Sports reports: Queenslander takes modlite gold at Murray Bridge Speedway

This post was contributed by MMS Media, Murray Bridge Rifle Club’s Daniel Irvine and the River Murray Football League.

Queensland’s domination of the Australian Modlite Championship continued on Saturday night at Murray Bridge Speedway as Sam Gollschewsky claimed his first national crown.

In fact, Queenslanders locked out the top four positions in the 25-lap championship finale as former national champion Terry Leerentveld, Sean Rose and Dan Lewis followed, with Scott Webb being the best of the locals in fifth.

After starting in pole, Gollschewsky would led every lap and held off a late charge from Leerentveld following a late race caution.

Leerentveld threw everything at the leader in the final turn but he came up 0.182 of a second short.

Patrick Hewitt had a solid night as he finished sixth ahead of Anthony Grillett, Brian Chadwick, Jacob Carlier and Justin Chadwick.

Shane Price finished just outside the top 10 ahead of Luke Fraser, Jake Armstrong, Dylan Richter and Andrew Launer.

The race featured a number of cautions.

Its biggest moment came on lap 11 when defending race champion Kyle Honour, who was running a lowly 15th, spun on turn two and was collected by second-placed Ryan Alexander as he attempted to lap him.

Alexander’s #28 suffered a right front puncture, putting an end to his run.

It wasn’t a great night for the MA Motorsport Team, as fellow South Australian hope Michael Miller didn’t start the main event, having blown the engine in the #3 entry during the third round of heats.

Paige Charlson and Queenslander Scott Lehfeldt also failed to start the finale.

The night included plenty of racing for the scaled-down modifieds with 12 heat races prior to the championship decider.

A total of 23 drivers fronted for action on the night due to the unfortunate omission of Klinton Hancey, who damaged his motor at practice on Friday afternoon.

The opening round of heats featured victories by Miller, Gollschewsky and Lewis; while Carlier, Webb and Miller claimed heat wins in round two.

Alexander, Gollschewsky and Grillett greeted the chequered flag first in round three while Fraser, Alexander and Gollschewsky rounded out the final round with heat wins.

The night also included events for street stocks, junior sedans and late models.

Nathan Thorne defeated Sam Brumfield and Nigel Reichstein in the street stock finale, while Aaron Tranter was a class above the field in the junior sedan feature, setting a new track record.

Four late model drivers fronted for racing, including Lee Rothe, who made his debut in a General Lee-themed Chevrolet.

After 15 laps, Tasmanian Tim Pyke won easily ahead of Brad Gartner and Jason Robinson.

Newlywed rifle shooter Brad Kirpensteyn nets his first handicap win

A good turnout of 23 shooters has kept everyone busy at the Deed Range in Monarto.

The mix of visitors, members testing equipment and loads, and members competing in the 25th stage of the club championship on Saturday were greeted with a pleasant day where the wind came mostly from the right.

It did, on odd occasions, shift to straight and even flicked to the left from time to time.

While this led to a wide range of scores, the atmosphere in the clubhouse after the shoot made it appear as though a lot of fun was had by all.

In F-class, among the competitors, the off-rifle scores were quite close with Mark Nesti topping the list for F-open on 112.05, only a point ahead of F-open shooter Ian Elston on 111.06, who in turn was only one point ahead of F-standard winner Frank Marshall on 110.03.

The F-class handicap award for the day went to new shooter, first-time winner and newlywed Brad Kirpensteyn, whose 106.03 when combined with his handicap gave him 126.2, more than three points ahead of second-placed Marshall.

It was noted with some amusement afterwards that Kirpensteyn had borrowed the rifle from club stalwart David McDonald, who is always ready to lend a hand to other members, but who was not able to get his own rifle to produce a similar score on this occasion.

McDonald did not go unrewarded as he claimed the magpie award for F-class with two “birds”.

It seemed helpfulness had its own reward in target rifle on the day as well, as Daniel Irvine – who was looking after four visitors and coaching them through their own rounds – also claimed the magpie award; he only shot one “bird”, but one was enough.

In better target rifle scores, honourable mentions went to Rob Paech and Andrew Heard, who both shot possibles of 50 and paired them with 49s.

However, Paech was able to sneak in the off-rifle win by two more centres, 99.07 to 99.05.

Neither man was able to snag the handicap award, however; this week it went to Jasamine Irvine, who shot a consistent pair of 48s, just behind the two off-rifle winners, which gave her a handicap win of nearly two points.

A second honourable mention went to Heard, who shot a near-perfect score in the “snipers”, scoring 20.03 out of a possible 20.04 for his sighters.

He was “too mean to miss”, as shooting veteran Gordon Harrison – whose own day was ruined by a crossfire that put a bullseye on the wrong target – would put it.

Next weekend the club will shoot its annual open prize meeting, where shooters from around the state will travel to Monarto and compete across three ranges of 700m, 800m and 1000 yards.

We are definitely glad that we have now got five installed and working electronic targets to get us through the day.

River Murray Football League round two results

Ramblers 6.7 (43) v Tailem Bend 24.15 (159)

Tailem Bend goals: J. Bell 7, C. Smelt 4, D. Finnie 3, R. Smelt 2, M. Hansen 2, B. Hansen 1, J. Smedley 1, D. Perks 1, N. Westhoff 1, M. Sumner 1, H. Irwin 1

Ramblers goals: D. Garlett 2, S. Callery 1, M. Hartman 1, D. Wilson 1, J. Woods 1

Tailem Bend best: B. Hansen, H. Irwin, D. Finnie, J. Bell, D. Perks

Ramblers best: A. Pratt, R. Vanson, K. Harradine, C. Schubert, B. Thiele

Meningie 8.8 (56) v Mypolonga 18.8 (116)

Mypolonga goals: C. Murison 4, K. McDonald 4, T. Howson 2, J. Zadow 2, R. Finlayson 2, C. Ansell 1, C. Stegmeyer 1, L. Bassani 1, C. Oxton 1

Meningie goals: T. Robinson 2, S. Sanders 2, J. Ling 1, D. Spinks 1, T. Schaefer 1, M. Miller 1

Mypolonga best: C. Stegmeyer, B. Murison, J. Zadow, L. Bassani, K. McDonald

Meningie best: J. Lawson, S. Sanders, T. Pitchford, P. Reichelt, W. Hayes

Imperials 16.8 (104) v Jervois 10.7 (67)

Imperial goals: J. Boras 8, A. Tunbridge 3, H. Montgomery 2, B. Oats 1, A. Day 1, D. Hollitt 1

Jervois goals: J. Scott 7, T. Kluske 1, J. Noye 1, J. Woodall 1

Imperial best: J. Boras, D. Wilson, A. Tunbridge, J. Clarke, L. DeMichele

Jervois best: J. Scott, T. Kluske, M. Pope, A. Diamond, T. Hill, S. Catford

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.