Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125855
Last year's champ, John Boulger. .. couldn't catch the wily Bananalander. By Peter White BR ISBANE, AUSTRALIA, MAR. 16 40 events were run w ith each o f the 32 rid e rs entered in five eve nts. Irwindale Pre-season Qualifier By Dennis Greene IRWIN DA LE, CAL., MA R . 30 With the official opening of Speedway.just three weeks away, the Speedway Racing Association (SRA) found it necessary to hold a qualifying ro u nd to classify the riders not included in th e t op 30 by the total points from the 19 73 season. 36 All winter the SRA worked on a system that would be fair to all the young hopefuls wanting a first division ride. The format wo rked out by the SRA brings a total of 50 first division riders to the line fo r 1974: the top 30 riders from last year as determined by the total points from 1973 and 20 additional riders to be chosen by a pair of qualifying rounds. The 20 riders from the two qualifying rounds will receive a dual license allowing them to co mp e t e in second division shows , if they wish, and also in first division even ts. The dual license was made necessary by the fact that several of the Speedway promoters will be running two nights a week this year; one night being the regular show with first and second d ivisio n , and the other show for second d ivisio n o nly. This will give the new ta le nt a chance to be see n an d m or e ti me to perfect their ta lent witho ut so me o f the top 30 riders co ming o u t and ru n ning away with t he show and all the m o ne y. _ In 19 73; there were approxi mately 15 0 riders wanting to ride in the first division and out of the 109 race meets some on ly got to ride three or fo ur ti mes. For so me, the frustration was too much and they gave up. For those who ' stuck it out, it was still no bed of roses; even when they did m anage to get a ride, the money was small and for the m o st part di d not even cover their gas expense to get to the track. Hopefully, this will all be changed for the 1974 season . This past Saturday night at Irwindale, the first of these qualifying events was held wit h a total of 40, count 'em 40, events in which th re e poin ts were give n fo r first p lace, two points for second a nd one for t hird. Each o f t he 32 rid er s co mpeted in five events. A perfect nigh t woul d b ri ng a rid er 15 poin ts. T roy McKee an d Bruce Pe n ha ll were th e two top scorers wi th 14 points each . T wo newco mers, ' Da ve Sims and Bob Schwartz, fin ishe d with 13 poin ts each fo r second an d there was a six -way tie for third among six of the hopefu ls. The second and fina l qualifying round will be held this Saturday night at Irwindale with a second batch of 32 riders trying for one of the 20 d ual licenses. • Dave Sims finished in ti e for second with Bob Schwartz, each pic ked up 13 poin ts . Personality rider Steve Reinke of Brisbane, Queensland, has won the speedway motorcycle championship of Australia in his third start in the ser ies finals. He thus ended the Jim Airey - John Boulger domination of the event in recent years. Reinke, riding on his home track, powered to a 15-point maxim um to win the first Australian title of his five-year . speedway car eer. The 28 year-old " Ipswich star a lmost had t he stadium in an uproar when he m e tho d ical ly disposed of nearest challe nger Boulge r in a decisive heat 18. Until then both rid er s were undefeated an d th e wi nn er was desti ned to become champion . Ear lier, both Rein ke a nd defendi ng cha mp ion Bo ulger had p rov en t he ir abi lity to co me fro m th e back so gat in g wasn' t as vi tal as o ne m igh t have anticipated. From the insi de position, Reink e rocketed in t o the first tu m wit h Bo u lger on the ou tside, Rein ke took Bo ulge r up , kept the throttle o n an d gained a sligh t advantage as they hit the back straight. The ex -champ tried - how he tried but there was no catching the wi ly Bananalander. As Boulger said: "There was o nly one line at that stage of the nig ht after the midgets had been started on the track. ..and Reinke beat me to it. Once he got in front I tried a few other lines and cut-backs but they were useless. You had to be ou t on the Fence where the dirt was:" A major Il ar e -u p when the Queensland S ta te semi-finals were rained off resulted in a rider 's strike after lo cal Control Board offi cials selected the four riders to con test th e final from th at Stat e. The mailer was only resolved wi thin 411 hours of the c ha m p io nsh ip meeting. Brisban e teenage d iscovery .J ohn Titman filled third pla c ing in th e seri es . • 1973/74 Craven Filter Australian Solo Championships Grand Final S I e v e Reinke (Q ld) John Bou lger (SA ) J ohn 't ttrnan (Qld) Phil C r u m p (Vi c) Ja ck White (Qld) Kevin r o-c te (Qld) John Langfleld (N SW) Neil Street (VIC) Peter Thompson ~WA) Brenton Kluske ( A) John Dewhur st (VIC) Ph'l Herne (N 5W) Doug Underwood (WA) Gly n Tay lor (WA) Paul Scanlon (SA) Steve Koppe (O ld) Pau l Johnstone (N5W) 3 3 2 1 3 2 3 2 1 0 1 0 r 2 1 2 0 3 3 3 2 2 3 1 2 0 1 3 3 3 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 r 0 0 0 , , 3 3 2 3 , 1 2 0 2 3 2 1 1 1 3 2 3 3 3 2 15 14 13 12 10 9 r 8 1 1 0 2 1 7 6 5 5 5 3 3 2 2 I 0 0