WANGARATTA RACEWAY SEASON COMMENCES

FEATURE PHOTO: SPRINTCAR – ASH COOK FROM SOUTH WEST VICTORIA.  By: Vern Parker Photography

By Dean Thompson  (DMT Sports Media.) For Wangaratta Speedway Club.

The crowd was super pumped recently at Wangaratta City Raceway for a big night of Sprintcar action with support classes.

The local Sedan stars along with Mini and Lightning Sprint racing, Junior Sedan competition and a small but entertaining Demolition Derby also were featured on the variety card.

Sprintcar competitors came from Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria were on hand.

At the end of the night it was a first time Sprintcar win to Ashley Cook from the Victorian Southwest after he defeated Terry Rankin and Albury’s Grant Anderson in the feature.

Four Sprintcar heat races were held with wins to Rankin, Cook, Andrew Hughes from the Latrobe Valley in a race time over ten laps of 2:30.932 and Tim Hutchins from Tasmania.

A feature race accident on lap one took out one of the favourites in Jordyn Charge along with Brayden Parr who was expected to feature in the top half of the results also. Over thirty laps, Cook was never headed and the top four never lost their places.

The top twelve finishers all finished on the lead lap with Cook beating Rankin Anderson, Matthew Reed, and Chris Solomon to the chequered flag.

Also on show were the Sports Sedans for round two of their ‘Power’ series which runs across Victoria.

Nine heat races were held with wins going to Corey Lincoln, Nathan Shortis, Josh Service, Dale Smith, Felicity Roycroft, Shortis a second time, Rhys Lansdown, Service for his second win and Roycroft for her second win also. Shortis set the fastest one lap time in the heats of 18.420 whilst Roycroft with a race time of 2:32.383 completed the fastest eight lap race time.

The feature event ran over twenty-three laps before being declared and by the end of ten laps fancied competitors such as Shortis and Roycroft and also Anthony Knight were out of the race and Service to this point had led all ten laps.

Service led the next thirteen laps and he defeated Dale Smith also from the Eastern Suburbs, Andrew Jordan another from the Eastern Suburbs making it a trifecta followed by Jamie Thomsen, after all top four finishers from the Alexandra and District Speedway Club whilst Lucas Conder from Ballarat was in fifth spot at the chequered flag.

In Junior Open Sedan competition six heat races were held with Connor Claridge the winner of the Jacob Tinworth, Hunter Carey and Tinworth the winners, before Harry Cecil won his final heat race and Zoe Hunt the last qualifying race. Cecil locked down the fastest eight lap qualifying race time of 2:49.552 whilst Claridge set the fastest one lap race time of 18.803.

Cecil then went on to win the feature event over ten laps on the first occasion that he had competed in the Rhys Lansdown owned Sports Sedan. Claridge from the suburbs of Bendigo finished in second place with Cobie McGraw from Numurkah, Mia Lamb, and Zoe Hunt.

LIGHTNING SPRINT – ANTHONY AJ McTAGGART FROM SYDNEY  By: Vern Parker Photography

The Mini and Lightning Sprints competed at Wangaratta with competitors from New South Wales joining the Victorians. Australian Champion AJ McTaggart who won heat one in a very quick race time over eight laps of 1:59.995 with a fastest one lap time of 14.726. Jack Selmes won the second and McTaggart the final qualifying race before the competitors entered the fifteen-lap final. McTaggart from Sydney went on to win the feature from Harley Graham from Lismore up towards the NSW and Queensland border, Jack Selmes another from Sydney, Danny Stone also from Sydney and Ally Moore the top Victorian.

Wangaratta Speedway Club the operators of Wangaratta City Raceway will hold their next race meeting on January the 14^th which will feature the Goulburn Ovens Sedans Victorian title and the Bob Bailey Memorial for Production Sedans.