Mark Mitchell and Tony Carter win thrilling final at Gillman
Gillman Media 14 March 2022
Mark Mitchell and Tony Carter snatched victory from Bodie Cohen and Jesse Headland on the line to win the Bob White Cup after a thrilling final race at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night.
Earlier in the night word quickly spread that meeting favourites Darrin Treloar/Blake Cox would not be riding after suffering a broken trailer en route from Sydney, and that threw the meeting wide open with no clear-cut favourite.
There was still no obvious favourite as the riders came to the tapes for the final and the winners remained in doubt until they reached the chequered flag.
The top point scorers after the 20 qualifying heats were Shane Hudson/Adam Constable and Brodie Cohen/Jesse Headland who both scored 14 points.
Hudson struggled in his first heat and took almost three laps to pass reserves Stephen Fowler/Will Walker before finishing second to Mitchell/Carter, but won his remaining four heats, while Cohen dropped his only point to Hudson in heat 14 with that result deciding the countback, with Hudson getting first choice of gate position in the final and taking red, with Cohen taking blue.
Mitchell/Carter were the third highest scorers with 13 points, beaten by Cohen and Byren Gates/Eli Bock, and they chose white in the final, with no one wanting yellow after many riders from yellow in the heats were baulked on the back straight and then had to fight back from last place to gain any points.
Gates/Bock were one of the teams to drop points in yellow, beaten by Paul Hemsworth/Adam Botham and Kym Menadue/Shane Dolan after being forced to drop back in heat 15, but still finished as the fourth highest scorers with 11, and they were joined in the last chance semi-final by Damien Niesche/Ayrton Canning and Menadue/Dolan, both on 9, and Kane Golding/Isaac Amos on 8.
Golding got the last place on countback with Hemsworth, the deciding factor being a second place (behind Niesche) for Golding ahead of Hemsworth in heat 18.
Despite missing the semi-final Hemsworth had a good meeting overall, running a close second to Cohen in one race, and beating Menadue and Gates, as mentioned, in heat 15, after a very ordinary last place in his first ride.
Of the non-qualifiers, the semi-finalist would have all been glad not to see Mitchell Spear/Ayrton Canning in the line-up as they looked the goods in the two races they managed to finish. They won the opening heat in fine style in the fastest time of the night but a bike problem caused them to roll into the tapes in the next ride and miss their third ride. They then scored an easy win in their fourth ride to still have a chance of getting into the semi-final but did not come out for their final ride.
There was some drama on the opening lap of the semi-final when Niesche lost control and ran off the track at speed, but from that point it was an easy win for Gates, with Menadue passing Golding for second place after Golding lost control in turn four on the third lap. Golding has had some impressive results for a rider with only just over twelve months’ experience, including an Australian Championship appearance and finishing as SA number two at the previous meeting, but he would have even better results if he didn’t lose control so often trying to turn too tightly in turn four.
In the final Hudson made a super start to be the clear leader from the tapes but ran infield in the first corner and was throwing his arms around obviously very disappointment with himself for getting the corner wrong and costing himself a possible win.
With Hudson on the infield Cohen took the lead and looked to have the race under control until Mitchell made a clean inside pass in turn three on lap three to take the lead, but Cohen charged back around the outside as they finished the lap to regain the lead. He again looked to have the win in his grasp but Mitchell reeled off the fastest lap of the race to go around Cohen on the race to the line to win by just 0.089 of a second.
A great finish by Mitchell, but also great sportsmanship by Cohen to leave some room and not baulk him against the fence. Many others would not have been so sporting and a serious crash could have resulted.
In the Junior (Under 16) 250cc Sidecars, Adam Niesche/Kobi Canning clean-sheeted to take the junior Bob White Cup ahead of Kayden Gates/Harley Ackerley and Chloe Ackerley/Eva Whitworth, while Seane Chapman scored another Flat Track Solo Final win ahead of the continually improving John White, Dale Knights, Jake Mitchell, Jack Spear and Julian Timmis.
