Restoration of Oreti Park Speedway Return to NZ Speedways
Sandy Point in Invercargill, New Zealand, (The most Southern Track in the World?)
The track was first formed in 1972 and we hope to have history of that period soon. (can you help ??)
Mean time we have the following.
Written
by Janene Stenning
(2009)
In 1998 a group of
enthusiastic fans of the dirt, restored what had previously been an abandoned
oval on Pit Road with the dream at heart of seeing a young rider reach for the
glory of former stars such as Ivan Mauger, Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs.
In the Solo field, Grant Tregoning (based in
Christchurch but contracted to Oreti Park Speedway) took to the track at Norden,
Germany in May last year and qualified 12th place at the World Under 21
Championship. He rode with flair and stunning style which has become an exciting
feature at Oreti Park and further ensured that New Zealand has reasserted itself
as a force to be reckoned with at International level. Grant is currently back
overseas for this years U21 Championship.
John Tuffley, a local man has an Australasian Solo Long
Track title added to his impressive trophy cabinet in 2004. He was on the
Podium for the New Zealand Solo Championship a few years back. One of the
main men who restored the track in 1998, Jason Clark and his swinger Adam
Gibson were crowned the New Zealand Short Track Champions in 2006. This was
then repeated this year when our president Fraser Gillespie and David Uitentuis
took the title. Fraser also won the New Zealand Longtrack Grand Prix this year.
- Go Oreti Park!!! In the 10 years of restoration we have seen many riders
succeed at Regional and National level and look forward to the continuing growth
of the Club.
Local Competitor is Alex Cunningham shown at right.