Last Saturday night saw a mixed program at the Murray Bridge Speedway with the Sidecars and Speedcars being the two main attractions. Dave Bottrell and Shane Rudloff proved to be too strong for the opposition in the Murray Bridge Sidecar Championship while Ben Wiese added another feature win to his ever growing resume in the opening round of the Palletco SA Speedcar Series.

Although Bottrell managed to secure the 6 lap Sidecar feature he didn’t have it all his own way as Justin Plaisted and Sam Harrison claimed all four heat victories before failing to finish the final. Second across the line was local duo Mick Headland / Paul Waters while the Broken Hill combination of Rick Howse and Adam Commins completed the podium finishers.

In the Speedcars it was Ben Wiese who once again showed his class as he secured the 12 lap feature ahead of rookie Rory Gilbert and Norm Moore but it was last start feature winner Matt Egel who was the standout in the heats. Egel managed to take out both heat races before fading to finish fifth in the all important final.

Several other categories were also on display throughout the night with the Modified Sedans, Super Sedans, Formula 500’s, V8 Dirt Modifieds and Street Stocks on the program.

In the Sedan categories Tony Hardy emerged the feature winner of the Modified Sedans ahead of Mount Barker’s Terry Brown and Robert Uren. Earlier in the evening Brown and Mildura’s David Smith managed to claim a heat win apiece. The Super Sedans once again produced some intense tin top racing with Steve Vaughan piloting his brand new Pontiac Grand Prix to the feature win with Bill Miller and veteran Steve Stewart close behind.

In the final sedan class, the Street Stocks, a massive field of cars attended the event with well over 25 cars in the pit area. With the field being so large they were spit into two groups with Laon James claiming one of the features while Paul Szuwczuk grabbed the other 12 lap decider.

The remaining open wheeled classes also produced some excellent racing especially the Formula 500’s. With 15 cars doing battle the on track racing was at it’s finest with Mylor resident Michael Wise taking a clean sweep of all three events. This division also produced an unforgettable moment as veteran John Mitchell rolled his J&K embroidery #25 in spectacular fashion. The V8 Dirt Modifieds were also present with a small field of cars which included Victorian Tony Moore. Glenn Goonan claimed the opening two heats of the night while veteran Les Baker edged out Goonan and Mick Brougham in the final.

The next event at the Murray Bridge Speedway will be on December 27 when the venue hosts round 2 of the World Series Sprintcars Proton Jumbuck Speedweek Series.