Aaron Rose and Nigel Sturgeon do their victory lap.
Whanganui sidecar duo Aaron Rose and Nigel Sturgeon left their run late but a final corner pass saw them win the New Zealand Sidecar Championship at Kihikihi Speedway on Saturday.
It was an exhilarating way to end the 60th running of one of NZ speedway’s oldest championships.
Rose and Sturgeon, the only Whanganui-contracted team in the championship, finished the qualifying heats fourth on points, narrowly missing out on direct qualification to the final.
Instead, the 34V team had to come through the B-Final, for the teams that had finished fourth to seventh, with only the winner progressing to the main event.
Winning the B-Final gave them confidence as they took their place in the championship race.
It was a classic North versus South affair featuring the 3NZ of Paul Humphrey and Chris Chatfield from Invercargill, Ben Morris and Graham Partridge from Christchurch, David Gannon and Daryl Pearce from Kihikihi and Rose and Sturgeon.
And it was an elite field, with Humphrey being a two-time former 1NZ, and Gannon and Pearce having won the title in 2018-19.
Humphrey and Chatfield took the lead from the start with Rose and Sturgeon in second but the race was over for the Christchurch pairing as they spun at Turn 3 on the opening lap.
The southerners led by around 15 metres after two laps but lost ground at Turns 3 and 4 on the third lap as they ran wide, allowing Rose to close to within a couple of bike lengths.
At the white flag, Humphrey held a narrow lead but Rose got good momentum on the back straight and, as Humphrey ran slightly wide again, the Whanganui bike powered through on the inside to the delight of the crowd.
Rounding the final bend in textbook fashion, hugging the poleline, Rose and Sturgeon took the race by two bike lengths and the celebrations began.
Hot on the heels of Brad Uhlenberg’s New Zealand Superstock Championship win a fortnight ago, Rose and Sturgeon created Whanganui speedway history; the first time competitors from the Wanganui Stockcar and Speedway Club have held the 1NZ plate in two different classes.
And like Uhlenberg in the superstocks, the Rose/Sturgeon win came from a brave and decisive move on the final corner.
Sturgeon, a project manager with a structural engineering firm, started in the sidecar class as a swinger in the early 1990s at the age of 16.
He and his rider Robbie Duncan (Whanganui) finished third in the New Zealand Champs at Nelson in 2000-01, then were joint winners of the title the following year at Oceanview Speedway in Whanganui.
After a number of years in Australia, he resumed his racing career with another Whanganui rider, John Hannan, before teaming up with Rose four seasons ago.
Rose is the workshop manager for Loaders in Whanganui and has been racing sidecars for 16 years, having started as a swinger for the team’s crew chief, Craig Scott.
Scott, himself a former 3NZ, has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is a critical part of the 34V team.
Buying his own machine, he first competed as a swinger for Jason Rees before taking the handlebars with Amelia Stanley swinging, then competing with his brother Bryce Rose, swinging on a bike owned by Bryce.
His current bike has a Mike Zachan-built Stinger frame and is powered by a 2016 YZF-R1 Yamaha crossplane motor.
Before this weekend, success at the New Zealand Championships had been elusive but the team has been in excellent form this season and past disappointments were forgotten.
Rose and Sturgeon were welcomed at the Speedway Garage on Sunday afternoon by a large gathering of speedway people, friends and family.
Among the attendees was Gerry Linklater, New Zealand Stockcar Champion in 2006-07, who, as a former champion, knows the level of dedication and commitment required to win a New Zealand championship.
Next year’s championship will be held at Oreti Park in Invercargill, with Sturgeon expecting the team to race in the deep south in the run-up to their title defence.
For now, however, they are Whanganui’s second 1NZ for the season, an achievement they will carry with immense pride as they celebrate success at the pinnacle of their sport.
And no one who knows their journey of redemption and resilience will begrudge their success this weekend; Aaron Rose and Nigel Sturgeon have well and truly paid their dues.