Borderline brilliance
Weather has not been the friend of Borderline Speedway organisers in recent seasons at the weekend looked set to derail another night of racing but by 1pm Saturday president Cary Jennings said they were confident enough to go ahead with the weekend’s racing.
“It was not looking good in the morning but it did clear and we decided we had to put on a show,” Jennings said. “The track was a bit damp to start off with and we started racing a bit late but we were lucky the wingless sprint guys with the bigger wheels did some hot laps and helped pack the track down and it was a good track for racing all night after that.
“The crowd was also pretty good considering the weather was against us.”
The wingless sprints were the feature event on the program with 36 cars taking on the Ti Bills Wingless Sprints round with current SA1 Tyson Martin winning the 30-lap final with Rylan Furler finishing second and Matthew Simmons third.
“The wingless sprints always put on a good show,” Jennings said. “This class is getting really competitive and they always bring a good field of cars.”
Local hope Mitch Broome had an issue in one of his heats and ended up in the B Main but did take out the Hard Charger Award.
There was a local flavour in the Southern Street Stock Series, with Saturday night’s racing the third round, following on from events in Whyalla and Mildura.
Mount Gambier’s former national champion Anthony Beare took to the track after an absence from racing and ended up atop the podium, while fellow local Steve Gartner finishing second.
Third place went to Adelaide-based Drew Flatman, who only two years ago was racing in junior sedans.
The junior sedans were the support class for the night with four Top Stars and Five New Stars hitting the Glenburnie track.
The Top Stars are the experienced drivers and Warrnambool’s James Oliver took the chequered flag, while in the New Stars, it was homegrown talent Jayden Garner who took the honours.
“Jayden led every race in that section and he improves every time he goes out on the track,” Jennings said. “It won’t be long and he will be in the Top Stars.”
Violet Thorne, another local driver on the rise, was also part of Saturday’s racing, while 10-year-old James Becker, who was competing in his second ever race, is also showing great promise as another locally-based talent.
“He is growing in confidence and gets better and better every time he drives,” Jennings said. “Another 12 months and he will be right with the best of them.”
The next meeting is December 28 when the Sprintcars Speedweek roadshow comes to town.