Track prep for 17th .

MOORE PARK Club Captain Wayne ( Abbo) Abernethy.

Drove up from Oamaru and putting two days into getting it ready and was assisted by

Rebels Manager James Moore and the Promoter of The

Kiwi -League Alan Crossbie.

To get the track in tip top race condition.

Ronder looks after the track when Wayne can't be around.

This webperson did not realise what was actually involved with the track prep.I have a great deal of respect for the guys that do it.

I beleive the same sort of dedication is being shown at our other tracks as well.

Thankyou everybody and keep up the good work.

Wow and fantastic is all I can say.

About the first Kiwi-League Motor Cycle Speedway Teams match held at Moore Park Raceway at

Weedons Ross Road West Melton.

The weather was quite foul and nobody could beleave that much speedway racing was going to take place today,especially when The Oreti Stormers Captain John Tuffley came out to test the track.

John just hammered his bike off the line which got everyone's pulse up if it didn't yer dead.

Because the track looked more suitable for jet ski's even though it was prepared to perfection by

Wayne Abernethy,after a couple of laps the thing did a donut comming out of turn 2,everybody thought that would be it,but John was up in a flash crash started his bike and shot back to the pits cleaned his goggles,before anyone new what was going on the first heat was away and what a cracker that was and set the pace for the rest of the day.

Oreti's Team Manager Dave Mckenzie won the toss and chose the outside gates for the first heat 

 James Miller made a brilliant start from gate 4 and powered round the field to win in the second fastest time of the day 68.83 kept very honest by an inform Daniel Mckinlay.

The racing just got better the weather didn't.

Blair Mckinlay came out in heat 3.and set the fastest time of the day 68.78 and went through the meeting unbeaten with a 12 point maximum.

James Miller only dropped a point to Blair Mckinlay finishing with an impressive 11 point haul

Daniel Mckinlay got the same with 9 and 2 bonus points,showing true leadership quality team riding well.

John Tuffley scored 8 and 1 bonus point and sets a high standard for his team mates to emulate well done that man.

Andrew Aldridge riding with a couple of smashed fingers,got a hard earned 7

Jonathan Able weighed in with 6 hard earned points actually every point is hard earned in this competition.

Jeff Manson got 5 1/2

Andrew Tree 4 1/2

Grant Tregoning,Steve Gunn,Alex Cunningham and Peter Stenning all got 3 points

Glen Sole did too with 2 and 1 bonus and Aiden Thwaites 1 and 1 bonus.

Well done to both teams the hardest core solo speedway supporters in the south Island witnessed a great meeting of fast paced solo action.Oh but it didn't stop there The second half of the meeting was enthrauling racing as well with The Matsons brewery Classic Series With Paul Fewings and Warwick Aldridge pushing each other hard and Simon Eastwick and Ian Graham getting smoother every outing.

The Kiwi Kids were flying six in a race 125s Stand out man there Anthoney Knowles this guy must be the smallest youngest guy out there but rode his heart out making that thing work real hard not quite as hard as Dale Finch had his 200 wound up to too take one race from the back mark realishing the soupy condition's unfortunatly suffering  engine problems later in the day Phillip Bray the other back marker having to work hard to come from the back for his win's,Vaughn Struthers rode impressively Aston Schafer Bradley Ellis rode with determanation,Jake Askew,Kabe Harding,Cory Lang ,and Cameron Sole,all rode hard on a very wet track in the rain.Well done to all the competitors supporters Moore Park commitee the officials,

Stewards              Keith Boyce

                               John Hecker

Referee                 John Connolly

Clerck of Course  Rhys Hamberger

Results & Times    Lynn Connolly

Pit Steward            John Jenkins

Commentaters      Dave Mcpherson

                                 Warrick Kortanje

Sound System       Jim Warnll

The St Johns Ambulance,The West Melton Tavern for maning the Matson Beer's tent,Sue and Marion in the suporters tent,Wendy,Owlyn,Francine for keepin the food coming,The Jumping castle people,Mr Whippy all the mum's and dads and of course the lucky spectators who got to see some very good racing.............................................................................. 

Every body that missed it really did miss out sorry.

Written by James Moore

Oval Racing Promotions.

The first challenge underway and a win to the Canterbury Rebels

by 42 to 36 points.

The ALL WEATHER MOORE PARK track held up extremely well as the meeting was held in adverse conditions for NZ. Wet inclement weather saw the perfect race surface slowly become laden with surface water.

As Ronnie Moore said " an English based Kiwi League held on a typical English track in normal English racing weather ",

(as they all crowded in the control tower out of the rain.)

In 30 odd years of following Speedway, it’s the first time I’ve seen a meeting successfully run in wet conditions. A true testament to the Moore Park track surface in contrast to the clay based tracks all around the country that fail when a sprinkle from above lands on them.

The racing for the 13 heat Kiwi-League challenge was exceptional, rapid fire in an attempt to get through a shortened programme which saw 29 races held. An excellent effort from all League riders, vets and juniors who rode in supporting events.

There seemed to be a quite determination by all concerned to see the meeting through. The series was launched in contrasting style in response to the efforts Alan Crosbie and his Oval Racing Team.

The message for fans was clear, don’t be late, don’t worry about the weather, just park up around the track. These guys are not afraid of a little wet weather. The meeting starts with League racing heats followed by supporting races and planned rider challenges in the second half .

Round 1 was a little curtailed due to the continuing rain

but set the standard for future challenges.

Racing was surprisingly keen given the conditions which resulted in some visibility and traction problems.

It was not until half way through that the Canterbury Rebels managed to edge ahead of the Southland Stormers.

James Miller and Alex Cunningham got the Stormers off to a good start with a win and third placing over Daniel McKinlay and Johnathon Able in the first heat.

Jeff Manson took out the second race to give them a 7-5 lead when Rebels Steve Gunn and Glen Sole pulled in the minor placing’s.

Blair McKinlay pulled one back for the Rebels with Grant Tregoning to make it 9 points each.

The Stormers John Tuffley managed to get in between to split them up.

The Stormers then hit back with Peter Stenning and Andrew Tree combining to make it 13-11 to Southland but this time Canterbury’s Andrew Aldridge squeezed in between them for the 2 ^{nd place.}

^{Next heat Blair McKinlay and Tregoning got the better of Miller and Cunningham to bring it back to 15 each.}

^{It was heat six when the table tipped Canterbury’s way as team riding by Johnathon Able with Daniel McKinlay guarding his rear kept out Manson and Tree to put the Rebels ahead 20 to 16.}

From then on the Canterbury Rebels slowly edged away to take the win by 42 to 36 points.

Race of the day was heat 12.

The McKinlay brothers lined up on grids 1 and 3 with the Stormers riders Andrew Tree and Aiden Thwaites on 2 and 4.

Tapes up and the dash for the first turn sees Blair slightly ahead of Thwaites but Thwaites slipped out a little allowing Daniel to claim 2nd.

Down the straight for the first time Blair holds tight while Daniel struggles a little on the outside in the wet slush.

Thwaites straightens and looks for the inside run.

Blair leads through the first lap, Daniel 1 bike length behind mid track as Thwaites again makes a charge down the inside edging ahead.

Daniel comes back around the outside of the turn and down the back straight they head.

Thwaites again grabs more traction and moves to come level.

Blair still out front looks for Daniel to catch up as they round turns three and four.

Daniel comes out of the turn four half a wheel ahead but Thwaites makes another storming run down the inside to overtake him entering the turn.

 Thwaites held 2nd momentarily as the slippery surface took it’s toll.

Too much speed entering the turn and Thwaites fell ending an excellent challenge.

Blair heads for the flag while Daniel manoeuvred around him to take 2nd .

 All this time Tree had trailed them all avoiding the slush thrown up by the swapping of lines, avoids Thwaites to come home and claim 3rd.

Canterbury’s main points came from Blair & Daniel McKinlay 12 & 9 while Aldridge and Able pulled in a useful 7 & 6 each.

Southland’s top scorer was Miller with 11.Tuffley 8 with Manson and Tree claiming 6 & 5 respectively.

Support racing by a Matson Brewery sponsored Classic Team of riders saw Paul Fewings lead on 11 points with Warrick Aldridge on 10. Ian Graham and Simon Eastwick collected 8 and 3 points respectively.

These point accumulate over the League series.

No tear offs with these guys. The goggles came off early on in each race.

Westport riders Kevin Williams and Scot Lang were the pick of the other seniors racing while the juniors turned on their usual competitive display.

In the 125cc class, Anthony Knowles continues to shine while Westport rider Cory Lang kept him honest with Jake Askew and Troy Schafer mixing it up.

200cc racers again saw Dale Finch and Phillip Bray battle away from the back marks while Chris Harris and Ashton Schafer made them work. New boy Vaughan Struthers is rapidly moving back on handicap.