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Next Meeting : 25th July 2009
By Law: Pioneer Park can not allow patrons to bring their own alcohol
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QUEENSLAND v NEW SOUTH WALES - Posted 11 June, 2009
Story by Peter White
THE FOURTH and final match in this year’s series of interstate challenges – the only fair dinkum team racing that takes place in Australia thanks to a side from New South Wales which tours Queensland tracks annually in the Oz winter – wound up with a 63-45 win for the NSW-Farrell Transport visitors which took them to three wins and a draw over the series that started on the Gold Coast and wrapped up in Ayr.
After losing top local Steven Reid in a crash the previous weekend, Queensland were forced to track a team that was expected to have trouble holding the high-flying southerners and when they also lost another pivotal rider, Clinton Dennis, as early as heat three in a frightful-looking pile-up with Alex Davies (NSW), the doom loomed large.
However Queensland hung on and after four heats had kept the score level at 12-12. Even by the interval, Queensland were still in the hunt, only six points behind.
But then NSW unleashed its firepower and drew away in the second half.
The racing was again fast, exciting and spectacular and with excellent weather and a healthy-sized crowd in attendance, promoters at both Ayr venues over the two weekends were delighted to confirm a return of the team racing series next year.
The heat three crash, when Davies hit a patch of dirt, reared and smashed heavily into the concrete safety fence, bringing down fellow 16-year-old Dennis and Anthony Perks (NSW), was a disastrous start for both teams.
Dennis was taken immediately to hospital with a suspected broken leg while Davies smashed his bike beyond repair.
X-rays showed Dennis had escaped any fractures and he returned to the track before the end of the meeting.
With both teams not tracking a reserve, Queensland resorted to rider replacement for the rest of the match – hence eight rides in the 18-heat Test format meeting for the scintillating Tyson Nelson and Damien Koppe.
Davies, ropeable with himself for wrecking his hopes of a maximum, brought out his spare bike and went on to win his remaining five starts and finish the tour as the stand-out rider alongside Nelson who is being hailed as the next Darcy Ward in Queensland.
For the second week in a row, NSW’s Ricky Wallace stepped up to the plate – this time as the top scorer for his team with a slashing performance that included the scalp of Nelson. The great-nephew of Billy Sanders must be on his way to a team spot in England next year if he continues this turn-around form.
QUEENSLAND 45: Tyson Nelson 19 (eight rides), Damien Koppe 12 (eight rides), Ashley Cathcart 7 (paid 10) (seven rides), Mitchell Weismantle 5 (paid 8), Kurt Palmer 2 (seven rides), Clinton Dennis 0 (fell and injured in his first ride).
NSW-FARRELL TRANSPORT 63: Ricky Wallace 16 (paid 17) (seven rides), Alex Davies 15, Sam Masters 11, Michael Penfold 9 (paid 11), Kurt Shields 7 (paid 8), Anthony Perks 5 (paid 6).
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