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Who is Highline Magazine Editor: Brett Swanson Contributors; Kaylene Oliver, Grant Woodhams, Ray Reed, Andy Ticehurst. Artist/layout; Andy Ticehurst / PRM Group Photographers: Brett Swanson – Pirate Media Kieran Swanson – Pirate Media Matt Hines – Jigsaw Photography Andy Ticehurst – PRM Group Rachel Cooper - Inaction Photos Leigh Reynolds - Inaction Photos Geoff Gracie You – The Speedway fans Facebook Contributions / Criticism Welcome. High Line Magazine Brett Swanson 0410 198 138 brett@piratemediagroup.com.au
Front Cover: Main pic: 21 year old Polish rider Bartosz Zmarzlik made a huge impression in his first year as a full time rider in the FIM SGP series taking out the Bronze medal in the World championship. This shot is Bartosz in action at Etihad stadium in the final round. Inset: The look on QBE Insurance FIM Speedway Grand Prix Australian round winner Chris Holder is a mixer of joy and relief. Buoyed by his vocal home crowd, Holder had the pleasure of both winning the final, his first in four years, and seeing his younger brother Jack finally make his SGP debut.
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his issue is, like our last one, something of a special edition as we cover the annual Australian round of the FIM World Speedway Grand Prix Series and what a round it was with 2012 World Champ Chris Holder getting a home town win, the first time ever for an Aussie winner in Australia. And while that made the event something special and had the crowd in raptures, how much better could it have been if Jason
Doyle was here and securing his first World Championship. Doyle was on a tear winning three straight rounds and leading the World Championship with only two rounds to go when he was caught up in another riders accident and was severely injured to the point that he couldn’t even fly out to Australia even just to watch the event. How frustrating for Doyle, but let’s hope he recovers quickly and continues his
Our Contributors There is more to taking a nice speedway photo other than just catching a car at speed sideways through a corner, there is of course the human element, something that many people see as the real part of the sport. Shane Sharrock from Rock Solid Productions is one of those photographers who has what is known as “an eye”, that is the ability to visualise how effective a photo can be when taken from a different angle or of a different subject other than just the race car alone. Shane first came to light when he approached me to come out and effectively be the “track photographer” at the now defunct Rolling Thunder Raceway in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. As the head commentator at the venue it was virtually impossible for me to do both roles of photographer and announcer so Shane was given the green light. With just an entry level camera with a fixed lens, he started shooting and it was apparent straight away that he had some great artistic ability. In other words he had “an eye”. The team at Inaction photos – Leigh Reynolds and Rachael Cooper - then became aware of Shanes work and when Hamilton based photographer and model builder Geoff Gracie (featured in edition ______) had all of his inferior Canon equipment for sale (Nikon rules). The Inaction team actually purchased the equipment and gave it to Shane on a payment arrangement scheme to help his photography progress to the next level. Since then Shane has flourished as a photographer and as a result we have featured a selection of his work in this edition. This season Shane has branched out on his own under the banner Rock Solid Productions as a result of Inactions decision to cut back on their previously daunting schedule. By the way if any other aspiring photographers like Shane would like to see their work in the pages of Highline, send through your images and where possible we’ll run them. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the quality photographs of the highline team, including our featured snapper – Shane Sharrock – RSP. 6
HIGHLINE MAGAZINE | EDITION 12
POINT OF VIEW
sensational form right from the start of the 2017 Championship chase. Doyle’s absence made it just that bit easier for Greg Hancock to become a deserving four time world champion. While we’re talking about world champions how many people knew that Australia currently holds the under 21 World Title? Not many I suspect. Wouldn’t it be great if MA (Motorcycling Australia) did what they should and let all the media outlets know about our rider’s achievements?
Woffinden turned to me and with a stern look on his face simply stated with authority “I’m an Aussie.” That’s good enough for me and backs up Jason Doyle’s statement in a recent SGP round where he shared the podium with both Holder and Woffinden and said “It’s great to see three Aussies on the podium.” Recently I heard some interesting thoughts from an associate who has his finger on the pulse about the Sprintcar scene in the USA for next year.
Our source told me that Tony Stewart will Congratulations to Max Fricke for winning get back in the saddle of a Sprintcar and the world under 21 or junior World Champi- will contest rounds of the All-Star Circuit onship and also to Jack Holder for just miss- of Champions (ASCoC) next season. Stewing out on the bronze medal after a run-off art of course owns the ASCoC but will not against Brit Robert Lambert. be looking for any favouritism. In fact you could almost guarantee that any line ball Veteran journalist, former competitor and decisions will fall against him so as not to bike tragic Peter White has been handing be seen to be favouring the boss. The best out brickbats to MA for years and it’s easy to part about all of this is that it will be fantassee why. tic to see Stewart back behind the wheel of a Sprintcar. You may notice elsewhere in this edition where I refer to “Aussie” Tai Woffinden and Speaking of Stewart, Shane Stewart that is, wonder what is that all about? You could rumours are suggesting that he will be out easily be confused on this issue as he is of a ride as the Larson Marks Racing entry claimed as a British rider and the British flag will not compete with the Outlaws next is held up on stage when referring to him. year. Apparently the lack of financial return from prize money is the reason and that is However, at the QBE insurance Australafter Stewart has had a very solid year with ian SGP event at Etihad stadium recently 8 wins, 37 top five finishes, 62 top ten finI noticed Woffinden singing along to the ishes and 4 quick times. Only Donny Schatz Australian National Anthem as it was being (24, 58, 73 & 5) and David Gravel (9, 44, 65 & played for the winner Chris Holder. 6) have more wins than Shane Stewart. Later while Woofy was sitting in a car waiting to be paraded I quickly walked over and Speaking of Schatz, will he be a full time said “It was great to see you singing the outlaw next year? Maybe not as his dad Aussie national anthem.” Danny has been busily buying up large amounts of Late Model Equipment and we www.HighlineMagazine.com.au
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all know that Donny has been doing more and more Late Model racing lately. Why? Donny has possibly achieved everything he wants to achieve in Sprintcar racing and will go down in the history books as one of the best ever, but, and I know this may be hard for die hard Sprintcar fans to swallow, there are more top level Late Model Races on the calendar and they race for more money more often. Maybe Donny wants to be the first driver to be both an Outlaw Sprintcar and Late Model Champion or is just looking for a new challenge. If this is the case will Tony Stewart put someone else in the seat of the TSR Outlaw Sprintcar. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Another rumour coming out is that Kasey Kahne is also scaling back his Outlaw effort to a single car team probably with Brad Sweet maintaining his seat as opposed to Daryn Pittman. With Joey Saldana and Paul McMahan pulling back from the Outlaws and Kerry Madsen losing his Aussie outlaw team, numbers of full time outlaws may be the lowest they’ve been for some time. Look to see dual outlaw feature winner Logan Schuchart racing in Australia this
season ahead of his continuation with the outlaws next year in the team with his uncle Robert “Jacob” Allen and his legendary granddaddy Bobby Allen. Another touring Sprintcar series that is in trouble numbers wise is this seasons World Series Sprintcars. The contracted drivers list extends to just six drivers – former champions Brooke Tatnell, James McFadden, and Jamie Veal and Daniel Harding, Jason Pryde and Andrew Wright. Four of the six contracted drivers are Western Australian based teams. An expanded 19 race schedule may be partly to blame as the championship now runs from November 12 2016 to February 26 2017 making it impossible to get any Americans to contest the entire tour. Entries are already starting to flow in for the Lucas Oils Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic and when you think about it, it’s really not that far away. No Americans have been confirmed as yet. Congratulations to Chad Kemenah on his fifth ASCoC Championship after narrowly defeating Dale Blaney to the title. It’s great to see the way this often maligned sport of ours bands together in times of crisis to help out others in need. Young Liam Parr suffered a serious illness, one that could have easily taken his life,
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but thankfully that is not the case. However, young Liam has endured a tortuous and prolonged hospital stay with much of it in the Intensive care unit fighting for his young life. Speaking with Liam’s father Adrian Parr, Adrian admitted that while Liam was getting a little better physically each day, the mental trauma of the hospital stay and the constant operations (averaging 1 every second day) is taking its toll. Thankfully our sport is full of people like David Dickson from Essendon Ford and Eureka Series Champion Brett Milburn. Dickson arranged the delivery of an “Ian Loudoun” Essendon Ford #3 helmet while Milburn arranged a fund raising raffle at Avalon raceway on opening night with many items donated by other drivers and teams. Our best wishes for a quick and full recovery go out to young Liam. Hope to see you back at the track as soon as possible. R.I.P. Brenton “Ice” Mills. The sport has lost another of its supremely talented steerers with the recent passing of Brenton “Ice” Mills. Mills was a sedan supremo following hard and fast in the families footsteps but sadly he has departed this world way too early.
Highlne magazine and many speedway fans around the country will miss the foot to the floor exciting way that he drove, but more than that, many, many competitors will miss the support and advice he was always quicker to offer than a fast lap around Avalon. To the Mills and Madden families and to all of his friends and fans, we extend our deepest condolences. Ian “Motors”Grant. Condolences also to the friends and family of Ian “Motors” Grant who also passed away a little while back. Motors was well known in the speedway industry and was a former President of the Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria and a great mate of the late Graeme McCubbin. Motors was also a great benefactor to the sport sharing some of his financial luck around amongst others not least being the All Stars. Ian had been suffering poor health and failing eyesight recently due to his diabetes and will be sadly missed by all who knew him. R.I.P Motors.
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THE MOST GRUELING
“ THE HELL TOUR
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Event coverage
TOUR IMAGINABLE......
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s part of Highline Magazines recent Indiana Sprint Week (ISW) tour, gaps in and around the ISW were filled with local rounds of the Summer Nationals Hell Tour for Late Model Sedans and UMP Modifieds. The Summer Nationals has to be the most gruelling speedway tour imagina-
Traveling
ble for competitors and crews with five almost solid weeks of racing across six states of the Mid-West of the USA. Drivers and crews who contest the entire schedule are however given some respite with every Monday night off from racing and I’m sure that although we don’t like to admit it, the odd rain out would also be a bittersweet relief
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Event coverage
for many. As part of our tour we planned to take in three rounds of the series being Peoria and Macon, both in Illinois immediately prior to ISW and Plymouth, Indiana on the off Tuesday night of ISW.
Peoria. To get the Peoria race in was a herculean effort by the promotor when 4 inches of rain over night left the infield more like a lake than a race track. It would have been easy to cancel but the event went on. Speaking of Hercules, it was a cool sight when a pair of Hercules air force planes flew low over the top of the track after taking off from the nearby
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Dare we say “Nice rear end” on the Gordy Gundaker #
Rolling into the speedway, which sits just out of the main city of Peoria which is a large, historic and pretty city, our first impressions were that it was not that big a track. It did however have some decent banking in the corners.
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base. Rolling into the speedway, which sits just out of the main city of Peoria which
The #42 McKay Wenger team taking things easy in the 12
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#11 Late Model.
e Illinois summer swelter prior to racing.
THE HELL TOUR
is a large, historic and pretty city, our first impressions were that it was not that big a track. It did however have some decent banking in the corners. At the end of the night in the Late Models Bobby Pierce had been forced to battle hard with Kevin Weaver before scoring his eighth DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory of the series. Weaver, who started on the outside front row, jumped out to the early lead but Pierce caught him as he began working through traffic. With Pierce out front, Weaver began a three-way battle for second with Billy Moyer and Jason Feger. Pierce successfully navigated through traffic and notched his second victory of the Week as he continued his dominant run through the Summer Nationals. “It’s just so hard to pass here because you swing out to the wall,” Pierce said. “If you’ve got a run on the top, then you always have to check up for the other person. I was trying to make a bottom lane work and (Weaver) got in there and washed up a little bit and got stuck behind the lapped car and I got under there.” “Peoria’s a racetrack where you’ve got to expect a lot of cars,” Pierce said. “I’m just glad we got another win. It’s really awesome. The car was great tonight.” Weaver closed out the night in second with Jason Feger in third, Moyer in fourth and Ryan Unzicker in fifth.
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Dean Carpenter #51 runs the top wide open during hot laps/qualifying. Late
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er he would actually go upside down – a rare thing for Late Models.
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McKay Wenger adjusts his rear wing for greater down force by rubbing it on adjustable wings! 16
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Event coverage
In the companion DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals it was former NASCAR star Kenny Wallace who dominated to claim his first win of the season and become the ninth different driver to stand in victory lane. Wallace started on the front row with reigning series champion Mike Harrison, but quickly jumped out to the lead. Very quickly he had to contend with a charging Levi Kissinger. A caution came out with 10 laps to go which added Harrison back into the mix. Through the remaining laps, Harrison fought Kissinger for second as Wallace worked to hang on to the lead. Ultimately it was Wallace across the line in first with Kissinger in second and Harrison in third.
how tough it is to make the call to race or not and the weather forecast wasn’t looking too flash either for his own venue.
Macon. Macon was a complete contrast to Peoria. It is literally a two horse town in the middle of corn fields and farming and the venue itself sits right in the corner of the property with houses on the other side of the narrow road and no sound barriers. If we thought Peoria was a small track then we were surprised to see exactly how small Macon was although I had seen vision of it before and knew it was not that big a
“I can tell you this, the reason I run the Summer Nationals is for these trophies,” Wallace said in victory lane. “When we had that caution, I heard (Kissinger) was in second. I watched him at Brownstown and he rolled the bottom really good. I knew I had to hit my marks.” Wallace was also at pains to thank the promoters for running the event despite the weather and the extra work required. As a co-owner of tomorrow nights’ venue, Wallace knows
Jason Feger is known as the “high-side hustler” and that is where he spent most of his tim
THE HELL TOUR
venue. To give you an idea of the size of it, on restarts for the Late Models feature event, the lead car was almost on the tail of the last car as he was taking the restart green flag. Like Peoria, the track was black and had some decent banking and the dirt built up against the wall over the night and provided a huge curved cushion and halved the height of the retaining wall. Jason Feger, the bespectacled “high-side hustler” was sublime as he ran the berm constantly and with such speed and accuracy.
me at Peoria and Macon although it’s not so obvious in this sideways action shot.
Another unforgettable image was the difference in corner entry speed if you ran the top compared to the bottom, but of course you needed to be wary of cars slowing up to run the bottom as you were blasting into the turns against the wall. While the track was small the race duration was not as the final was scheduled for 100 green flag laps. The Late Models were truly spectacular and Kevin Weaver was poised to win after a great three way battle with Feger and Pierce but bad luck sidelined him, giving Pierce another DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory. Feger led the feature early with Weaver hot on his tail. Weaver took over the top spot on lap 25 and led big until mechanical issues sidelined him on lap 38. Weaver’s bad luck was Pierce’s good luck as he inherited the lead and through the remaining laps pulled away from the field. “That’s what it takes to get this many wins. You’ve got to have luck,” Pierce said. “You can be running first and break like Weaver did. He was super-fast tonight. I was just kind of waiting for the track to slick off a little bit. I was just kind of biding my time, but he was really fast. I was going to be pretty worried.”
A moment of pure devastation for Kevin Weaver. Weaver had fought hard to pass on his teams merit only to suffer this costly engine failure. Weaver was a contend bigger budgeted Pierce team took the triumph.
s both Jason Feger and Bobby Pierce to take the lead of the 100 lap final purely der whenever he ran also leading the previous nights’ feature at Peoria before the
Feger finished in second with Bob Gardner in third, Chuck Mitchell in fourth and Daryn Klein in fifth.
competitor who he believed had spun him out. The irate driver then exited the race track while officials tried to stop him and thankfully some cooler heads were able Another unusual sight was to see not 1 to calm the mad driver down before things but 2 Late Models roll-over. Veteran Shan- escalated even further in the pits. non Babb was a casualty in the final after contact while dicing and earlier Dean Unfortunately for Highline Magazine, our Carpenter had also flipped after tagging Tuesday night round at Plymouth Speedthe wall. way in Northern Indiana was lost to rain when a heavy downpour drenched the The UMP modified event was also a venue just as teams and fans were rolling beauty and eventual winner Rodney in. Standerfer had his hands full during the feature with Zach Rhodes and Levi KissA second place finish at the series fiinger challenging throughout, but the vet- nale at Ohio’s Oakshade Speedway was eran Standerfer held off both to score his enough for the 19 year old Pierce to celfirst win of the season. ebrate his second straight Late Model Summer Nationals series championship. Standerfer led early, but through two cautions he first had Rhodes on his bumper, For Pierce, the second place finish looking for a way around on the high side wrapped up a dominant series that saw and then Kissinger, battling side-by-side him in victory lane 10 times, score three of through the middle portion of the race. the five weekly championships and easStanderfer moved from the bottom to the ily secure the DIRTcar Summer Nationals top side and through cautions and traffic championship. managed to keep Kissinger at bay. “I wanted to get that last (win) so I could “We kept getting them yellows, getting be 50/50 (11 wins in 22 features), but it’s them yellows and I kept thinking, come been a great Hell Tour,” Pierce said. “It’s on!” Standerfer said. “This has been a really cool to do it again. There’s a lot of dream come true.” competition with this series, and venturing out to other places… not only did we win Kissinger finished in second with Ray the championship, but we ran really good Walsh in third, Josh Harris in fourth and at a lot of tracks that I’m not really used the previous night’s winner, Kenny Walto running at. I’m pretty proud of the team lace, in fifth. and everyone who helped us out.” The action and excitement wasn’t just confined to the Late Models and UMP Modifieds as the B-Modifieds were also on hand and it’s not every day that you see a car sliding backwards onto the infield narrowly missing a photographer and then driving straight back out onto the track and deliberately t-boning a fellow
Pierce is the first repeat Summer Nationals champion since Dennis Erb Jr. won three in a row from 2007 to 2009. He also became just the fifth driver in Summer Nationals history to cross over the doubledigit win mark, joining greats Shannon Babb, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer and Don O’Neal.
Former NASCAR star Kenny Wallace who now races UMP Modifieds only for “Thes quite get the job done at Macon, a track he co owns with fellow hard core racers
se big trophies they hand out”, took the win at a sodden Peoria but couldn’t Tony Stewart and Kenny Schraeder.
Macon is such a small but fast bullring that contact is inevitable when you stack t #77 is pushed off the infield while his dance partner Steven Brooks #5 can be see
the track with a 24 car feature grid. In this shot a heavily damaged Ray Bollinger en getting towed out the gate in the background.
Event coverage
Joining in the festivities on Saturday night was Nick Hoffman who continued his phenomenal season by holding off the reigning champion Mike Harrison to score his first ever Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals championship. Hoffman shot out of the gate on the rain-delayed opening night at Kankakee and despite being challenged late by Harrison, was the class of the field through the month-long stretch. Hoffman won six times throughout the gruelling summer season. The accolades add to a year that has included numerous wins and a DIRTcar Nationals title and the coveted ‘Big Gator’ trophy. A staggering 270 different Late Model Racers took part including Paul Stubber, while a phenomenal 355 different UMP Modified racers contested at least one round. Wow!!!
The incident that triggered the damage in the previous
Defending UMP Modified Summer Nationals champion Mike Harrison tried hard to hold onto his crown as can be seen here as he battles hard with local racer Jeff Leka (3L) at Macon.
s photo. Contact between Ray Bollinger. Steven Brooks #5 and a spinning Nathan Balansiefen #83.
THE HELL TOUR
Levi Kissinger #8K (top) was a constant Summer Nationals contender but it was Nick Hoffman #2 (above – photo cour Gasper) who took the crown despite not competing in all rounds.
rtesy Gary
Local ace Rodney Standerfer basks in the glory of the UMP Modified feature win at Macon.
Speedway Sedans Australia
Its About To Get REAL. Speedway Sedans Australia announced earlier this year that Live Streaming of their National Titles would occur in the 2016/2017 season, something which as little as three years ago looked like it was nothing more than a pipe dream.
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From humble beginnings in 2009, Speedway Sedans Australia’s Live Audio has become a juggernaut, cul-
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For years now, Speedway Sedans Australia has been at the fore-front when it comes to their media, and their National Titles, with the Live Audio being a market leader for many seasons.
It’s a natural evolution to produce our own TV and control our own destiny! minating with more than 10,000 listeners to the National Street Stock Title at Ballarat earlier this year.
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SPEEDWAY Sedans LIVE
2016/2017 Broadcast Schedule: Street Stock - Kingaroy Speedway QLD Practice: Friday, 30 December 2016 Heats: Saturday, 31 December 2016 Heats & Finals: Sunday, 1 January 2017 Rainout: Monday, 2 January 2017
Junior Sedans - Mt Gambier SA Practice: Thursday, 5 January 2017 Heats: Friday, 6 January 2017 Heats & Finals: Saturday, 7 January 2017 Rainout: Sunday, 8 January 2017
Production Sedans - Wahgunyah Speedway VIC Practice: Thursday, 26 January 2017 Heats: Friday, 27 January 2017 Heats & Finals: Saturday, 28 January 2017 Rainout: Sunday, 29 January 2017
Super Sedans - Attwell Park, Albany WA Practice: Friday, 14 April 2017 Heats: Saturday, 15 April 2017 Heats & Finals: Sunday, 16 April 2017 Rainout: Monday, 17 April 2017
Nationals 4s - Maryborough Speedway QLD Practice: Friday, 21 April 2017 Heats: Saturday, 22 April 2017 Heats & Finals: Sunday, 23 April 2017 Rainout: Monday, 24 April 2017
Modified Sedans - Murray Bridge SA Practice: Thursday, 27 April 2017 Heats: Friday, 28 April 2017 Heats & Finals: Saturday, 29 April 2017 Rainout: Sunday, 30 April 2017 * Doesnt include live audio of other SSA events, Check speedwaysedans.com for audio schedule.
“It all happened by accident and by chance”, explains Media Manager Jason Crowe. “I was in my first year as Media Manager for Speedway Sedans Australia, and in those days, posting up to date results was as good as it got, using a Social Media Page. Fans thought that was great, and for the A Mains, we gave a typed running commentary of the event”, Crowe added. It would be a phone call from Darren McCarthy in Victoria though that would change Jason’s life, along with how titles would be covered into the future. “He basically phoned on the morning of the event asking if I could broadcast it live. I had no idea what was about to happen or how to do it. All he told me was, I had to buy a USB headset, and leave the rest up to him. I brought the headset, and over the phone he explained how to download a small computer program, and within minutes, I was talking to him on the computer, not the phone”. The rest as they say in the classics, is history. Crowe, who was a well-known commentator in Western Australia was still totally unknown to most on the East
Coast. The first broadcast went live at the National Super Sedan Title with a listening audience of twenty. Crowe would not only call the race, he would then answer questions on those online, which to other officials looked weird as it appeared he was just talking to himself. The demand grew, and the program was no longer big enough, with the demand growing to fifty within weeks. In 2010 the demand was
so great, a new software package was required, and Live Audio became a sta-
nights covered on Live Audio by 2013.
ple diet for those unable to make it to events. The demand grew further, and Crowes excitable commentary gained a mountain of followers, with up to forty
Other organisations were taking notice, and Speedway Sedans Australia along with Sprintcars were getting television coverage, but the coverage was for Speedway
Sedans Australia, considered has everyone sitting up and expensive. taking notice. With a simple post placed on Speedway Periscope and then FaceSedans Australia’s Facebook book Live in many ways, page, 30 minutes before may have pushed Speedway going Live, in excess of 800 Sedans Australia’s hand, viewers tuned in to the trial along with Clay Per View, as broadcast, which was dethe popularity of streamsigned specifically to iron ing the coverage of events out any bugs, or issues that became more and more may be encountered. There popular. were a few, but it was to be expected, hence the trial. Twelve months in the making and many, many hours “No one in their wildest of planning in the process, dreams ever expected this Speedway Sedans Australia many people to view a in late October revealed broadcast with no notice”, their own Live Streaming Crowe quipped. “We knew Coverage, to be known as to keep our coverage of Speedway Sedans Live. titles as the market leader, which we are renowned for, The first official broadcast we had to move with the will not be until the National times. Our coverage is goStreet Stock Title in Decem- ing to ensure we do remain ber, but a trial run recently the leader. We will be dif-
ferent, we will be innovative and it will be first class”. Crowe’s reference to being different is the coverage will be free to view. It is hoped the coverage will pay for itself by way of advertisers, with several coming on board immediately at the announcement of the coverage. Advertising starts for as little as $49.50, and with thousands expected to watch the broadcasts, it is certainly value for money. Speedway Sedans Live will be innovative, it will be a complete Speedway Show, with as many as six camera angles in the coverage, more than any other Live Streaming being produced today, and is expected to stream for six consecutive
hours as a minimum. “Speedway Sedans Australia are deadly serious about getting this right, and have spent a lot of money getting the best equipment to make this the best it can be. We have partnered with Jarred Ash from Ash Media Speedway Footage and with Streaming Australia to ensure the coverage is first class”, Media Manager Jason Crowe adds. The first official broadcast will be the National Street Stock Title from Kingaroy on New Years Eve and New Years Day. Jason Crowe, who is regarded as one of the best Speedway Commentators in Australia, will head the coverage of each event and provide the commentary, and will be joined by a different co-host at each event. Anyone interested in being a part of the coverage by way of adverting can contact Speedway Sedans Australia via email – media@speedwaysedans.com for full advertising package details.
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Speedway gp
21729 People attended this fantastic event......
SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX, A Aussie Chris Holder and “Aussie” Tai Woffinden set the Etihad stadium alight on Saturday 22nd October after a thrilling battle saw the pair finish the final round of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series on the top two steps with Greg “Grin” Hancock securing his fourth World Championship and putting himself into exalted company. It was a great night for the Aussie crowd as Holder finally returned to his 2012 Championship winning form taking his first final for four years and also seeing little brother Jack finally making his SGP debut – the 200th rider to ride in an SGP. Young Jacks first ride saw him net a second place finish but the reaction from the crowd was as if he had won the final in a very proud moment for the Holder family. The older Holders’ form has been steadily improving especially in the second half of the season with a number of podium positions in recent finals, and Saturdays result was a grand culmination of that return to speed and confidence but it didn’t come easy. Holder was forced to work extremely hard for every heat win and result even coming from dead last to snatch wins on the line. And just when it all looked comfitable, clutch failure in his final heat threatened to derail his finals assault as instead of being the number 1 qualifier with first pick of gate draws he was back in 3rd.
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No matter, as he worked hard to make it through his semi-final behind Woffinden in a tight affair and then worked overtime to gain the lead, again from his fellow “Aussie” Woffinden to take the confidence boosting and long overdue win. Holder had stormed his way into the final and blew the roof off Etihad Stadium with a breathtaking triumph over Tai Woffinden, Bartosz Zmarzlik and Antonio Lindback.
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To be sitting here with the trophy in front of my home fans is amazing. It’s sweet.
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Aussie Style
article
It was his first SGP victory in 43 rounds, with his last triumph coming at the British SGP in Cardiff on August 25, 2012. It also secured him fourth place in the final World Championship standings. A delighted Holder said: “To be sitting here with the trophy in front of my home fans is amazing. It’s sweet. It’s something we dream about doing – all us Aussie guys. This is the best feeling in the world apart from being the champ. “It has been a rough year off the bike, but on the bike, it has got better. I am looking forward to next year.” For new world Champion Greg Hancock, the night was bitter sweet as he continued to make speedway history as one of only six riders to have won four FIM Speedway World Championships.
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Speedway gp
“It’s great to be on a list of names with these other four-time world champions. Those guys have all been heroes, icons or pillars in the sport. To join them in something like this, I feel honoured.” Hancock stated.
Masters who rode in his second Aussie SGP. While Hancock had sewn up the championship and Chris Holder was riding for himself and Aussie pride, Woffinden and Bartosz Zmarzlik were still fighting it out all night
Hancock secured the championship by winning his first heat and the elation and relief was obvious as he savoured the moment with an extra victory lap. Later on however, Hancock’s night ended after his third ride when he was disqualified from heat nine by the FIM Jury under rule 070.10.13, which states “A rider, who, having started in a heat does not make an honest attempt to ride to the best of their ability, as judged by the referee, shall be guilty of an offence, which may entail disqualification from the heat or a penalty.” Following the decision, the Swedish-based rider elected to withdraw from the remainder of the meeting. The FIM Jury opted to take no further action. Obviously it’s easy for a jury of experts to deem that someone who is risking life and limb is “Not trying hard enough”!!! What an absurd decision and treatment of your new world champion, a guy who has only missed one round in the entire history of the SGP and that was only due to an injury! From an Aussie standpoint the event was invaluable for locals Jack Holder, Brady Kurtz and World under 23 Champion Max Fricke who all got to ride and experience world level SGP competition and for Sam 64
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for second and third in the world rankings with Woffinden’s second place in the final securing the corresponding world championship position. Zmarzlik confirmed his rising status as one of the sports young guns with another podium finish and top three championship result.
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Afterwards, Woffinden paid a glowing tribute to new quadruple world champion Hancock. He said: “We can’t take anything away from this guy. He’s a true legend and the biggest and best ambassador for this sport.
How much longer is he going to do it for? We don’t know, but I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. “I wish Doyley (Jason Doyle) all the best. I hope you’re back soon and we’ll see you next year”, he said in regard to injured Aussie Jason Doyle who was leading the world championship and riding a wave of speed, confidence and momentum until the penultimate round when crashed out “Congrats to Chris for winning this GP. I have watched him over the last few rounds and he has started to become the Chris Holder of a few years ago. I’m looking forward to having some good battles with him for the next few years. SGP bronze medallist Bartosz Zmarzlik started 2016 targeting a top-eight finish to secure his spot in the 2017 series. So he was ecstatic to achieve that and a podium place in his debut SGP year. He said: “Before the season, my dream was the top eight and now I am No.3 in the world. I am very happy because everything this season has been so good for me. My dream in the second season next year is the same. “We will see what next year brings. All the years are so very different. I’ll see you next year.”
“He has won four world titles. I have done two, but I can’t even imagine doing four. It totally blows my mind. He’s so experienced. He’s a legend. He keeps pushing and working hard. “He has pulled it out of the bag again.
As well as lifting the world title, Hancock booked his place in the 2017 SGP series along with fellow top-eight stars Woffinden, Zmarzlik, Holder, Doyle, Piotr Pawlicki, Antonio Lindback and Niels-Kristian Iversen. They are joined by the top three from the GP Challenge in Vetlanda on September 3 – Patryk Dudek, Martin Vaculik and Fredrik Lindgren. The line-up for 2017 will be completed by four wild cards to be selected in due course by the SGP Commission. www.HighlineMagazine.com.au
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Speedway gp
FINAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Greg Hancock 139, 2 Tai Woffinden 130, 3 Bartosz Zmarzlik 128, 4 Chris Holder 126, 5 Jason Doyle 123, 6 Piotr Pawlicki 99, 7 Antonio Lindback 93, 8 Niels-Kristian Iversen 91, 9 Matej Zagar 90, 10 Maciej Janowski 90, 11 Fredrik Lindgren 88, 12 Peter Kildemand 68, 13 Nicki Pedersen 62, 14 Andreas Jonsson 52, 15 Chris Harris 40, 16 Michael Jepsen Jensen 31, 17 Patryk Dudek 8, 18 Martin Smolinski 8, 19 Pawel Przedpelski 8, 20 Danny King 7, 21 Krzysztof Kasprzak 7, 22 Anders Thomsen 5, 23 Kim Nilsson 5, 24 Peter Ljung 4, 25 Vaclav Milik 3, 26 Sam Masters 2, 27 Tobias Kroner 2, 28 Brady Kurtz 2, 29 Jack Holder 2, 30 Denis Stojs 1, 31 Jacob Thorssell 1, 32 Nick Skorja 1, 33 Daniel Kaczmarek 1, 34 Kacper Woryna 1.
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QBE INSURANCE AUSTRALIAN SGP SCORES: 1 Chris Holder 17, 2 Tai Woffinden 15, 3 Bartosz Zmarzlik 15, 4 Antonio Lindback 14, 5 Niels-Kristian Iversen 12, 6 Matej Zagar 11, 7 Michael Jepsen Jensen 10, 8 Piotr Pawlicki 8, 9 Andreas Jonsson 6, 10 Fredrik Lindgren 6, 11 Greg Hancock 5, 12 Maciej Janowski 5, 13 Peter Kildemand 4, 14 Chris Harris 4, 15 Jack Holder 2, 16 Sam Masters 2, 17 Brady Kurtz 2, 18 Max Fricke 0.
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HISTORY
CLAREMONT SPEEDCARS WERE HARD TO BEAT!
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Speedcar racing at WA’s fabled Claremont Speedway started in earnest after the Second World War. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE | EDITION 12
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The Worlds’ Best(?) -
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he 1947/48 season saw a total of eight cars across the season. It mightn’t seem like many but Speedcars were soon the rule the roost in Australia as they had in the United States, and the numbers gradually built up in Western Australia. There were some enormous speedcar years at Claremont. The 1968/69 season saw fifty three cars in the speedcar division, while the 1977/78 season saw that number repeated. The late sixties through to the mid eighties were great times to race speedcars in the West. One of the biggest seasons ever for the mighty midgets at the Claremont track was the 1982/83 season. An incredible fifty drivers buckled into an assortment
of vehicles to take to one of Bill Sutherland, Tony DeRosa Australia’s most loved tracks. and Kevin Bradford. Amazingly those three 50+ car seasons are now but a distant memory.
It was also the debut season for one of WA’s greatest ever speedcar drivers Neville Lance, driving a car There were years undoubtwith the number #90 on edly when Australian Cham- the tail. Lance was also to pionships and visiting drivgo on to become an Ausers lifted the standard and tralian Champion. In fact it level of competition to dizzy was a rookie season for a heights, but in terms of pure total of nine drivers, some car count 82/83 is up there who would go on to sucwith the best of them. cess like Lance, Wayne Cover and leading F500 driver During that season plenty Des Ferris. Others though of the drivers were already would find the going and established stars, the likes of the competition incredibly the then Australian Chamtough and lasted just the pion Keith Mann along with one season. future Australian Champs in Graham Jones, Tommy The visitors included the Watson Snr and Geoff Pilincredible Bob Holt from grim all competed on a the Northern Territory. Holt weekly basis and they were is often remembered from joined by other top liners a spectacular accident at like Kim Ledger, Tony Matta, the Sydney Showgrounds www.HighlineMagazine.com.au
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HISTORY
twenty years previous. Holt would go on to win an Australian Title. He was joined by two of the best in Australia at the time Ian Saville from New South Wales and South Australian Rex Hodgson also regarded as one of the top liners of the day. Curiously it was a year with-
out American speedcar drivers who had been regular visitors to the Western Australian track since the 1959/60 season when legendary American Bob Tattersall first took to the track. A regular Claremont meeting in the 82/83 season usually saw seven speedcar
races held. The format often differed, sometimes there would be six heats and a feature, while at other times there would less heats but a couple of ‘semi-main’ events. Feature races during the season varied in distance from 15 to 30 laps with the fastest and best drivers always starting from the rear of the field. The WA Speedcar Championship was the major race on the calendar. It was conducted over eight 6 lap heats and a 30 Lap final with the win going to Keith Mann from Graham Jones and Kim Ledger. There were Sesco’s, VW’s, Mazda Rotary’s, Chevvy 2’s, Datsun’s, Offen76
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hauser’s, Holden’s, BMW’s and Cosworth’s power plants in the WA Title. There was some fantastic machinery there.
cent years season numbers have been in the high When Claremont closed in thirties March 2000 and Perth’s speed- and low way headquarters moved to forties Kwinana speedcar numbers bolstered struggled initially but in reconsiderably by interstate and
overseas visitors. Incredibly one driver who was there in the 1982/83 season is still there. The irrepressible Neville Lance now a 7 time WA Champion as well as an Australian Champion who served his apprenticeship and graduated with honours in speedcars at the great Claremont Speedway.
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jackpot invertational
$10,000
Jackpot Invita S
The 18 car Semi-final would whittle the field down to the top 12 with less than that Anyway, the field still had good quality with Anderson, number actually finishing the race. Stephen Lines, Daniel Pestka, Brett Milburn, Darren For the final 12 it was now Mollenoyux, John Vogels, all bets off as a single time trial lap While would determine many the feature line up. people Lines, whose night are still to this point had not sure been very ordinary, about the as it had at the corunique responding meetformat to ing last year, put in a the event cracker lap while Anderson it was a smaller than normal Ian Loudoun and others. was forced to get off the field (23) on hand to contest Right from the start Anderthrottle for a heartbeat into son was fast while others for the $10,000 first prize turn 1 and could only set struggled including Ian money. In fact it did seem the 5th fastest time. Loudoun and Lines both of odd that form racer Jamie Veal and Warrnambool’s whom had to come through Jack Lee both drove past the the Last Chance Qualifier af- As the ten fastest cars set off venue on their way north for ter finishing in the back half on the shortest scheduled Sprintcar feature in the land of their heats. a USC event and were also econd generation racer Grant Anderson was in scintillating form in the Jackpot Invitational season opener at Avalon raceway mid-October.
joined by Sean Dobson.
The 18 car Semi-final would whittle the field down to the top 12 with less than that number actually finishing the race.
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ational (15 laps) with Lines out front, both Anderson and Pestka lost spots on the opening lap. Over the first few laps Anderson ground away with little forward positional change but then his challenge came alive as he started a storming drive towards the front as the laps wound down. On lap 9 he was 3rd and then on lap 13 he took 2nd from Darren Mollenoyux who then tried to retake the position by squeezing Anderson towards the front straight wall. Anderson then ran down Lines, but would he get past before the chequered flag fell? As Anderson ranged up on Lines into turn one on the penultimate lap, two things happened. First Lines heard and felt the sudden pressure from behind and then either because of it or coincidentally hit the infield marker and tore the front end out of the Halls #3 allowing Anderson to take the lead which he was about to snatch away anyway.
lap dash and the money was his, which is exactly what Anderson did taking the win from Mollenoyux, Corey McCullagh, Jye O’Keefe, Pestka, Brayden Parr and Domain Ramsey. In the companion invitational Wingless Sprint event there was multiple lead changes in their feature with Daniel Storer wrestling the lead away from Travis Millar who then regained the lead temporarily until Rhys Baxter worked his way to the front and then proceeded to open a gap that until then had seemed impossible. Carly Walsh in the Walsh family racing Gibbtrans #4 showed that she is a real talent racing hard in the mix against all the guys with only a half dozen wingless Sprint races under her belt.
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Off track events.
COMPLETING THE CIRCLE
It took almost 70 years to do it, but for Nick Parker, the “Circle” started by his gran Bert Parker in the late 1940’s was finally completed when Nick in his #39 Aggress speedcar won his maiden feature race at the Southern 500 Speedway at Portland January 2016. 88
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tips and tricks
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I
n doing this, Nick also became the fastest ever and first “Rookie” to take a feature race win in his maiden season in the last 30 years of the Victorian Speedcar Drivers Association’s eighty-two year history, since Mark Brown did it back in the 80’s, at his fourth meeting. The commencement of this long love affair with speedcars occurred when Nick’s Grandfather Bert crewed and maintained cars for the famous “Beasley” family from the late 40’s right through to the closure of Tracey’s Speedway at Maribyrnong after his good mate Alf Beasley was killed there in the early 60’s. A very long hiatus from speed- John Faulkner with some limway occurred after this period. ited success including running sixth in a Victorian ChampiHe then crewed for the Gown- onship coincidentally run at Hindaugh team when they Portland, where Nick took his won Bathurst with Peter Brock maiden victory. at the wheel. Various others drove this car Bert then went over to Toyota for Bert including John Mills, Team Australia joining with Eric Smith & Warren Nelson John Faulkner in the Corollas with different power plants and later on to both Auscars including the Toyota engine, and Nascars. Autocraft & Nissan SR20. After this, Bert became “crew chief” for Rob Winstanley’s speedcar in the late 80’s via an unexpected meeting. At that time there was also a very young Nick Parker on the team. This continued until the early 1990’s when Bert purchased the OTR #1 chassis from Steve Brown and commenced to fit a 4AGE Toyota to replace the former rotary engine. It was driven by V8 Supercar pilot 90
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Nick was initially supposed to graduate into this car or similar when he became old enough, however this never came to fruition when Bert passed away in 2002. That particular car was then purchased by John Mills and transformed into the compact speedcar that took Travis “Squizzy” Mills to a win in the 2004 Australian Compact Title. Nick then went on to race
karts for about 8 years, winning no less than seven State titles including three in Tasmania, three City of Melbourne’s and Val Findlay’s along with numerous series wins and championships all over the country. A short four-meeting stint followed in the Victorian Formula Ford series resulting in a credible two podium finishes from four starts. He then raced in the ultra competitive Commodore Cup national series from 2005 until the end of 2010 when the series folded. Nick took many wins and pole positions including a clean sweep of wins at Phillip Island in 2009 in atrocious conditions after starting from pit lane and eventually winning by 20 seconds! After selling the Commodore at the end of 2010, Nick got married and raced very spar-
ingly (or not at all) through to Christmas 2014. With itchy pedal feet, he said that he would like to get back into a
along with his dad David, who also was treasurer of the VSDA back in the 90’s, and with good mates Shaun Ridgeway
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race seat but not in road racing. He wanted to return to his roots and “complete the circle” started by his grandfather all those years ago. Good family friend Rob Winstanley, for whom Nick used to crew from a very young age, agreed to be his crew chief
& Ian Smith they formed PMT Racing. Things gained significant momentum from there. In his fourth meeting in a speedcar and only his second after being included in the grid draw, Nick took his maiden feature win, thus www.HighlineMagazine.com.au
completing “The Circle.”
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