Webmaster posted on May 29, 2010 14:35
Some of the Australia’s best dirt track riders in both the junior and senior ranks have entered for this weekend’s 2010 Elliotts Landscape Supplies Central Coast Cup meeting.
The meeting will be staged at the Central Coast Junior Motorcycle Club Inc. complex at Debenham Road North, Somersby with over 100 riders entering about 180 machines to contest the various classes of racing.
On Saturday (May 29) practice will start at 9.30 am with the first round of races starting immediately after practice. On Sunday (May 30) racing gets underway at 10.00am and culminates in the finals for all classes as well as the Central Coast Cup events on Sunday afternoon.
While the Central Coast club has been prominent in the promotion of junior motor cycle racing in recent years this weekend’s meeting will see the juniors sharing the spotlight with the seniors.
Club President David Smith said that the club is proud that the Central Coast Cup meeting is developing into a “must do” meeting for so many riders.
“The Club had the idea of staging a meeting that was above the ordinary and would hopefully in time generate its own special place in the dirt track calendar” said Smith.
First staged in 2005, the list of winners of both the junior and senior divisions read like a “Who’s Who” and the continuing large entry list for the 2010 staging seems to confirm the status of the meeting as one of the major non-championship meetings on the calendar.
Dirt track racing continues to be the foundation for many highly successful performers in a variety of disciplines in the sport as evidenced by the list of winners of the Central Coast Cup over the past five years.
In the juniors it has been won by won by Glenn Scott (2005), a ten time Australian and countless State and Open Champion who is now performing creditably in road racing, Todd Kurtz (2006), a multi national title winning rider currently riding speedway in the UK, Queenslander Tyson Nelson (2007), who rode in a Speedway World Under 21 Championship round in Poland earlier this month, and Grant Charnock (2008) and Josh Bunt (2009), with the latter duo both winning plenty of titles in the juniors before stepping up in to the senior ranks.
Favoritism for the Junior Cup is probably shared between three riders, and they are all Australian champions – Brady Kurtz of Cowra, Josh McDonald of Kurri Kurri and Sean McLellan of Central Coast.
There is however a rich pool of talent just waiting to cause an upset if that trio trip up.
The Central Coast Cup for seniors has an equally impressive honour roll of previous winners. Luke Gough, who won the inaugural staging in 2005, is currently racing in the AM Flat Track series in the USA, while Paul Caslick (2006) and Rohan Tungate (2007) are both multiple national champions in long track and dirt track racing. Reigning World Under 21 Speedway champion Darcy Ward was successful in 2008 before newly installed senior Jackson Jeffrey won in 2009.
This year’s Senior Cup will pose several interesting scenarios as both Caslick and Jeffrey strive to be the first dual winner, while Charnock and Bunt have the opportunity to become the first rider to win in both the junior and senior division.
Standing in their way is an equally imposing line-up with North Brisbane rider Jace Castles, Alan Macdonald of Kurri Kurri and Ian Hamilton of the ACT likely to feature prominently.
As usual there is a strong entry from both the host club and the Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club, but riders are coming from as far a field as the Whitsunday, North Brisbane and Gold Coast clubs in Queensland as well as all over New South Wales and the ACT.
Spectators are asked to pay a $5 entry per car payable at the gate for the meeting.
For further information please call David Smith on 0412 506503.