Fricke wins U21 speedway title

Max Fricke is the 2014 Australian under 21 speedway champion, winning at Gillman (SA) on January 26.

Producing faster race times than the Australian championship finale at the same venue just weeks earlier, Fricke claimed the spoils from Ryan Douglas and Jack Holder. Nick Morris, Fricke’s biggest challenger, crashed within sight of the finish line.
Morris escaped injury, but the crash could cost him a place in the 2014 World Under 21 Championship. As it stands, Australia has been allocated only has two places in the qualifying rounds, which will go to Fricke and Douglas.

The Australian Under 16 250cc Championship was also decided at Gillman on the same night, and produced an equally exciting final. Three riders, defending champion Max Croker (age 15), Cooper Riordan (15) and Brody Eves (13), all scored 14 points in the heats and they were joined by Jimmy Jones (age 14, 10 points) after he won the semi-final. Local rider Dakota Ballantyne (14, 10 pts) led for most of the semi-final only to be passed by Jones in the last quarter of a lap to be beaten by half a wheel.

In the final, Croker changed bikes just before the start and then lifted slightly at the start, just enough for Eves to take the lead. Riordan’s race was similar to Morris’ in the U21. He was last early on, quickly got up into second, and then was side-by-side with Eves for most of the last three laps only to clip the fence with his back wheel going into turn three on the last lap which was enough of a jolt to cause him to slide of the bike, leaving Eves to take the win from Croker and Jones.

For more information on Gillman speedway, visit www.gillmanspeedway.com.