Roar and awe in canefields

l EDMONTON

| Nick Dalton

UP to 3500 speedway fans are expected at the TWW Cairns Speedway in Edmonton tonight and tomorrow for the annual Autobarn Thunder in the Canefields.

Southern pro-sprintcar drivers will take on local heroes for the chance to take home the coveted sugar cane cutting knife trophy and a slice of the $17,000 prize pool.

Speedway manager Rob Goodwin said the sport was back in contention.

“A lot of hard work has gone into building the profile of the speedway in Cairns behind the scenes and we are seeing the payoff now with fans returning to watch high quality racing action,” he said.

“This is a battle of local versus southern drivers. Very highprofile drivers have come up to compete from Victoria, Western Australia, and southeast Queensland.

“Local Mareeba driver NQ51 Brodie Davis has just beaten everyone on July 8 with Victorian V2 Domain Ramsay finishing second and Cairns lo- cal NQ50 Wes Jenkins finished third.

“This means our local drivers hold their own. The points earned on Friday night cumulate to Saturday night for the finale.

“The pro-sprintcar class is relatively new since 2020 and has made it more affordable to own a sprintcar with an LS V8 engine standard across the board.

“The pro-sprintcar class has brought sprintcars back to

Cairns and the crowds have jumped from 500 per event to 1500 per normal event.

“In broad terms, the speedway is back in Cairns after a hey-day in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s before dropping off.”

Mr Davis, who has just won Queensland’s title for prosprintcar on July 8 at Mareeba against the same field competing said “taking out the win really shows FNQ is no push over”.

“As a class we have a lot of fast cars and for local drivers to take out first and third speaks highly of the calibre we have in the Far North region,” he said.

Autobarn Cairns and Smithfield sales manager Ty Jenkin said the firm was excited to be sponsor.

“We’re looking forward to sharing it with our staff who deserve to blow off some steam as we trade through one of the biggest renovations our Cairns store has ever seen,” he said.

“Autobarn Cairns and Smithfield have a long and strong association with Cairns Speedway and the local racing fraternity, a heritage we’re very proud to continue building on.”

The event starts on Friday (July 14) from 6pm and tomorrow with fireworks.