Christchurch’s Kate Warren added the first ever Southern Bullet Cup to her long list of achievements in Modified Sprints, when she travelled South to take on the country’s best Modified Sprint drivers at The Rock Riverside Speedway in Invercargill.The event put together by local businesses Sievwright Blasting Panel and Paint, K&D Automotive, PPG, MKS Kart Shop and Probuilt Engines attracted nineteen entries from Christchurch and Invercargill, it was put together as a one off meeting to support the already popular Southern Bullet Series which caters for local drivers.

Kate Warren claimed victory over Ben Gilmore and Clayton Phillips. Photo: Corbyn Shuttleworth.In heat one it was local rookie Luke Shearing who was impressive, Shearing had been on the sidelines for a number of meetings due to mechanical issues, and he was like a “Jack in a box” when the green flag dropped racing out to a commanding lead.All the good work quickly come undone with a lap to go when Shearing was contending with lapped traffic he threw the car into turn four causing the car to roll and end his race. This then handed the race to Ben Gilmore over fellow Cantabrians Kate Warren and Clayton Phillips.Race two was an action packed affair with a number of cars ruled out before the green flag had even dropped.Invercargill’s Dean Miller had the accelerator jam on while getting into position on the back straight causing the car to shove through the cars in front of him, causing substantial damage to his own car as well as a number of cars around him. This put Miller out of the race as well as Vaughan Marshall.This would would also see Shearing’s run of bad luck continue, after picking up several spots through the field Shearing once again rolled in spectacular fashion on turn one, giving the youngster two rolls from two race starts.As the race got back underway it was the shear class of Warren that shone through with her cruising to a commanding victory over Phillips and Brendan Daly of Christchurch third.Race three would be the last of the heats, determining who would start where in the fifteen lap final, this time it was local driver Michael Jackson who has been finding some good form in recent meetings who fought off Marshall who was trying to bank some valuable points after not finishing the second heat.Jackson drove a smart race to claim the chequered flag ahead of Marshall with Gilmore claiming third to ensure a front row starting spot along side Warren.

Luke Shearing was fast but came to grief in two races. Photo: Corbyn Shuttleworth.The fifteen lap feature final promised an epic battle throughout the pack and it certainly delivered, Warren got the jump and raced off to a handy lead before a Scott Williamson spin bought out the yellow flag and condensed the field.At the restart Gilmore and Phillips piled the pressure on Warren as the trio of Cantabrian’s took stock of the race, but this was short lived as another incident bought out another yellow flag and bought the field back to the three front runners.Once again Warren was strong from the restart but Gilmore was determined to stick with her, while back in third Phillips was starting to be chased down by Jackson and Marshall.Marshall made a move on Jackson to sneak by to fourth and had Phillips within his sights but laps were running out quickly.Warren had once again pulled a gap on Gilmore and would maintain the lead until the chequered flag was waved crowning Warren the first ever Southern Bullet Cup winner over Gilmore and Phillips third. The Southland Stockcar title was also up for grabs and Mark Taylor of Dunedin made the trip South to defend the title he won last season.In race one it was a Taylor who claimed top spot but this time Nathan Taylor, he drove a smart race while the rest of the pack put a target on Mark Taylor’s back trying to stop him claiming a second title.This allowed Glen Fraser of Riverside in just his fourth meeting to sneak through for second ahead of Mark Taylor.Race two Canterbury racer Shanan Knight led from start to finish, Knight usually known for his agressive driving style chose to bag points for the third and final heat, rather than inflict carnage on the field.Mark Taylor came home strong in second followed by Nathan Taylor third.This gave Nathan Taylor a slight points advantage heading into the final, but only two points separated him from Mark Taylor, Knight and Fraser.Race three got underway with Knight getting off to a strong start before mechanical issues put paid to his title hopes, both of the Taylors were targets for the fellow Southland drivers who wanted to see Fraser take the title.Despite some big hits being delivered from Wade Crawford and Logan McNamara, Nathan Taylor broke free and cruised to victory to claim the Southland Championship while Fraser drove home second ahead of Mark Taylor.This resulted in these two finishing tied for second, meaning a run off , both drivers left the line slowly, playing cat and mouse, Fraser pushed in behind Taylor who applied the brakes causing Fraser to burn out his clutch and retire to the infield handing second place to Taylor.A strong field of Production Saloons also featured to battle it out for the Southland Title, drivers from Cromwell and Dunedin had made the trek South to try and pry the silverware away from the locals and take it up country.This looked to be the case when Cromwell’s Geoff Friend dominated race one, Friend was untouchable, setting his intentions early and looking like the man to beat, second was Gore’s Dylan Mountney with Steven Richardson third.Race two it was Mountney who looked strong until his engine let go while trying to make a move on Shane Carson of Dunedin, Carson went on to drive a faultless race despite being chased hard by defending Southland Champion Tam Clements while Des McTaggart of Cromwell run third.The final saw Clements go into it with a slender two point advantage over Friend and McTaggart, Southland’s Tony Jones was unstoppable up front driving off to a massive lead over the championship contenders, Friend got caught well back in the field which left Clements and McTaggart in a two way battle for the title.Clements knew he had very little breathing room so he had to finish within a car of McTaggart which he managed to do to secure back to back Southland Production Saloon Championships, McTaggart claimed second with Friend third.Streetstocks decided to run the Christmas Champs which was cancelled in December, a number of Dunedin drivers entered to present a good sized field of cars.Race one was taken out by Mark Henderson who finished strongly in fourth for race two, but become a target in race three, ending up with severe damage hindering any chance of an overall victory.Race two was taken out by Megan Henderson who was pushed hard by the experienced Steve Dryden who was banking valuable points. Henderson also placed well in race three securing second behind Rob Mitchell, just ahead of Dryden.

The win gave Mitchell third place in the Christmas Championship but left both Henderson and Dryden tied for first, meaning a run off would take place.Henderson got the jump in the run off with Dryden struggling for grip off the line, she built up a handy lead only to spin with two laps to go, this allowed Dryden to make the pass and look like the likely winner, but then he too made a mistake, spinning to the infield and opening the door for Henderson to slip on by. This is how they would remain until the chequered flag, bringing every female speedway fan in the arena to thier feet to celebrate the upset victory.Youth Saloons also run the Christmas Championship, and was well represented by a number of visiting Dunedin drivers.Jake McIntyre dominated the first two heats, the youngster has come off a run of mechanical issues in recent months to stamp his authority in the grade. Anastezea Ladbrook continued to improve almost taking a first up win before getting tangled with backmarkers allowing McIntyre to sneak through in race two.Race three saw Braedon Johnston of Dunedin claim his first win at Riverside with a classy effort to hold off Ladbrook and McIntyre. Overall honors went to McIntyre over Ladbrook with Dunedin’s Tyler Morris being rewarded for consistancy with a well deserved third overall.Saloons ran the Best Pairs competition, this became the Dean Shearing show with Shearing taking three race wins from three starts, not all of them coming easy. He won the pairs competition along with Camden Crack, while second place went to Nigel Olsen and Trevor Black debuting his impressive Chevy Monza, while third was Jeff Richardson and Brent Stirling secured third.

24 Tam Clements claimed the Production Championships over 52 Des McTaggart and 11 Geoff Friend. Photo: Corbyn Shuttleworth.The final class of the day was Super Saloons where Kerry Dickson was in sublime form, the sole Hypermac within a field of Lovelady chassis dominated with two wins from two starts.By Daryl Shuttleworth

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