RIGBY CLAIMS JUNIOR SEDAN NATIONAL TITLE AT BORDERLINE

Official Release- Saturday 7th January 2023

Queensland Junior Sedan titleholder Aidan Rigby has claimed a thrilling victory in the 2023 SSA Inc National Junior Sedan Championship at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway, South Australia.

Rigby narrowly prevailed over Western Australian Champion Beau Oldfield in what was a classic finale between the two state champions.

Western Australian Zach Munro claimed third from Victorian Linken Paterson with Queensland’s Kurtis Peall rounding out the top five.

All seventy-seven competitors in the 2023 SSA Inc National Junior Sedan Title returned for the final night before a healthy Saturday Night crowd with sunny weather conditions on offer in Mount Gambier.

Jayden Lock kicked off night two with a solid win in heat twenty two from fellow Victorians James Oliver and Arthur Hutchison.

Heat twenty three witnessed a dominating performance from Beau Oldfield as he collected victory from Charlie Tate and Miller Throckmorton.

Queensland Champion Aidan Rigby set a new lap record in heat twenty four with smoke coming from the Q28 Mitsubishi Mirage as he crossed the line.

Heat twenty five saw a great battle for the lead as Indi Butcher, Bree Simpson and Jaiden Santin all took turns at the front.

Simpson narrowly prevailed from Santin and Butcher as Linken Paterson led all the way to record his third win of the weekend and a new lap record of 16.717.

After starting on the front row, Zach Munro narrowly held off Kurtis Peall who came through the field from position nine to finish second ahead of fellow Queenslander Jayden Hancock in heat twenty seven.

The final heat race of the weekend was the domain of Brodie Hollyman as the Queenslander took maximum points from Cameron Smith and Harry Fowler.

Unfortunately the C Main witnessed the first major crash of the weekend as Jacob Foley rolled heavily in his Mitsubishi Mirage after contact from another car in turn three.

The race was plagued by stoppages before George Tate and Karlia Riley took the two transfers positions on offer to move into the two B Mains.

A fascinating opening B Main saw Bree Simpson, Lucas Warnett and Harry Fowler all transfer through into the A Main after surviving multiple stoppages.

South Australian Ky McEwin had the second major rollover of the night on the opening lap of the second fifteen lap B Main with the driver of the Daihatsu Charade climbing from the car under his own steam.

Donny Davis, Kiarna Barton and Billy Macdonald all claimed the final three positions in the A Main on offer but not before Tasmanian Emilie Williams threw everything at the trio in the final laps.

With the twenty two finalists set for the A Main of the 2023 SSA Inc National Junior Sedan Title, the competitors paraded four wide ahead of the twenty five lap A Main at the Borderline Speedway.

After an engine change prior to the A Main, Rigby started on pole position alongside Oldfield.

Oldfield took the initial lead from Rigby with the first fifteen laps of the race going through without a stoppage as the Junior Sedans put on a fantastic display of speedway sedan racing.

Rigby hit the front with twelve laps remaining after the Queensland Champion overcame a slight bingle with James Oliver and Kiarna Barton as the driver of the Bacchus Marsh Towing entry tried to limp to the infield with a flat tyre.

Rigby restarted at the front for the ten lap run to the chequered flag with the second stoppage occurring after Victorians Bree Simpson and Lachlan Smith came together.

The two state champions raced side by side for lead as Linken Paterson, Zach Munro and Jayden Hancock battled for third place.

Hancock’s race was over on lap nineteen after running as high as fourth place with a flat right front tyre as Zak Turner retired from sixth place at the same point of the race.

The gap at the front continued to close in the final laps as Beau Oldfield hit the lead with two laps remaining before the yellow lights came on for the spun Mitsubishi Mirage of Lucas Warnett.

Fortunately for Rigby, he restarted at the front of the field and held off Oldfield to become the National Champion by 0.510 of a second with Zach Munro clinching third in the final laps.

Victorian Linken Paterson was officially fourth as Kurtis Peall worked his way back into fifth place by race end.

Brodie Hollyman was sixth after starting eleventh as Western Australian Hunter Downs came from sixteenth to finish seventh.

The new National Champion Aidan Rigby was delighted with his victory as celebrated with a roof dance with the chequered flag.

Rigby thanked all the families who helped change his engine before the A Main, along with his many sponsors and supporters who have contributed to his racing career over the years.

Speedway Sedans Australia would like to congratulate the Borderline Speedway Club on providing a magnificent venue to host the 2023 SSA Inc National Junior Sedan Title.

Official Result of the 2023 SSA Inc National Junior Sedan Title

A Main, 25 laps: 1. Q28 Aidan Rigby, 2. W84 Beau Oldfield, 3. W138 Zach Munro, 4. V48 Linken Paterson, 5. Q11 Kurtis Peall, 6. Q12 Brodie Hollyman, 7. W29 Hunter Downs, 8. V47 River Paterson, 9. V18 Miller Throckmorton, 10. V4 Jayden Lock, 11. N23 Harry Fowler, 12. Q27 Cooper Flynn, 13. VA51 Kiarna Barton, 14. S46 Lucas Warnett, 15. N51 Jaiden Santin. DNF: V10 Bree Simpson (22), VA14 Cameron Smith (22), Q2 Billy Macdonald (20), Q7 Jayden Hancock (18), WA22 Zak Turner (18), V35 James Oliver (15), W3 Donny Davis (10). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.510. Fastest Lap: 16.761 Q28 Aidan Rigby.