Motorsport fans looking for a great night’s entertainment need look no further than Bairnsdale Speedway this Saturday night as the new season gets underway.
The meeting will feature the King of the Rock for limited sportsmen and the visiting Speedway Drivers Association of Victoria hot rods leading a night that includes standard saloons, division two hot rods, and junior 1200cc sedans.
Leading the nominations in the limited sportsman is current Victorian champion Dillon Siely.
In a pleasing sign for the class, the field has grown at Bairnsdale with eight local cars locked in for the first show of the season along with the visiting Daryl Carpenter from the Hamilton Speedway club.
The likes of Darren Adams, Mark Laity, Mal Siely, Dan and Matt Hurley, plus Jayden White who caught the bug last season in a one-off night of racing for club president Mark Both are all in for the battle, as is Both himself.
This is a stellar local field with more cars to hit the track as the season moves along. Getting hands on the King of the Rock trophy will not be an easy run for anybody on Saturday night.
Division two hot rods return to racing with new competitors set to join in the fun. Competing for the first time in the division after a busy off-season getting some cars built will be Kate Stuchbery and her best mate Chris Greaves, while Josh Thomas who has been a front runner in standard saloons at Bairnsdale in particular will debut.
They will take on the likes of Ben Crittenden and Troy Wilson from Lakes Entrance, Leigh Mitchell, along with Robert and Mel Tatterson.
Mitchell is a former class Victorian champion and along with current Victoria number two driver Mel Tatterson they have the results on the board to be drivers to beat.
Open standard saloon competition will be fierce as it is each and every race meeting at Bairnsdale in the most competitor local class in Gippsland.
It is hard to look past Josh Thomas who will be doing double duty when it comes to picking a winner. He has been frequently first across the line the last four or five seasons.
However, Beau Stuchbery, second in last season’s club championship, and Ashley Cormack, who was third, have their sights set on early points in this year’s championship.
The competitive Leigh Gooding is keen to start his season off strongly and the likes of Jamie Curtis, Tyson Cull, Andrew Cormack and Don Fyfe see this as a chance to pinch an early season win also.
With the Victorian title for the junior 1200cc sedans once again slated for Bairnsdale Speedway, the parents have accepted an invitation from the club to attend this Saturday night and get a race meeting under their belt before the title.
The likes of Xander Baxter, Riley Taylor, Ryder Taylor, Jaylen Knight and Chase Doherty are all skilled front running competitors from last season and they are keen to assume dominance right out of the blocks.
New drivers including Zara Baxter and Ruby Bromage will race for the first time, while Eliza Taylor and Cruz Taylor are looking to continue their development from last season and put themselves right up front of the racing this weekend.
Fans of eight cylinder powered open wheel race cars will enjoy the hot rods who appear this weekend.
Victorian champion Shannon Meakins leads the attending field with competition coming at him with the likes of Brendan Roberts, Phil Jenkins, Andrew Kemp and Shannon’s wife Kali Hovey among those looking to upset the champion.
Daniel Chesterfield joins the club while Neil Sixtus and Allan Borradale are keen to upset those used to finishing up front with a placing of their own.
Spectator entry begins from 1pm, racing will kick off at 5.30pm.
Eftpos is the preferable method of payment and is available at the ticket box, pit box and canteen.
