And Another Makes Three There is simply no stopping Donny Schatz! The World of Outlaws champion was too strong once again at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway last night (January 3), charging to victory in round 9 of the Supercheap Auto Sprintcar Track Championship. In another masterful display, Schatz meticulously manoeuvred through the field from position 14 and chased down Bryan Mann to assume the lead and surge clear of the field to collect an $8000 payday. Having taken out the Lucas Oils Dash, Schatz accepted the Kratzmann Caravans Challenge and elected to invert the field, putting himself and Dash runner-up Luke Oldfield off row seven for the 40-lap feature event. Inheriting a front row start, Kevin Titman set the early pace until Mann took over the front running on lap 10, soon after a restart following a spin from Peter Lack in turn four. At this stage, Schatz had already advanced into the top ten and by lap 17 he was occupying second spot in pursuit of Mann, who had established a sizeable lead. However, when Oldfield spun in turn four on lap 20, Mann’s advantage evaporated and Schatz was lurking ominously. The immediate challenge didn’t come though and Mann continue to occupy the lead position until Schatz pounced on lap 28 to assume control. Once in front, Schatz cleared away from the field to score his third consecutive feature race win at Archerfield and pick up the Darra Mechanical Hard Charger Award along the way. In finishing second, Mann secured a place on the podium for the third consecutive meeting, the only driver other than Schatz to do so, which is a sterling effort. A late charge saw Brent Kaeding muscle his way into third spot, with Titman relegated to fourth in the closing stages. Brent Kratzmann finished in fifth spot, with former Australian Lightning Sprint champion Dave Fanning procuring the best result of his rookie season thus far in sixth. Andrew Scheuerle was next best ahead of Davey Heskin, who dropped two spots in the final two laps, with Andrew Liebke and Paul Morris rounding out the top ten. It was Kaeding who clocked KRE Quick Time in qualifying, stopping the clock at 12.618 seconds to edge out Schatz (12.656), with Oldfield the only other driver to drop under 13 seconds. Scheuerle and Lack were the best of the rest, followed by Steven Johnson, Ben Hilder, Mitchell Gee, Callum Zizek and Heskin. The opening heat saw Dan Moes round up Anthony Lambert to score the win, with Lambert second and Kaeding third from the back. Heat two was all Schatz as he wasted little time in advancing to the lead from the fourth row and clearing away to win by over four seconds, leaving Lack and Mann to fill the minor placings. The third heat went to Krtazmann over Heskin and Scheuerle. Heat four saw Schatz do it again from row four, this time winning be an even larger margin and leaving Titman and Liebke to worry about the minor placings. Heat five went to Toowoomba’s David Whell over Mick Sauer and Scheuerle, with Oldfield downing Lack and James Grady in the final heat. After selecting pole position in the pre-race grid draw, Schatz subsequently led throughout the Lucas Oils Dash to secure provisional pole for the main event until he opted to invert the field and chase the additional $3000 prizemoney bounty on offer. Oldfield, Lack, Kaeding, Scheuerle and Hesking completed the Dash field. The East Coast Logistics B Main saw Mark Pholi outpace the field, joined by Fanning, Morris and Liebke in transferring into the feature. In the Polar Ice Midget Series, there was simply no stopping Michael Kendall in what was a perfect night for the defending series champion. He kicked things off by cutting the quickest lap in time trials, before backing up to win both of his heat races. In the 20-lap feature race, Kendall led every lap aboard his Nielsen Motorpsort #89 to sound a warning in the lead-up to the POWRi World Championship rounds later this month. Matt Hefford withstood some late pressure from Anthony Chaffey and Brendan Palmer to clinch second spot, with Chaffey edging out Palmer in a sprint to the chequer. Darren Vine finished in fifth spot and was followed home by Troy Ware and Matt Greenwood, both of whom also scored heat wins. Michael Harders, Scott Wilson and Michael Wilson completed the top ten. The Lightning Sprint feature race produced a remarkable result when Kristin Brown, fresh from a Formula 500 feature race success two night earlier, romped home in her first ever drive in the category aboard a car that hadn’t turned a lap in competition prior to the opening heat. In a race that ran 20 laps without interruption, Brown finished more than nine seconds clear of Queensland champion Scott Genrich. Sean Iacono finished in third spot, with Tony Norton and Jim Kennedy next in line and the last drivers on the lead lap. The Open Sedan feature event was won by Glenn Willmott, Dudley Ward triumphed in the Stockcar feature and Bernie Wright bested a small field in the Ford vs Holden vs Sigma feature race. Tonight at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway, Performance Wholesale present round six of World Series Sprintcars and the opening round of the National Super Sedan Series in a blockbuster double-header program. Schatz, Kaeding and Heskin will be joined by countrymen Kyle Hirst and Danny Holtgraver, as well as Australia’s best in national champion David Murcott, former champ Brooke Tatnell and more than 20 other drivers from across the country. The Super Sedan action will also feature the current Australian champion in Kodee Brown from Western Australia, along with no less than four previous titleholders in the likes of Michael Nicola, Steve Jordan, Matt Pascoe and defending NSSS champ Darren Kane. For more event information, head to the track website at brisbanespeedway.au
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 15:46:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015