Mandy has been voted in the

Employee of the Year

in the Port Macquarie News.

Come in to Miedecke Port Macquarie,  and say hello to Mandy and don’t forget to fill in an entry form!

Article by  Port Macquarie News

A CAR yard owner blames a touch football tournament held in town at the weekend for $10,000 damage to six used cars on Saturday night.

Miedecke Motor Group owner Andrew Miedecke said he was fed up with years of having to deal with damage caused to his business.

Last year, the dealership had security on duty and did not suffer any damage.

“We decided this year that maybe the issues had died down, so we didn’t hire security,” he said. “But, sure enough, whoever did this has climbed into the yard and scratched six cars worth between $25,000 and $50,000.”
Mr Miedecke said his yard in Hastings River Drive was enroute to a motel where he believed many players went after their games.

The businessman was all for events such as the X-Blades National Touch League tournament, because they brought more visitors to the region.
“Most of the players are great ambassadors for the sport but, unfortunately, some let the sport down by doing things like this,” he said.

Touch Football Australia chief executive officer Colm Maguire doubted the incident would have involved the players.
“As far as the event goes, the players are highly elite, so their drinking level is minimal,” Mr Maguire said. “I’d find it highly unusual if the players had anything to do with it.”

Mr Maguire said it was possible spectators were involved.
“We respect and appreciate everything the town does for this tournament, so it’s unfortunate something like this has happened during the event,” he said.

John Oxley Motors dealer-principal Shane McGuigan said his car yard had been spared any damage this year.
But there had been trouble in the past. Mr McGuigan said there were incidents over several years until six years ago, including people walking on top of cars and ripping off badges.
“Most cars have a $1000 excess, so a lot of the time it’s not worth claiming say $5000 worth of damage because it affects your premiums the next year,” he said.

Mr McGuigan suggested regular bus services to and from such events could reduce issues because people would not walk past businesses and be tempted to cause trouble.

Article by  Port Macquarie Independent Newspaper

Port Macquarie second generation racer George Miedecke has made his Dunlop V8 Supercar series debut in Adelaide last week alongside father, Andrew Miedecke. George produced solid results he plans to build upon in coming rounds.

The 26-year-old has had plenty of experience on the Adelaide circuit, though behind the wheel of a V8 ute.
“While I’ve been there before and won, it’s always a difficult track to make your debut on as the surface changes so much throughout the weekend, as well as the concrete barriers right beside the track,” Miedecke said. “I’ve made friends with them before and in race two they decided to permanently borrow both of my side mirrors!”

Miedecke said he was getting a feel for the car during practice and qualifying races. He finished tenth and eight in the two practice sessions, before running sixth in qualifying.
“All of the cars in front were guys with good experience in ‘main series’ teams, and I felt that I had done a good job first time out.”

Miedecke said he was nervous about the starts going into race one. “I’d never done one and our practice starts were no good – but it seems I needn’t have worried, as I got a great start and moved straight into fifth,” he said.
“We had an early safety car, but not long after the restarts the engine sounded rough, and immediately I noticed a drop in power as the engine broke a rocker and we were running on seven cylinders.
“I drove as hard as I could for the next ten or so laps, trying to keep momentum up and as a result we finished tenth. I was really happy that we had managed to salvage a result after the engine problems,” he said.

Miedecke was less pleased with race two, despite a better start.
“I’m not sure if I didn’t read the conditions right or if I just drove the car too hard, but I really started to struggle with tyre grip and I guess learning to manage them will come with experience,” he said.
“After that and a drive through penalty for kerb hopping, I really wish I had been able to do a better job.”

Miedecke plans to build on his experiences and come out stronger at the next round in Barbagallo in May. He said he was looking forward to putting in a new engine before then, which should see a noticeable increase in power.

Miedecke wanted to express his thanks to sponsors Sitech, Bob Jane T-Marts and iSeek for their support.