Current V8 Dirt Modified National Champion Mark Robinson capped off a very successful return to racing at the Castrol EDGE Lismore Speedway on Saturday November 5th 2022, after the devastating floods earlier this year basically destroyed his home town of Lismore.

The last time Robinson drove the Castrol EDGE, backed Troyer chassis was at the Australian Title in Brisbane at the Archerfield Speedway where on that occasion Mark picked up his fourth national title and in doing so he equaled his father Steve Robinson who also won 4 national championships himself before retiring from racing and handing over the ride to son Mark.

The weekend wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Robinson racing team because at the practice night on the Friday they had a tail shaft failure in the car.

But there was no way they were going to miss the Lord Mayors Cup as the call was made to Mark’s sister Fiona who lives in Brisbane to pick up some parts before coming down to Lismore on Saturday.

As fate would have it Robbinson would start off pole in Heat 1 and he made the most of it by running away with the win.

The second heat would see Mark starting from P4 and he wasted no time at all in getting past Brayd Stephenson on the outside and then Taylah Firth and setting his sights on Andrew Firth out in front.

This was a great spectacle for the huge crowd in the stands as both Andrew and Mark raced side by side at times, but in the end Firth picked up the win with Robinson coming home in a very strong second place.

With all the heats now complete it was time for the running of the 2022 Lord Mayors Cup over 30 laps.

Due to his strong performances in the heats, Robinson would gain the upper hand by starting from the all important pole position and he made the most of it getting away to an early lead as the 21 car field raced hard behind him.

With the race around mid distance a stoppage gave the field a chance to catch back up to Robinson again.

The lights went green and off they went again and it was at this point in the race the second place driver at the time Seiton Young made his move getting pass Robinson down the back straight, but it did not take long for Ribinson to have the A1 back under Young coming out of turn four and setting his sights on the chequered flag.

With only five laps remaining the yellow lights came on again as Grafton’s Josh Rose got caught up in an accident coming out of turn two.

Back to the race and at the restart, it was Newcastle’s Scott Cannon hot on the rear bumper of the Robinson machine.

Robinson, Cannon and Young all gave it their all to race to the top step of the podium.

But in the end it was a fairy tale finish as Robinson crossed the finish line ahead of Cannon and Young.

Sportsman driver Darryl Armfield drove a great race himself to finish in 12th place respectably and in doing so he picked up the win for the Sporty’s.

The top ten result's in the A main event were rounded out by Josh Rose, Mitch Randall, Brent Hall, Brayd Stephenson, Blake Everleigh, Scott Quirk and Luke Dunn.

Robinson was over come with emotion after the win saying this one is for “LISMORE, FOR EVERYONE WHO WENT THROUGH THE TERRIBLE FLOODS”.

Mark then went on the thank the team and everyone that has helped them out over the last few months.

This was a great home coming for Mark and the team and a huge lift of spirits for everyone who gave up there time to help get not only the Robinson’s back up and running but for Lismore in general.

Heat Race Results:

Heat 1. 1st Mark Robinson. 2nd Brent Hall. 3rd Riley Smith.

Heat 2. 1st Seiton Young. 2nd Brayd Stephenson. 3rd Q51 Andrew Firth.

Heat 3. 1st Shane Laurie. 2nd Scott Cannon. 3rd Blake Eveleigh.

Heat 4. 1st Andrew Firth. 2nd Mark Robinson. 3rd Taylah Firth.

Heat 5. 1st Joshua Rose. 2nd Seiton Young. 3rd Brendan Cherrie.

Heat 6. 1st Mitch Randall. 2nd Blake Eveleigh. 3rd Luke Dunn.

No B Main needed.

A Main results.

1st A1 Mark Robinson. 2nd N79 Scott Cannon. 3rd N42 Seiton Young. 4th N52 Joshua Rose. 5th Q91 Mitch Randall. 6th N8 Brent Hall. 7th N45 Brayd Stephenson. 8th N91 Blake Eveleigh. 9th N73 Scott Quirk. 10th N83 Luke Dunn. 11th Q15 Taylah Firth. 12th Darryl Armfield. 13th N88 Brock Armstrong. 14th N17 Riley Smith.

DNF N39 Phil McNamara. N53 David McGregor. Q51 Andrew Firth. Q19 Brendan Cherrie. Q47 Hayden Crossley. Q69 Shane Laurie.

Story: Shaq's Speedway Pics