Cormac leaves them in his dust
Speedway young gun Cormac Buchanan proved unbeatable to secure the Permacoat Roofing Southland Junior Solo Championship at Oreti Park on Saturday.
The Invercargill 10-year-old reigned supreme in the 125cc division winning all four of his heats and the final, while Canterbury’s Ben Whalley repeated the feat to clinch the 200cc title.
Buchanan was forced to overcome a challenging start in the final but quickly worked his way through the field to scorch past race leader Caleb Whalley, of Canterbury, and snatch the advantage for the remaining three laps. Oreti’s Ryan Colvin was second, with Whalley third.
‘‘I’m really excited. I had some tough competition so it wasn’t easy but it’s nice to have another Southland championship title, especially since last year I crashed out of the final,’’ Cormac said.
For Whalley, 14, victory justified the decision to venture south.
‘‘My aim was to win – it’s what we came for,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve finally got the bike going really good.’’
Racing at Oreti Park vided a new challenge. pro-
‘‘It’s pretty slick compared to the Moore Park track – it’s really smooth and fast. It’s always tough when you come down here because there’s lots of good riders.’’
Despite riding a 125cc machine, Oreti’s Hayden Brookland put in a solid performance, pushing Whalley throughout the final. Temuka’s Jake Drake earned third, tenaciously pushing his bike over the line after blowing up his engine on the last lap.
In the support classes, Erwin Tree and Bret Pubben won the sidecar event over Luke Thwaites and Neville Chalmers and Jason Harpur and Mark George.
Les Payne earned top honours in the classic solo field, ahead of Glen Sole and Jimmy Hannan, while Paul Highsted beat Zane Pay and Peter Knapton respectively in the Solo B division.
In the Pee Wee class, Braxton Casey was first in division one, followed by Kadin Cracknell and Jakob Voorkamp and Eli Bartley third equal, while Bella Earley won division two over Oscar Drake, of Temuka, and Rylan Casey.
Rider of the day awards went to Jake Gillespie (Solo), Dakota Crengle (Junior) and Jakob Voorkamp (PeeWee).