Sports reports: Joel Chadwick wins 60-lapper at Murray Bridge Speedway

MMS Media, Adriaan Haan and Murray Bridge Rifle Club’s Daniel Irvine contributed to this post.

For the second week in a row, Joel Chadwick has driven his race car onto the winner’s podium at Murray Bridge Speedway.

After starting from position 12 in the 20-car lineup due to an incident in his second heat, Chadwick took over the lead on lap 48, then paced the field for the remaining 12 laps to claim the second annual 60-lapper, the longest race of the South Australian wingless sprint season.

“I can’t believe that we won for a second week in a row,” the recently crowned state champion said.

“Both weeks have been really tough.

“For a while there I was riding around and I could see Mark (Blyton) and Mitch (Broome), and I was thinking that Alex (Ross) must have been up there somewhere but I couldn’t see him.

“Luckily I missed the crash in turn one … I really feel for those guys, but you have got to be there at the end.”

Second place went to Victorian Luke Weel, with Dubbo’s Blyton fighting back to third after he and Broome were involved in an incident with a lapped car.

Blyton’s impressive run to the podium was highlighted with a barnstorming run on the bottom of the racetrack as the #5 really hooked up nicely on the black groove.

Mount Gambier’s Kirby Hillyer had a nice run into fourth, while Jason Bates bounced back from an oil pump issue last Saturday night to complete the top five.

After transferring from the B-main, Jack McCarthy finished sixth while Anthony Tapley, Hayden Vickers, Ash Cook and Coby Elliott rounded out the top 10.

Jake Ashworth, Geoff Cook, Tyson Martin, Troy Carey and Broome also completed all 60 laps while Bronson Mauro, William Caruso and Sharni Pitcher finished one lap down.

The major story of the night was Ross, who dominated the race for the opening 48 laps before a fuel leak doused him with fuel in the cockpit, forcing him to retire.

Up until that point he had looked the likely winner after producing a stunning drive in the lapped traffic and, in the process, opening up a lead of more than four seconds on Chadwick.

Earlier the heat winners were Jack McCarthy, Geoff Cook, Brett Ireland, Coby Elliott, William Caruso, Ross, Blyton and Weel.

The B-main proved to be one of the races of the night with Jack McCarthy winning ahead of Geoff Cook, Tyson Martin and Jake Ashworth.

Ashworth just sneaked into the 60-lap final after passing rookie Melissa Crouch on the final corner, then winning the drag race to the line by less than a wheel-length.

In the supporting divisions, Angelo Karoussis picked up the feature win in the Formula 500 state series round five, ahead of Brendan Zadow and Victorian rookie Jett Bell.

Carey Weston made it two feature wins in a row in Murray Bridge in the street stocks, with Nigel Reichstein in second and Anthony Buchanan having a solid run for third.

Sprintcar action will be back this Saturday night with the running of the annual Ross Wright Memorial.

Late models, formula 500s, wingless sprints and classic super modifieds will round out the program.

MSCA Super Sprint Series kicks off at The Bend

Meanwhile, at The Bend Motorsport Park on Sunday, the Marque Sports Car Association of South Australia staged its first event of 2021.

Local photographer Adriaan Haan was there to take a few snapshots.

Rifle club members shoot at 500 metres

Eleven Murray Bridge Rifle Club members and two visitors from Bordertown, Jeff and Sharyn Makin, were greeted by a warm and sunny afternoon with a subtle breeze from the left when they turned out to shoot from 500 metres this past Saturday.

The left wind, which is not common on the Deed Range at Monarto, lulled shooters into a false sense of security as it began to vary in strength and gradually circle around.

By the end of the day it was a fairly strong and consistent wind from the right.

Those who had the misfortune of shooting during the most variable of times were sorely tested, while those who managed the luck of the wind produced some very impressive scores.

This included Rob Paech and Jazz Irvine in target rifle, who shot a 97.04 and a 96.06 respectively, and Mark Nesti in F-open, whose outstanding 117.10 gave him a commanding 10-point win in the F-class handicap award.

But the dichotomy of the day was most clearly displayed by the disastrous 44.00 in the second round of Frank Marshall, who had shot a dazzling 59.03 in the first.

The big plus side for all concerned was that no-one managed to stray into the three-ring, so no magpie awards were given out for the day.

In TR the honours went to Paech off-rifle and Irvine in the handicap by a narrow 0.2 from Gordon Harrison.

Irvine was also the top sniper for the day, keeping all her sighters with a 20.03.

In F-class, second in the handicap behind Nesti was Nicole Edwards, shooting FTR and scoring a solid 110.06, while Dave Hindmarsh was the top F-standard shooter with 109.04.

Visitor Jeff Makin also did very well, scoring 117.10 for the day, while his wife Sharyn was a little further behind with an 86.01.

Next week members will shoot from their closest range, 300 metres.

The week after they will travel to Mount Barker to contest the first stage of the District Rifle Association Championship.

Little athletes get big windfall

Finally, Murray Bridge Little Athletics Centre has picked up $3200 worth of sporting equipment courtesy of the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund.

Sponsorship and grants officer Trudy Robinson said the equipment had lifted the spirits of athletes and volunteers.

“The grant allowed us to purchase modified equipment for younger athletes, as well as an electronic starting kit and portable discus cage,” she said.

“The new gear has helped us to cater for more kids in the community as our membership continues to expand.”

Funds for the grants are raised through the sale of specially marked chiller bags at Coles supermarkets.

Coles has raised more than $1.68 million for 376 Little Athletics centres around the country since November 2018.

Murray Bridge News is happy to share news, results or photos from sporting clubs throughout Murray Bridge and the surrounding region, free of charge. Email peri@murraybridge.news or call 0419 827 124.