PASCOE LEADS AFTER NIGHT ONE OF SS GRAND NATIONAL!

Feature photo: A winner over many years . . . Matt Pascoe.(Photo from National Speedway Illustrated magazine archives.)

Press Release Courtesy of Super Sedans Tasmania,

National Champion Matt Pascoe leads after night one of the Super Sedan Grand National at AutoKlene Hobart Raceway.

Pascoe got his weekend off to a perfect start with a dominant win in the opening heat. Victoria’s Mick Nicola crossed the line second, and Tasmania’s Aaron Dillon finished third, more than ten seconds behind Pascoe.

Western Australia’s Lee Aylett bounced back after a big crash in the Tasmanian Championship last weekend, to claim heat two. Laura Davidson fended off the challenge of Lachlan Onley and Steve Latham to finish second, with Onley filling the final spot on the podium.

Queensland’s Brad Pascoe took out a hard earned win in heat three, passing Wayne Dillon with two laps to run. Dillon would hold on for second, ahead of the returning Grant Hopkins in third.

Callum Harper scored a strong win in the fourth heat of the night. Harper led home Onley, who became the first driver to record two podium finishes for the weekend. Newly crowned Tasmanian Champion Jamie Collins rounded out the podium in third.

Tyson Moon was victorious in the penultimate heat of the evening. Moon would lead home Matt Pascoe in second, Queensland’s Michael Hally would cross the line third.

Latham won a tight tussle in heat six, besting Collins by half a second. Sean Black would round out the podium in third.

Pascoe was the top qualifier after three rounds of heats, which earned him pole position for the odds final.

Pascoe was joined on the front row by Moon, who would jump to the lead from the outside.

The yellows were out on lap two after Davidson spun on the exit of turn two after contact with Brad Pascoe, which would send Pascoe to the rear for the restart.

Moon would restart in the lead, and Matty Pascoe would go straight to the top of the track in a bid for the lead. Pascoe built the momentum on the top side and would take the lead on lap five.

Davidson would also get to third, passing Onley on the inside. Onley would fight back on the outside, and regain the spot at the stripe. Davidson and Onley would continue to trade positions all whilst making ground up on Moon in second.

Pascoe would go on to record a dominant win to top the standings after night one. Moon would narrowly hold on for second, just 0.005 seconds clear of Davidson in third. Onley finished just behind in fourth, and Brad Pascoe surged from the rear to finish fifth.

Steve Latham and Jamie Collins would start the evens prelim from the front row.

Latham jumped to the early lead with Collins, and Harper hot on his tail.

Harper railed the top side of the track early to take second. Collins would fight back on the inside and regain second place.

Collins would make a charge for the lead getting along side Latham, and stick the nose into the lead in turns one and two. Latham held his composure and hung fat on the outside the re-take the lead down the back straight.

Latham would get clear by a couple of car lengths, and Collins would fall into the clutches of Harper who would regain second place with five laps to run.

Harper would reel Latham in, and a small mistake from Latham out of turn four would give the Harper the lead with three laps to run.

Latham didn’t want to settle for second and drove hard to get back side by side with Harper at the stripe with two to run.

Harper managed to clear away at the white flag and go on to record a great win just clear of Latham in second.

Black would make a brilliant move around the outside of Collins on the final lap to take third, with Collins in fourth. Nicola would cross the line in fifth.

Drivers will return Saturday for a further two rounds of heats, before the pole shuffle which will set the field for the fifty lap Super Sedan Grand National.

Grand National points after night one

1. A1 Matty Pascoe – 108   2. N1 Steve Latham – 94   3. N47 Tyson Moon – 91
4. T22 Callum Harper – 83   5. T1 Jamie Collins – 78   6. N57 Lachlan Onley – 74
7. T61 Laura Davidson – 69   8. Q26 Sean Black – 69   9. W4 Lee Aylett – 62
10. Q18 Brad Pascoe – 61   11. V3 Mick Nicola – 58   12. T48 Wayne Dillon – 56
13. T73 Grant Hopkins – 49   14. T12 Luke Gunn – 43   15. T49 Aaron Dillon – 43
16. Q10 Steve Jordan – 41   17. Q98 Michael Hally – 40   18. T3 David Nichols – 39
19. T52 Brad McMaster – 27