Broome Wins After A Long Absence
By Phil Michell Motorsport Media
Mount Gambier resident Mitch Broome made a triumphant return to the Murray Machining and Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway on Saturday night as he defeated a tough field of Wingless Sprints at the season opener. The opening event of the 2026/27 season attracted a field of 35 drivers and ironically it was the #35 who drove to victory lane ahead of Rylan Furler and Joel Chadwick, who charged onto the podium after starting from position 20.
“It was an ok way to start the year, but you can always improve” added the race winner with a smile.
It was the first time I had raced here in four years I think, so the result was maybe a bit better than I expected. There were a lot of good cars here so it’s always good when you can come away with a win. We will be racing pretty close to home this season, this will actually be one of our biggest road trips, so there’s a good chance we will be back a couple more times this season”.
At the completion of the heats good mates Kirby Hillyer and Mitch Broome qualified on the front row with Rylan Furler, Ryan Broome, Thomas Walkom and Hayden Jericho completing the first three rows in the 19-car field. Unfortunately, Tyson Martin, who was carrying a beautiful gold #1AU on the tail tank, failed to start.
Once the green flag fell it was all Mitch Broome as he went on to dominate the 20-lap finale with Rylan Furler the best of the challengers once pole sitter Hillyer pulled infield. The main interest was further back in the pack as Chadwick was storming his way to the front, eventually moving up 17 positions to claim a well earned third place. Bordertown’s James Rodda was elated with his fourth placed result, while Jericho was an impressive fifth. Anthony Tapley, Robert Heard, Jordan Kervers, Ryan Broome and Mason Merritt completed the top ten.
Due to the large number of nominations, the field was divided into four heats with a total of eight throughout the night prior to the B and A mains.
After starting on the front row Hayden Jericho claimed the first heat win of the Speedway season while heat 2 saw Tyson Martin cross the line first ahead of Mitch Broome and Rylan Furler but he was later put back two spots handing the win to Broome. Heat 3 proved to be a race of attrition as only three cars made it to the end of the 10-lap journey, with Ryan Broome joining his brother as a heat winner. The main casualties of the heat included Caleb Evans and Hayden Mason, both hitting the wall hard in separate incidents. Heat four saw a dominant win by Ryley Hammerstein, as he won by over 4 seconds ahead of Andy Thomas and Michael Spoljaric.
After taking a season off Anthony Tapley returned to competition and he was immediately up to speed as he claimed heat 5 while Kirby Hillyer emerged victorious in heat 6, locking up a front row start in the A-Main. Local racer Mason Merritt raced to a great win over James Rodda and Thomas Walkom in heat 7 while Ryder Blight grabbed the final heat race win. The final heat saw a nasty crash in turn four as youngster Josh Rusby rode out a series of flips.
Due to several of the major contenders dropping a heat earlier in the night the B-main saw a star-studded field line-up including multiple Australian Champions Tyson Martin and Joel Chadwick. Martin would go on to win the race ahead of Pitcher Racing teammates Robert Heard and Mason Merritt, while Chadwick was the final transferee in fourth.
There will now be a month’s break prior to the next local event on October 17, with Round 1 of the Club Championship at the Murray Bridge Speedway but the Timmis Speedway in Mildura will host the next meeting on the schedule with the $10,000 to win 2026 Wingless Stampede on the October long weekend.
