Motor Sport
The competition will heat up the Saturday night at The Rock FM Riverside Speedway as the up and comers of Speedway go head to head for the Southland Youth Saloon Championships.This seasons championship promises to be one of the closest ever held in the grade with a number of drivers capable of claiming the silverware.Defending champion Zane Tuhura will be doing all he can in his last season in the grade to claim his third Southland Championship in a row, Tuhura will need to be on his game to hold off some strong challengers.Nathan Rhind has been the surprise package in recent weeks, winning the Otago Championship last Saturday in Dunedin and his maiden race victory at Riverside last meeting, Rhind is the current in form driver that may take the favorite tag heading in to the event.
22 Jacob Garrick, 43 Luke Molloy and 88 Zane Tuhura will contest the Southland Youth Saloon Title. Experience will be the key for Jacob Garrick, on his day he is unstoppable and he will be a certain front runner for the title as will Jacob McIntyre and Luke Molloy who have been the most consistent race winners this season.Newcomers Anastazea Ladbrook, Skyla Fisher, Nico Tuhura and Katelyn McEwan have also been vastly improving and could well be in the mix when the chequered flag comes down on the championship.Production Saloons will also be on show with the Dominator Doors Invercargill South Pacific Production Saloon Challenge, this grade is expected to welcome drivers from around the South Island but a strong contingent of Southland drivers will be hard to beat.Asha Clements has been the form driver of late, Clements along with younger brother Tam, Dylan Mountney, and Tony Jones will head the local charge from the front but a big field of visiting drivers will want to be taking the silverware North.This weekends racing will also see the running of the Brett Cooper Memorial for Modified Sprints, this is a rescheduled meeting that was postponed in November due to heavy winds.Cooper was a prominent figure at Riverside Speedway throughout the nineties and the title has become one of the most treasured titles up for grabs in the class.Vaughan Marshall and Dean Miller both had race wins last meeting but the Modified Sprint class has proven to be harder to pick than a broken nose, anyone of the drivers could win on the day, making this class one of the most exciting to watch.Racing gets underway at the Rock Riverside Speedway 4pm Saturday.