Great 7th Annual Celebration Day Meeting
press release
On Sunday, 18 September, the New South Wales Speedway Kart Club hosted their 7th Annual Celebration Day - a day where the drivers and Club members have the opportunity to celebrate and thank the wonderful voluntary contributions made over many years by dedicated club members.
It was a beautiful spring day and fitting for such an occasion, and the older drivers who were present put on a great display of speedway driving as they battled through three heats and a grueling 35 lap final on the 450mtr track. The Midgets and Rookies ran 20 laps in their feature races.
Above: All the class winners with the Honourees of the day
Many drivers after the race were commenting on how, in a normal sprint race, the track doesn’t change much but over the 35 laps it changed nearly every lap. After the event drivers were more than keen to have extended finals again next year.
First on track this race meeting was the Rookie class, racing in honour of Rod Bright who has been with the Club for over 20 years helping with sponsorship or mentoring junior drivers during that time. Rod was also one of the most successful speedway kart racers and now spends his racing in sprintcars but still finds time to be an important part of the Club.
As has been all year, the girls were on hand to take it up to the boys again. Taylor Rietdyk was able to hold off the field to win Heat 2 and Taylor Coghlan had a great feature race and, in the end, comfortably won the race. However NSW State Champion Luke Sayre, after winning Heats 1 and 3, was able to claim outright points victory for the class. Finishing in 2nd place was visiting driver from Singleton, John Gillespie, who was very consistent claiming two 2nds and two 3rds across the four races. Coming off the back of her great feature race victory, Taylor Coghlan claimed enough points to finish 3rd for the day.
The KT Modified class was next to race and the Heavy and Light classes combined to race and say thanks to two men, Tony Baird and Lloyd Armstrong, who give their time at every race meeting. The help they have given the Club over many years is invaluable as is all the help from volunteers.
The racing in the division, across the day, was first class. Through the heats “Comeback King”, John Watton, had snuck up on the field and was the high points man going into the final. Coming from deep in the pack in two of the heats saw him gain big points even though he had not claimed a heat victory. Going into the 35 lap final, his strategy was easy - it is a long race, settle in, pick up places and take the round win. However motorsport is cruel and after all his good early work he was caught up in a lap 5 incident and recorded a DNF for the final.
In the heats it was David Boyd who saw the chequered flag first. Following a DNF in his first heat, Australian Champion Michael Jordan would go on to win Heats 2 and 3 and record victory in the feature. However when the points were tallied it wasn’t enough for Michael and the day’s placings were 1st David Boyd, 2nd Michael Jordan and 3rd John Watton.
Next up was the Junior class who had the privilege of racing in honour of a great Club man, Gary Bourke. Sadly we lost Gary to illness just over seven years ago but such was the impact he made that his memory is remembered each year at this race meeting.
A slightly smaller field than usual was on hand to race and it was another newly crowned Australian Champion picking up where he left off from his title meeting. Heats 1 and 2 saw Jake Baines take victory from Daniel Sayre, Lindsay Jones and Ayden Elliott who all shared the minor placings. In Heat 3 Lindsay Jones drove a great race to take the win from Ayden Elliott and Daniel Sayre.
Come feature time all the young drivers were looking forward to the challenge of the extended race and, by race end, it was Ayden Elliott who, after starting from grid position 5, took the win from Jordan Binskin with Jake Baines finishing 3rd after starting 8th.
At the end of the day the final points placings for the Junior class was 1st Jake Baines, 2nd Daniel Sayre and 3rd Ayden Elliott.
The Clubman class drivers who turned up raced to thank Shane Orre for all the help she has given over the eight years she and her family have been with the Club. Always helping with whatever is required is very appreciated by all Club members and the Clubman drivers were honoured to be driving for her.
This meeting saw young lady racer, Alana Onley, come of age and her driving all day was first class . Alana won Heats 1 and 2 and was in a very strong position in Heat 3 before a DNF would see her miss out on a perfect score. The minor placings in the heats were taken out by Kyle Caunt, Wayne Baines and cameo driver, Tim Briggs. Tim is the owner of the Lapstone Hotel who helped promote the Australian Titles held earlier in the month and the Club, along with the Coghlan Oval Track Racing Team, combined to repay Tim’s effort by allowing him to race the day.
Heat 3 saw Richard Elliott win and he held off a last corner challenge by Wayne Baines who had come back to race the class after a couple of years of racing KT Modified. In the feature race Wayne Baines was able to take the win from Richard Elliott with a very improved Alana Onley 3rd. The win wasn’t enough to see Baines make the podium and when the points were tallied it was Elliott and Onley tied at the top. Due to Richie’s win in the feature, the final placings were 1st Richard Elliott, 2nd Alana Onley and 3rd Tim Briggs.
The mighty Midgets were the final class to tear up the track and, on this Celebration day, a couple of special results would come from the on-track action.
The start of the day saw Kaidon Brown continue his winning season taking out Heat 1 from his starting position 8. Following Kaidon home were two very improved drivers - Andrew Sayre was 2nd and Liam Walker 3rd. Heat 2 had Jake Donaldson taking the win and he was chased home by the two Liam’s - Walker would be 2nd and Camilleri 3rd.
Having finished 3rd in his first heat, 2nd in his second heat, Liam Walker won his 3rd heat and these results would see him line up for the feature as the high points man. Minor placings in the 3rd heat went to Kaidon Brown in 2nd and Liam Camilleri 3rd. Feature time came around and what a result - starting from position 9 Liam Camilleri would win his first ever feature race in a great drive; chasing him all the way was Liam Walker who started from grid spot 11 to claim third whilst second place was awarded to Andrew Sayre. Once the points were tallied Liam Walker would hold his first ever round win trophy for his 1st place, 2nd was Liam Camilleri and 3rd was Andrew Sayre. The Midget racing was first class all day and a joy to watch and after the presentation there were some very proud parents.
Another feature of the day was the newly named trophy in honour of Scott Darley. The Darley family was very instrumental in the early years of the Club and Scott’s tragic and untimely accident affected a lot of Club members at the time. The committee has decided that the highest points scorer of the Celebration Day meeting will receive the “Scott Darley Achievement of Excellence “ Award. The 2011 winner of the trophy was Midget driver Liam Walker which was fitting given that his father, Wayne, was mates with Scott. He was very proud that Liam won the Award.
The Team Of The Year event was again contested this year. The concept of teaming a junior driver with a senior driver for the meeting was again taken in the spirit of the day and it was great to see the senior drivers mentoring their younger team mates. The 2011 Team Of The Year Award went to the team of senior driver, David Boyd and Midget driver, Andrew Sayre. Both drivers received a $150 voucher supplied by Sayre Racing and Karting World.
All in all it was another great day for the Club and its members and everyone enjoyed a relaxed fun day of racing.
The next race meeting for the NSWSKC is on 16 October for the running of “The Nationals”.
