The club promised in December that it would present an impressive fireworks display this season, after the scheduled event in December was cancelled.
The club, along with the ILT, made it their goal to provide a big show, and a big show it was; the crowd saying it was the biggest and best fireworks show they had ever seen, really setting the bar high for next season.
On track, the first championship on the line was the Southland Youth Saloons, which had an over-subscribed field so was broken into two groups of 12 cars. The top eight from each group after two races each then raced in a 15-lap winner takes all race to crown the champ.
Heat one was a win to Riverside’s Joshua McIntyre, who led home club mates Cayden Race and Ryder Harris; however, McIntyre’s day would be done after a big crash in race two that saw him out for the night. Race two went to Race, with Noah Kitto, of Dunedin, second and his clubmate Blake Fox Miller third.
Group B, race one, went the way of Max Kemp, of Dunedin, with Meah Sommerville, of Invercargill, second with Kaian Greene, of Dunedin, third.
Greene then snatched a win in race two ahead of Lachie Robertson and Josh Richardson, both of Riverside.
Cromwell drivers spoilt the party in stockcars, taking all three spots on the podium in the Southland Championship. Shane MacDonald, of Cromwell, led home clubmates Casey McEwan and Jacob Boulton in race one, while in race two Luke Fallow, of Invercargill, gave the local crowd something to celebrate with a race win ahead of Brodie MacDonald and Ashdyn Gable.
Gable then banked his first race win at Riverside taking out race three, Brodie MacDonald second and Shane MacDonald third. This gave the championship to Brodie MacDonald, Shane MacDonald second with Gable third.
Riverside’s Graham Williamson reached a well-deserved milestone in front of the big crowd, bringing up his 100th career win in the third race of the night in the Rod McLaren Saloon Memorial. Williamson finished second in heat one with Dunedin’s Stu Miller winning and Cromwell’s Phil Burgess third.
Williamson grabbed his 99th win in race two, beating Miller and local driver Mark Dobson before claiming the milestone in race three, beating the same two drivers. Those results were also the overall placings in the Memorial.
Production saloons raced for the production tri series, with teams from Riverside, Cromwell and Dunedin battling it out over three meetings, this being the first.
It was a day to forget for the Riverside team despite Blake Hamilton winning the first two races, his team’s reliability saw them floundering over 40 points from second-placed Dunedin. The final race was won by Cromwell’s Aven Erskine who took the Central Otago team into round two with a slender eight-point lead.
Six Shooters raced for best pairs, a blind pairs championship which means the drivers do not know who they are paired with. Winners on the night were Daniel McIntosh, of Riverside, in race one, his clubmate Harrison Brown in race two, and Cromwell’s Adam Evans in race three.
Final results saw Brown and Evans claim first, Duane Cracknell and Hayden Graves second, McIntosh and Mason Whelan third.
In support races, Steve Dryden won all three streetstock races on offer, while the Wolfpack won the Derby Teams Championship, winning on their fourth attempt over defending champions Noughts and Crosses.
- By Daryl Shuttleworth
