and the world pairs with Ivan Mauger (1984).

He was a member of the New Zealand team who won the World Team Cup in 1979.

The internationals will be back at Rosebank Domain for the national solo championships on February 2. They will also ride at Kihikihi (January 26) and Gisborne (February 8).

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Inky Tulloch and Andrew Porter will be the men to beat when Super Trucks begin their championship at Timaru this weekend.

Southlander Tulloch, in a Freightliner Century 112, has won the past three Australian titles, but the Porter Kenworth, campaigned last season by Andrew's brother Mark, will be very competitive.

Three Australians are in the 14-strong field, Bob Middleton, Barry Butwell and Dave Pitman.

The second round will be at Pukekohe from January 18-19.

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Consistent results in the three races at Teretonga at the weekend have consolidated Mark Pedersen's lead in the New Zealand V8 championship going into the fourth round at Timaru this weekend.

The Ford driver was fourth, second and third and now has 129 points, 15 ahead of his West Auckland rival, Andy Anderson, in a Holden.

Then follow Paul Manuell (Holden) 108, Paul Pedersen (Ford) 92, Michael Thom (Holden) 88, Andy Booth (Holden) 87 and John McIntyre (Holden) 78.

McIntyre was the big improver of the Teretonga weekend. He won two of the races in a Team Kiwi Holden.

New Zealand Grand Prix winner Jonny Reid has a 32-point lead in the Formula Ford championship, with Simon Gamble second and Chris Pither third.

Brett Riley leads the Porsche points from Mike Weeks and Rick Armstrong.

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Aucklander Jamie Fox will try at Waikaraka Park on Saturday to add the Super Dirt Cup to the national modified championship he won recently at Rotorua.

But he faces a tough challenge.

Fellow Aucklander Scott Lane is the man in form after winning the warm-up feature last Saturday at Waikaraka.

But among the big field of visitors will be Canterbury champion Glen Leech, Tony Galbraith from Huntly, five-times national champion Murray Gordge from Stratford and Wellingtonian Tama Arapere.