Close finishes get speedway crowd revved up

Good weather, a superbly prepared track and bags of determination meant drivers raced even harder than normal to win the title of "champion" at Whangarei Speedway on Saturday.
The track enabled drivers to hurtle three abreast without any grief. However, Culloden Highlander did come up with a rollover in the C Grade anyway.
Referee Peter Stoneman didn't have to read the riot act over infringements for once.
Several photo finishes brought the crowd to their feet.
Twelve rounds instead of the usual eight caused some drivers to require assistance to emerge from their cars. But the oldest, Rex Roycroft and Dave Cortesi, more than held their own.
Roycroft won Production, with Cortesi coming second in C Grade. They clock up nearly 50 years of competitive driving between them. They will no doubt compete against another generation of drivers too.
CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS:
Limited Saloon: 1 Shane Hannam and Anita Sloot, 3 Lydon Morrison.
Production: 1 Rex Roycroft, 2 Stephanie Grieve, 3 Rex Dahl.
Production (women): 1 Didi Roycroft, 2 Melissa Timoti.
C Grade: 1 Craig Jones, 2 Dave Cortesi, 3 Olivia Blacklock and Dean Faithfull.
ATVs: 1: Darren Emm, 2 Bruce Aked, 3 G Millen.