March 2018 Newsletter There’s plenty happening within Speedway Australia at the moment, and the purpose of this newsletter is to keep licence holders up to date with some of the more important initiatives that the next few months will bring. Every facet of the sport will positively benefit from these enhancements, and we look forward to rising to the challenges that will inevitably crop up. There’ll be some quick wins and longer-term benefits, but the sport will emerge in a better shape as speedway’s 100th anniversary approaches. ** ANNOUNCEMENT ** New Licensing System The familiar card-based licence system will soon be a thing of the past, with an all-new electronic licensing system currently in development. The benefits of this will be many, starting with faster processing times and reduced workloads for club secretaries, plus the elimination of a number of fees that licence holders currently have to pay for urgent licences.   Officials will also notice that they no longer need to carry around a multitude of cards, with the separate racing officials card for Stewards and Scrutineers being merged in with the licence.   A brief outline of the changes are below. These initiatives will be rolled out over the next few months, with a staged delivery of improvements between now and the new season. 2018 Australian Speedway Awards ** NOMINATE & WIN ** Nominations will open soon for the 2018 Australian Speedway Awards, to be held at Rydges Southbank in Brisbane on Saturday June 23.   As per previous years everyone who takes the time to nominate a worthy candidate will be in the draw to win a trip for two to the Awards dinner. Tickets to attend the dinner will also be available for purchase at an unchanged price of $150 per head. This includes a sumptuous meal and four hours of refreshments.   This is the glitziest night of the speedway year, with the incomparable Bennie Bishop playing host and the following awards to be presented to the worthy winners:-   Five Lifetime Achievement Awards To nominate, head over to this link and to purchase tickets to the awards functionclick here National services rolling out soon Speedway Australia is serious about delivering real value to its stakeholders, and one of the issues identified in the last twelve months was the need for a comprehensive national training programme. Currently, the burden of training under Speedway Australia’s rules falls to divisions and tracks, but shortfalls have been identified. In some cases, Speedway Australia’s state branches were filling some of the gaps, by conducting officials or safety training in their respective regions.    Moving forward, Speedway Australia has obtained a mandate from divisions to undertake a comprehensive training scheme that can be rolled out to all officials and venues across the nation. It’s anticipated this will be unveiled at the National Forum in June, and one of the major changes to achieve this strategy has been the announced closure of Speedway Australia’s state branches. This was necessary to ensure a complete focus on a truly national environment, so that stakeholders at every track in the country receive a similar level of care and attention.   Once we have a better understanding of the impact of these changes, Speedway Australia will be recruiting additional full-time staff to ensure all corners of the country are guided and resourced to an appropriate level. We will also be forging closer relationships with other like-minded organisations who deliver services to speedway in some parts of the country, such as the WA Speedway Commission, Motorsports NT and the NSW Office of Sport and Recreation.   We would like to pay tribute to the volunteers and administrators who have guided the state branches over the past 20 years. Most will remain a part of the sport in some shape or form, and we look forward to working with them in their other existing roles or the new opportunities that will inevitably arise. National Competitors Forum - Bringing speedway together Last year’s inaugural National Forum saw over half of Speedway Australia’s recognised racing divisions gathering for an instructive session of information gathering and networking. Over 90% of attendees requested that the forum be held on an annual basis, so Speedway Australia has committed to that process and it will again be held on the day of the Australian Speedway Awards, at the same Rydges Southbank venue in Brisbane.   We received plenty of feedback from the divisions that they would like track operators to be a part of the forum, and we are pleased to advise that the Australasian Speedway Promoters Association have committed to the Forum. They represent many of the tracks throughout the country, and the offer is now there for all tracks to make their way to Brisbane to be a part of the Forum.   Please contact us if you are a track operator who is interested in attending the National Forum. National Track Assessment Programme + Australian Titles 2018 will see Speedway Australia staff visiting most tracks in the country to undertake track assessments. These are required annually in New South Wales, and every two years in all other states and territories.  This year, the inspections are being timed to coincide with national titles wherever possible, so that staff can be on hand to network with as many stakeholders as possible. The Speedway Australia truck will also be present, starting with the Australian 360 Sprintcar Championship next weekend in Perth before moving to Horsham at Easter for the Australian Modified Sedan title, Maryborough for the Production Sedan title and culminating in Darwin with the Australian Junior Sedan and Formula 500 title.  A change to the Speedway Australia Board We are pleased to advise that long-standing speedway identity Darren Shaddock has been appointed to the Board of Speedway Australia. The Track Manager at Murray Bridge Speedway, Darren has been involved in many facets of the promotional side of the sport, through such ventures as Sprintcar World and Speedway.Net.  Darren replaces Steve Green, who has left the country to undertake an exciting venture in the automotive industry overseas. We welcome Darren to the team, and thank Steve for his many years of service both to Speedway Australia and the sport in general.  The Board of Speedway Australia consists of four competitor representatives, four promoter representatives and an independent. The current Board is as below, with details on their speedway involvement and year of appointment:- Competitor Representatives Greg Lynd | CEO, Speedway Sedans Australia (2014) Darren Cassidy | President, Racing Sedans Australia (2014) Mark Cooper | Speedcars Australia (2014) Gary Winterbottom | Sprintcar Control Council of Australia (2017) Promoter Representatives Guy Thompson | Chairperson, Latrobe Speedway Pty Ltd (2014) Gavin Migro | Longest serving Board member, Perth Motorplex (2002) John Kelly | Archerfield Speedway, also Sprintcars Queensland (2006) Darren Shaddock | Murray Bridge Speedway, Made Too Go Group (2018) Independent Board member Damien McKern | Deputy Chair, Chartered Accountant (2015) CBHS Corporate Health Speedway Australia’s health insurance partner CBHS has a reputation as one of the leaders in the market, and with a number of special offers for the speedway fraternity they need to be considered as an option for you and your family.  For more details on how CBHS Corporate Health can help you out, head to their dedicated speedway landing page. World Series Sprintcars Winners Held in conjunction with this year’s World Series Sprintcars championship was a fundraising raffle, initiated following the inclusion of an Eagle Sprintcar chassis and bodykit in the title sponsorship of Queensland Speedway Spares. Winners were as follows:-  Eagle Sprintcar Chassis | Mikey Rimmer, WA Revolution Racegear Voucher | James Rosenberg, SA Speedway Star Merchandise | Adam Currie, SA                                                 Dyson Motorsport, NSW                                                 Robert Warner, QLD Also on the night was a prize draw for three Knoxville Nationals tickets, generously donated by QSS’s Bill Mann. V88 Victory Lane Racing were the lucky winners.  And the inaugural World Series Sprintcars Fantasy League was won by Glen Ince, a V6 Sprints competitor from SA. Congratulations to all winners, along with series champion James McFadden from Monte Motorsports.  Rulebook There have been no changes to any rules so far this year. This means the current rulebook in force is the December 2017 version, available here. Welcome to Nickol Bay Speedway Speedway tracks don’t come much more remote than the venues in northern Western Australia, but fans and drivers from these tracks know that the quality of facilities is comparable to metropolitan venues. Nickol Bay Speedway operate out of Karratha from April to December, with the season concluding with their famous New Years Eve Derby. Other highlights include the Sprintcar Stampede in June and the Brett Johnson Memorial for Modified Sedans in July.  We are delighted to welcome Nickol Bay Speedway into the Speedway Australia organisation, and for more information check out their Facebook page here.

WATTS WINS HOME TRACK 40TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT

Mitch Watts did his home club of Leeton proud when on April the 30th he went on to defeat his 

father in law and current Victorian champion Ross Maclean in a last lap pass as he crossed the line in 

first place on a special 40th anniversary race night, Maclean second and Dave Walton finished in 

third place. 

With big events on the program for Super Sedans & Production Sedans the Goulburn Ovens Sedan 

Association played the third string role on the card and in reality had the closest finish of the night in 

their final. 

Watts (# 54 Ace Smash Repairs – Commodore) began the evening in heat one with a victory over 

Frank Gordon, Wally Dewar, Walton & Maclean. A six lap race on the 917 metre long track finished 

with just over two and a half seconds between first and second at the finish line. Scott Callander 

finished in seventh ahead of Mark Pollard, Jamie Atkins & Stuart Balins whilst Mick Pettit (# 6 MP 

Sheds – Commodore), Mick Quinn & Mark Gordon were all non-finishers.

Off the front row Callander (# 24 Jindera Automotive – Falcon) took the early lead in heat two and 

after starting from position four it took Maclean until lap three to hit the front and go on to record 

the fastest time for a heat race for the night with six laps done in two minutes 58.732 seconds. 

Watts moved ahead of Callander & into second on lap five finishing just over three seconds behind 

Maclean (# 1 Macleans Storage Corowa – Commodore). Pettit was fourth with Walton, Frank 

Gordon, Pollard, Dewar, Quinn, Atkins & Mark Gordon a lap down finishing behind the winner. Balins 

didn’t finish.

Making it two wins in the heat races and securing pole position for the final, Maclean took the lead 

from Pollard (# 18 BB Freight – Commodore) on lap two, Pollard held strong in second until lap five 

when he spun in turn one and out of the race.

Watts assumed second place behind Maclean after starting back in seventh place, Pettit moved into 

third with Walton (# 43 Maverick Boats – Centura) & Callander from the very back of the field next in 

line as Maclean took the .742 of a second win. Quinn finished in sixth spot with Dewar, Atkins & 

Balins the others to finish. Frank Gordon missed the start and Mark Gordon (# 91 Menzplant – 

Commodore) who had a new engine in the car was having issues which didn’t allow him to start the 

first heat either.

A ten lap final at Brobenah Raceway Leeton is like a twenty to twenty two lap final at most other 

regular size speedways & the drivers thrilled the crowd, especially Maclean & Watts out front. 

Maclean got the lead on lap one from Watts, Callander held onto third place with Walton chasing.

On lap seven Walton moved into third ahead of Callander, Mark Gordon dropped out of the race yet 

again with his engine not right whilst earlier in the final Quinn (# 17 KMA Signs – Commodore) 

copped a whack from Mark Gordon and that put him out of the race.

On the very last lap Watts took the lead in front of parochial home crowd to bring his Leeton 

registered race car to a win with Maclean just .088 of a second behind. The race went green to 

chequered flag without a stop and a four minute and 50.544 second race time. Walton was third five 

seconds back with Callander, Frank Gordon, Dewar, Pettit, Pollard, Atkins & Balins (# 22 QA Kitchens 

– Commodore) the finishers. 

Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association would like to thank the sponsors.

Max’s Motor Museum – Corowa

Maverick Boats – Corowa

Elle Mae Hair & Beauty – Corowa

Corowa Kitchens & Cabinets

Psychic Tina – Leeton

Wahgunyah Rock Yard – Wahgunyah

Stevo’s Painting Services

Cornelius Classic Panels – Corowa

Ace Smash Repairs – Leeton

MP Sheds – Leeton

Corowa Glass – Corowa

Dunkley Paint & Panels – Corowa

Sf photo graphix - Mulwala

Written by

Dean Thompson

DMT Sports Media

For Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association

TRY AS THEY MIGHT, STRUTS COULDN’T KNOCK JOHNSON OUT

Former Western Australian Modified Sedan champion Broome's Mick Johnson has had an up a down 

season so far in what is fast becoming the premier division to be in around the national & much of 

the variation in his performance comes down to recent changes the team made in order to try and 

advance themselves up the rung to mix it with the nation’s best in big events over in the east of 

Australia.

A change to a 3.6L Alloy Tec motor has not gone particularly smooth so far with a loss of power & 

torque that the driver was used to from the other engine. The first Western Australian series round 

with the new engine at Collie a week before Christmas proved tough as Johnson's machine broke 

two struts & struggled with less power as Johnson came away with seventh from fifteen starters & 

work to do.

After re-panelling the car, making a differential change and re-making strut mountings for the title, 

Johnson & the team hit the track for practice however still had difficulty with the engine, a removal 

of weight from the car helped free it up, however the strut issue returned on an otherwise smooth 

track, bending two front struts the team had just fitted during practice.

It became a busy night after practice to be ready for the next day’s racing as the team went back to 

their struts that broke at Collie that had just been repaired & returned to the team prior to the title. 

To fit them it meant re-scaling the car at the track, not something drivers like to do especially when 

it was the first of three times they did that over the weekend!

Racing finally got underway with a fourth place start in heat one being converted to a third whilst 

the driver after the race told the crew he needed more revs, a change of tyres and a shock 

adjustment done before heat two.

A third position start in heat two quickly became a lead in the first two laps with Johnson stretching 

to a four car buffer before the right hand front strut leg broke in half and the wheel collapsed on 

what was otherwise a smooth track. Johnson received fifth place points with as he dropped out of 

the front running with a very bent adjustable strut insert. 

Before the third heat the car had to be re-scaled with the team needing to run a strut that hadn’t 

been set up with the car changes, the crew worked fast & the interval giving them some extra time 

to put the car back in running order with a less than ideal front strut that would change the car 

handling.

Johnson then started in pole position for the third heat & just couldn’t get the same turn in with the 

car as he had early in heat two hurting the entry & exit speed of the car & leaving the car & driver 

dropping back to third. 

Next up was a new plan in the pits to formulate the remaining good strut from the left hand front to 

be adjusted to a right hand front & stronger housing was organised to be made the following day. 

Trev from the crew then took off on Sunday to ex Modified Sedan driver and current WA # 2 Street 

Stock driver Paul Briggs Collie workshop to re make a stronger strut leg whilst the team checked all 

the front end alignments and angles, fitted a spare strut to the left hand corner to allow the left 

hand strut that was there to be fitted in to the right hand corner. Then it was time to scale the car up 

for the third time!

A great result in the fourth & final heat race when Johnson from seventh worked through to third 

with the car handling good again, the heat include a couple battles with defending champ Aiden 

Trewern and then Ray Clifton to finish a close 3rd.

After a calculation of points Johnson qualified ninth for the title race with some quick cars ahead. 

Preparing for the feature Johnson found the right rear shock had lost its rebound adjustment and 

was jammed, this was quickly changed out for the spare and re set to where it should be, crew also 

prepped the feature tyres with a little advice from fellow Broome racer and current WA 1 and OZ 1 

Late Model Sedan champ Kodee Brown. 

Johnson’s race started well. Two passing lines developed & Johnson was able to capitalise on this to 

pass Miranda Ball on the first lap, then wait for some grip to work into the tyres, passing Adam 

Houston on lap eight, before having a great battle with Neville Mansted and Blake Watson passing 

Watson and Allan Mortimer on lap fifteen and Mansted on lap twenty then Mick Hamon on twenty 

one moving Johnson into third place as Aiden Trewern withdrew with power steer failure. 

A restart with 10 to go put Johnson on the back of  Sean Theyer and Matt Noakes, as Johnson made 

a ripping re start and picked off Theyer after two laps and set out after Noakes who had opened up a 

gap. Johnson got onto the bumper of Noakes setting the quick time of the feature on lap twenty 

nine with a 20.023 with two to go and pushed a little high giving Noakes a slight buffer, on the white 

flag lap before chasing Noakes to the finish in second.

Johnson was delighted with the podium finish. "I'm very happy to finish on the podium, it’s been a 

very frustrating month so it was great to reward the crew Team Banjup Trev, Di & Gav and the 

sponsors with a strong finish. I can't thank everybody enough for all their work tonight & last night 

with all the changes we need to go through. Thank you to Brigga for letting us get some work done 

at his place & well done to Collie Speedway  for a great weekend & Noakesy for the win , a special 

thanks to my missus  BJ, who allows me so much time to do what I love as she takes care of the kids 

when I go away." shared Johnson.

Mick Johnson would like to thank the following supporters:

Advanced Electrical Equipment

Stickemon Signs

Alpha Plant Maintenance

Mendes Race Engines - Nuno

Podium Engines - Steve

Motorsport Electronics - Tyrone

Shock Doctor - Wayne

Written by

Dean Thompson

DMT Sports Media

For West to East Motorsport

NSW GRAND PRIX MIDGET CLUB EXCITED FOR NATIONAL TITLE

This Saturday night February the 6th the NSW Grand Prix Midget Club & 

Goulburn Speedway Club host the national title for Grand Prix Midgets at 

what is the NSW GP Midget club’s home track & the locals cannot wait to 

get on track & keep the title in their home state.

Seven New South Wales drivers will compete against six Victorians with 

the home club drivers including Cory Tatarko, Stuart McMahon, Keiran 

Macklyn & Tyrin Haynes very much looking at having standout 

performances in front of local friends and family.

Sydneysiders Scot Moir, Janelle Saville & Ron Scheers Jnr don’t mind if 

they take the title back home with them to the big smoke whilst the 

Victorian contingent has brothers Paul & Trevor Perry, Lisa Chalcraft & 

Louis Rodriguez all from the Goulburn Valley, Geelong’s Chris Fowler & 

Melbourne racer Jason Crawford with plans to spoil the party.

Pundits in the media and on the hill believe that the best chances of a 

victory or podiums in this title include Goulburn’s Cory Tatarko. Tatarko 

currently leads the NSW point score having won every feature race so far 

this season.

Scott Moir being a previous winner (2006) is always a chance & if he has 

overcome mechanical issues that have plagued his racing this season then 

he is likely to figure in the results, whilst also having mechanical issues is 

Janelle Saville whose Father, Brother and Uncle have all won the title and 

if her and her car owner can get on top of those on race night she is a 

proven big time racer.

Almost all the top Victorian drivers have entered this meeting and there is 

no doubt that Jason Crawford in the Mark Shiells owned machine will be 

figuring in the final tussle, however Trevor Perry is the driver with most 

experience at Goulburn having competed there this season more than 

once to get used to every nook and cranny only to finish behind Tatarko.

Fowler, Rodriguez, Chalcraft & Paul Perry are proven more than capable 

drivers behind the wheel and would have set themselves at worst result a 

podium finish as a goal whilst they might be considered dark horses when 

it comes to being out of the top four chances.

Other dark horses for the title win from New South Wales include Keiran 

Macklyn who has been switching between another division of competition 

and the Midgets this season, mind you as has Rodriguez another New 

South Wales dark horse is Stu McMahon who won races towards the end 

of last season and has started strongly this year.

Grand Prix Midget New South Wales secretary Ian Emslie shares his 

thoughts on what should be a very close title event. “The last few 

Australian titles have seen one or two drivers totally dominate the whole 

night, however this year I believe we have the tightest field ever & any 

one of five or six drivers could take the number one plate home. I’m 

really looking forward to seeing this year’s event.”

Contact number for Ian Emslie of the NSW Grand Prix Midgets for details 

is 0410 150 614 or ian@nswgpmidgets.com

The club would also invite everybody to purchase T Shirts acknowledging 

the title for $30 plus postage of $10 you can contact Ian or talk to the 

club at the venue on Saturday night.

NSW 2 – Janelle Saville (Ron & Steph’s Signs & Nicole’s Hair Paradise)

NSW 3 – Cory Tatarko (Maximum Action Photography & Bo’s Sign Worx)

NSW 5 – Ron Scheers Jr (Westcrete Concreting & Diablo Racecars)

VIC 6 – Paul Perry (Paul Perry Racing Chassis)

NSW 11 – Scott Moir (A-Ok Trophies & Decoglaze)

VIC 13 – Chris Fowler (Ballistic Performance Parts & RMG Signs)

VIC 15 – Lisa Chalcraft (Freers Panel Works & Oil Hydraulics Shepparton)

NSW 22 – Stuart McMahon – (Fitzroy Falls General Store)

NSW 38 – Keiran Macklyn – (Marulan Auto Spares)

VIC 47 – Louis Rodriguez – (D Mac Property Services & John King Signs)

VIC 50 – Jason Crawford – (Pitstop Mowers & R & P Stainer Grinding)

VIC 55 – Trevor Perry – (Perry Bros Racing Chassis)

NSW 76 – Tyrin Haynes – ( Haynes Racing)

Written by

Dean Thompson

DMT Sports Media

For New South Wales Grand Prix Midgets Racing Association Inc