Sport
16 TUESDAY 21 December 2010
Nicholls fires warning shot for NZ Champs With Rotorua’s speedway having a reputation as one of the trickiest tracks in the country, local Super Stock champion Brett Nicholls was keen to get a feel for the foreign dirt before the New Zealand Super Stock Championships on December 27. He took the opportunity to travel north at the weekend to compete in the second leg of the House of Travel series and left locals and visiting drivers, who were very familiar with the testing track, scratching their heads with admiration as the southern raider took the spoils on the night. Brett’s dad Phil says, “We were lucky enough to draw pole position for the first race and a get win straight away. We drew 13 for the next race and gained a good 4th and then a 6th from position 22 on the grid was enough for Brett to score most points and win the event on the night.” Phil says the Rotorua track, one of the smallest in the country with a nasty tight corner, isn’t a favourite with most drivers but Brett enjoyed it and was able to cope with light drizzle which threatened to postpone racing. “Because we’d travelled so far for this the
IN BRIEF crickET Nelson’s Mitchell Drummond, Connor Neynens and Dan Wightman have been named in the Central Districts under-18 cricket team following Nelson’s third-place finish at the CD age-group tournament in Napier last week. FooTbAll Down to ten men after just 40 minutes, the odds were Canterbury United reclaiming the ASB Youth League title against Waitakere United. Nelson trio; Adam Smith, Billy Scott and Coey Turipa all started for Canterbury, but struggled against their northern opponents. Waitakere scored twice to seal the victory. Alex Ridsdale also made an appearance late in the game.
Brett Nicholls, on the bumper of his super stock, with his team after the South Island Championship win. They are from left; Ben McMasters, Adam Taylor, Tony Terrill, Phil Nicholls and Tony White. club was good to us and allowed Brett to have 15 practice laps earlier on just in case the meeting got rained out.” It was on the same day last year that
Brett won the South Island Super Stock Champs at Blenheim. He has left his car at Rotorua for the NZ champs on December 27.
Tineli Nelson cycling Tour de Femme turns ten To celebrate its 10th anniversary the Tour de Femme has introduced the Randonnee category for riders not wanting to race but keen to do ‘the Tour’. Randonnee will ride the 5 stage tour albeit slightly shortened. A feature of this year’s Tour is the possibility of a local taking
out the Maglia Rosa (winners) jersey. With no ‘big’ names on the line the 50 strong field includes a number who have gained experience in previous years and are back for the challenge. The five stage tour starts on Tuesday 28 December and finishes two days later.
FooTbAll Gagame Feni came on after 80 minutes for Canterbury United in their 2-0 defeat to Waitakere in the ASB Premiership. Last year’s runners up are struggling early in the competition. Gagame now heads home to the Solomon Islands for the first time in three years to spend Christmas with his family, before returning to play in front of his new home in Nelson against Team Wellington on January 16. SkATing TRB Skate shop is hosting a skate competition at Neale Park this Thursday from 5pm. The comp will be divided in to two categories; S.K.A.T.E and best trick. Due to poor weather the previously planned Sunday event was brought back. There are plenty of cool spot prizes including New Zealand made decks. Skaters of all ability levels are welcome.
Cable Bay pistol club shooting for success... safely A small Nelson club has shot its way to national standings and member Brian Bishop says its all about building a solid base. The Cable Bay Pistol Club took several top placings at the National Practical Shooting Confederation championships earlier this year, a top effort for the seven-person team. “We’re a small club with about 25 members but we make a lot of noise when we go away.” The club was formed in 1993, growing from the Nelson Pistol Club, which is based in Golden Downs. Since then it has built a reputation around gun safety and competition success. Bruce Harvey was the pick of the Nelson shooters at the recently championships, finishing third in the three gun open event, followed closely by Brian in fourth position. Another Cable Bay shooter, Nigel Rout finished sixth in the same event. Sharon Harvey also performed well, finishing second in the standard ungraded class at her first match away from Nelson. Brian says the club is heavily focused on safety and gets a few glares from other clubs for its strictness. “If you drop a gun, point the gun in the wrong direction or accidentally discharge it then you are gone for the whole competition, so we get really strict on it at home so when we go away we don’t get disqualified.” Brian says competing is a thrill and those involved are passionate about the sport. “It is an adrenaline rush went you’re up there and to get a handgun licence you have to jump through a whole bunch of hoops so if you have your handgun licence you really want it.” Members of the Cable Bay Pistol Club which competed at a national tournament last month. They are from left; Brian For more information on the club visit its website Bishop, Danny Hill, Sharon Harvey, Bruce Harvey and Ross Sendon. Photo: Andrew Board. at www.cbpc.co.nz.