Two of Mount Gambier’s biggest names on the dirt enjoyed huge success last week as the speedway season shifts into gear.

Street Stock superstar Anthony Beare took the chequered flag first at Ellenbrook Speedway’s prestigious Brian Rose Memorial race, while young gun Kirby Hillyer opened his account with a perfect season opener at Murray Bridge.

Despite the best efforts of the rain to spoil the occasion, Beare continued to be a dominant force in his pink Holden VF Commodore.

He and arch-rival Jamie Oldfield were untouchable during the frantic heats and shared the front row for the 30-lap feature race.

With the sun peaking through the clouds, the green flag fell and Oldfield got the jump.

Despite Beare showing his nose on the inside of turn 2, Oldfield ran the high line and stormed into the lead.

However, the same move did not pay dividends two turns later when the leader dropped to seventh after getting to know the concrete wall which allowed Beare to snatch the lead.

After charging through the pack, Oldfield returned to the front of the field and started to examine Beare’s bumper.

The #46 Commodore was under significant pressure and had to be aggressive on the main straight to stay in front.

However, Beare reset and recorded the fastest lap after a yellow-flag interruption before Oldfield applied the blowtorch again as the lapped cars slowed the leaders.

The gap closed to within a tenth inside the last six laps, but Beare had an answer for everything and crossed the line with more than a second in hand.

It was Beare’s second Brian Rose Memorial success and his first since 2016.

Young charger Hillyer stole the show on the opening night of the 2021-22 Wingless Sprints SA season.

A large field of 25 cars greeted the starter for the big card at Murray Bridge which included six heats, a B Main and 25-lap A Main.

But no one could stop 21-year-old Blue Lake City driver from smashing the existing record for a 25-lap dash around the oval after a thrilling battle for the lead.

Another Mount Gambier star Mitchell Broome started on pole after winning both heats and established a lead following an early skirmish with Hayden Vickers and Ryan Alexander.

Broome controlled the field for 14 laps until Hillyer made his move after closing in towards the front from his grid spot of position three.

Hillyer hit the lead as the front-runners started to encounter lapped traffic, but did not remain there for long.

Vickers launched a counter-attack and took control of the field which left Alexander, Broome and Matthew Kennedy to fight for the final step on the podium.

However, as the finish neared with just two laps left, Hillyer applied the blowtorch on Vickers who cracked under pressure.

Vickers made a mistake at turn 2 which provided the perfect invitation for Hillyer to slide into the lead.

The Mount Gambier driver managed to edge out Vickers by less than two tenths of a second when the chequered flag fell.

Hillyer recorded a race time of 5:59.794 which slashed more than 30 seconds off the previous 25-lap Murray Bridge record set by Joel Heinrich in 2019.

Alexander rounded out the podium ahead of Kennedy and Broome.

The South Australian sprintcar season fired into life on Saturday night in front of a big crowd at the Murray Machining and Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway.

After not being held last season, the state’s traditional season opener returned to its rightful location with a solid list of entries striving for success in the 2021 Bill Wigzell Battle of the Bridge.

Mount Gambier hopes were fueled by Glen Sutherland, who showed strong pace throughout the night.

He won an early heat and looked set for a strong result after earning a front-row start.

The Gambier Earth Movers driver won the battle off the start line alongside Matt Egel utilising the high line, but an early yellow caused by Ricky Maiolo forced a restart.

Despite landing on his side between turns 3 and 4, Maiolo managed to join the rest of the angry pack at the restart.

Full of confidence after an electric start, Sutherland would have hoped to take control again when racing resumed.

However, he got bogged down at the second rolling start and slipped back to fifth before the first lap of green flag racing was completed.

The Blue Lake driver’s poor restart opened the door for Egel to drive into the distance.

The #52 machine quickly turned into an untouchable figure at the front of the field leaving the rest to scrap for the minor places.

Sutherland’s race continued to follow a downward trend and on lap 20 he hit rock bottom.

A move down the inside did not go to plan and the GEM green and black car flipped onto its side after contact with Daniel Pestka.

The incident sent both cars out of the race and left an eight-lap sprint to the finish.

The late-race caution did not disturb the speed of Egel, who blitzed the restart and cruised to victory.

The #63 of Ryan Jones produced a consistent performance to greet the chequered flag in second place two seconds down.

Brad Keller had shown strong pace throughout the night and completed a mature drive to the final step of the podium.