Last corner win by Ty Proctor in the Jack Young Cup at Gillman Speedway - November 2015

November 30, 2015 by Gillman Media

Defending Champion Ty Proctor virtually took the Jack Young Cup from Robert Branford’s hands with a last gasp win in the final at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway on Saturday night.

28-year-old Proctor, from Longwarry in Victoria, is now only the second rider, behind five-time winner Leigh Adams, to win the Jack Young Cup for a third time.

After dominating the event in recent years (the duo have won the past three Cups and finished first and second in last season’s event), they were the pre-meeting favourites, and lived up to that favouritism by top scoring in the heats.

Proctor top scored with an unbeaten 12 points, while Branford was the second highest scorer with 10.

Apart from his loss to Proctor in heat eight, Branford dropped an unexpected point in the first heat, which saw an exciting opening to the Cup when visiting 17-year-old Victorian rider Jack Morrison took the early lead ahead of Jaimon Lidsey and Branford, and for three laps never put a wheel wrong to seemingly have an upset win in his grasp. But going into turn one on the last lap he lost his line and slowed dramatically, which allowed Branford to get under him in turn two and at the same time Lidsey under both of them, and it was Lidsey who took the win from Branford with Morrison third.

Outside of Branford and Proctor, it is wide open between Lidsey, Morrison, Cooper Riordan, Jordan Stewart, Arlo Bugeja and Dakota Ballantyne for the remaining berths in the final and semi-final, but at the end of the heats it was Riordan, with 9 points, who secured the other direct place in the final, with Stewart, Lidsey, Bugeja (all 8 points) and Morrison (7) qualifying for the semi-final, with Ballantyne (6) the one to miss out.

The semi-final could have gone to anyone of the four riders but it was Jordan Stewart who won to take the fourth place in the Final. Jordan only had 5 points after his first three rides but was the dominant rider of that group over the closing stages. He sealed his semi-final berth with a surprise win over Riordan and Lidsey in his final heat – the only rider to beat Riordan apart from Proctor and Branford – and then won the semi-final after a thrilling race with Lidsey. Stewart led from the start but was under intense pressure from Lidsey (last season’s Australian Under 16 250cc champion ) who eventually took the lead at the end of the third lap, only to fall in turn one on the last lap, gifting the lead back to Stewart.

The final was always going to be between Proctor and Branford and it was Branford who won the start. Proctor then got crossed up in turn two and Branford was able to open a substantial, seemingly winning, lead on the first lap. Proctor gave chase and was coming home like a whirlwind but Branford was riding his own race and had the win in sight until a small, but important, mistake on the last lap. Coming out of turn two, he looked over his left shoulder for Proctor, and that seemed to upset his line down the back straight and into turn three with the result that he got slightly out of shape in the last turn and Proctor was able to win the drag race to the line by a bike length. Stewart continued his late meeting flourish to take third place ahead of Riordan.

At the trophy presentations Proctor said he was surprised to get the win after falling behind early in the race, but was happy to get a bit of luck going his way for a change after a few injury plagued seasons, while Branford thought he needed his improve his fitness level having not ridden since suffering wrist and hip injuries at Glasgow in mid-October.

The top point scorers in the support events, which were not without their dramas, were: James Davies (Under 16 250cc Solos), Mark Mitchell/Dale Knights (Group 1 Sidecars), Tim Bichard/Anthony Schulz (Group 2 Sidecars), and Steve Browne/Scott Morris (Group 3 Sidecars).

The Under 16 250cc Solo events opened in dramatic fashion with a number of falls, fortunately without any serious injuries sustained. Jack Sylvia was the first to go down, looping his bike at the start. He was able to stay on his feet, but after the red light came out, last meeting’s star rider, James Davies, fell and slid into the turn three fence, damaging his bike. Both were out of the rerun which was an exciting race between local boys Brayden McGuinness and Mitchell Grech until the last lap when Grech hit McGuinness’s back wheel and both crashed heavily. Both were eventually able to get up, and the win was awarded to McGuinness, but he was out for the rest of the night, and Davies top scored with 11 points, with Sylvia on 5 and McGuinness and Grech on 3.

Mark Mitchell/Dale Knights top scored in the Group 1 Sidecars with 12 points to Mick Headland/Jesse Headland’s 11, but Headland won three of their five races. Mitchell won the first heat, but Headland won the next three before a bizarre final heat. Ron Parker was already out with a machine problem in the first heat, then Headland’s bike stalled at the start, leaving just Mitchell/Knights and Shane Rudloff/Tom Adams, but down the back straight the bikes touched and Mitchell speared onto the infield. He eventually came back onto the track, and with Rudloff excluded as the cause of the incident, Mitchell was declared the winner!

Klae Hobbs/Mitchell Spear looked set to continue their unbeaten run from the previous meeting, in the Group 2 Sidecars, with easy wins in their first two heats but they suffered a blown tyre while leading their third ride. Another easy win in their final heat gave them 9 points but it wasn’t enough to top the point score with Tim Bichard/Anthony Schulz scoring 11.

Comeback rider Steve Browne (passenger Scott Morris) top scored in Group 3 with 9 points from three wins and an exclusion. The exclusion came after there was contact between them and fast-finishing Luke Puddy/Damian Egan, who had come from third place at the start of the last lap, which saw Puddy crash as they crossed the finish line.

The top scorers in the 125cc Junior Solo races on the infield track were Mitchell Grech (group 1) and Layne Riordan (unbeaten in group 2).

Full results are on the Gillman Speedway website under the Results tab.

The next meeting is the Littlehampton Bricks South Australian Solo Championship on 12 December, featuring British League riders Max Fricke, Sam Masters, Rohan Tungate, Ty Proctor and Robert Branford.