Carterton’s Mark Smith had two wins in the Sidecars Pre 82 class at Levels Raceway Timaru. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED
MOTORSPORT
CHRIS COGDALE
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Carterton sidecar racer Mark Smith finished a close second in his class at the Mike Pero southern classic meeting at Levels Raceway, Timaru over the weekend.
Smith, who had Dean Corrigan from Ohakune as his swingman, had two seconds, a third and an 11th in their BMW in the four races for classic and post-classic sidecars, raced over five laps of the 4km course.
That gave the pair two wins, a second and a fourth in the Pre-82 class, and equal on 83 points with Arild Roberts and Michael Dowman.
However, Smith and Corrigan dropped to second on a countback of the fastest speed.
Smith was pleased with the weekend’s racing.
“We were essentially running the bike in but as the weekend progressed, we moved things up a gear and scored two firsts, a second and a fourth, although we battled with some clutch problems.”
Former national champion Spike Taylor of Masterton and swingman Graham Wilkinson from Waihi struggled with engine problems throughout the weekend.
Racing in the modern and Pre-89 Class on a Windle F2 Plus 1000, Taylor and Wilkinson managed only one race finish – a fourth in their class.
The blown engine meant the pair were unable to start the last of their four races.
There were a record number of 32 sidecars, made up of 22 classics and 10 moderns, for the two-day meeting.
The next outing for the Smith-Corrigan and Taylor-Wilkinson combinations will be on the iconic Century Circuit in Whanganui on Boxing Day.
