GRAND FINALE ATTRACTS HUGE FIELD The final round of the Australian Multiskill VMPA Modified Production Series to be held at Avalon Raceway incorporating the annual Di Watson Memorial event on Saturday night has attracted a huge field of 35 cars. As many of the drivers gear up towards the Victorian Championship set to be run at Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway in a fortnight many are taking the opportunity to put their cars through final checks and paces. However, this is not the case for former Australian Champion Mark Carlin who will be debuting his new FG Falcon for its inaugural first run. Carlin is set to run Avalon Raceway this Saturday night before heading to the Victorian Championship and then next month the Australian Championships to be held in Albany, Western Australia. Also running FG Falcons are former Victorian Champion Russell Bent and Portland’s Adam Holt in his new beautifully presented car. With the Australian Multiskill VMPA Series coming to a head it is the last opportunity for drivers to get points on the board. With no one driver having won more than once the top position is still well and truly up for grabs. The series final wins have been shared by Graham West, Chris Hayden, Ashley Parkinson and Rodney Burr with Graham West currently leading the pointscore. Of these drivers all of them will be looking for victory lane with the exception of Chris Hayden will be an omission for Saturday night due to other commitments. The Mildura contingent will be out in strong force headed by Series sponsor Dave Dolic in his AU Falcon, Wade McCarthy in a VE Commodore, Daniel Drewett in an XF Falcon and Martin Hawson in a VS Commodore along with the lone South Australian entrant Jeremy McClure in a VS Commodore. Ty Galley will be commanding the VE Commodore which his father Bryan recently drove at Nowra in NSW successfully taking the win in the New South Wales State Championship. Horsham’s Neil Watson has returned to the Series specially to participate in the memorial event held in honour of his late wife Di. Watson had engine troubles midway through the series and this will be his first return back sporting a fresh engine. Alexandra entrant Ben Moon also returns having been absent from several series rounds but has still been racing around the tracks under the VSC banner as one of the many dual registered cars which meet more than one classification under the state rules. Geelong driver Tim Williams hopes to work on improving his BA Falcon steering and suspension with the help of no less than Modified driver Daryl Logue who remains sidelined from racing with mechanical issues. Local Avalon drivers are out in force including Premier Speedway, Warrnambool victor Ash Parkinson who would surely be the favourite of many to take the win Saturday night, Brenton Mills, Billy Rieck, Ross Madden, Chris Rieck, Justin Drew who has had a horror season with mechanical issues and Jeff Leahy in the EL Falcon making his season debut. Amongst drivers who usually race in other sedan classes we will have Jake Mills from Production Sedans in the former Wilson/Hayden VS Commodore and Geelong Street Stock driver Darryl Atkinson having his first run in Modified Production in a VZ Commodore. Perennial favourites who always strongly support the Australian Multiskill VMPA Modified Production Series include Leigh Bourke who had a heavy workload after receiving significant rear damage at the Pa Higgs Memorial Race held at Riverland Raceway, Renmark, Hamilton’s Kellie Atkins steering a VZ Commodore, Ballarat’s Zac Swanson in the VS Commodore, Nyora’s Russell Felsovary in a BA Falcon, Gavin Catley in an XF Falcon and son Chris Catley also in an XF Falcon having hopefully tracked down his power steering problems encountered during the long weekend at Mildura, Alexandra’s Brody Chrystie in an XF Falcon, Daniel Simpson in the Horsham VS Commodore, and Nathan Ehms in the VZ Commodore from Swan Hill. The local Rosedale drivers Jayde Aarts in his XF Falcon and Dale Hallett in his VS Commodore probably haven’t got as much racing under their belts at this stage of the season as they would like but are gearing up for a heavy schedule over the next few weeks. Final entrant is Nick Hill from Drouin who has been a much under rated driver and with a little bit of luck going his way after contending with flat tyres and such will not be very far away from a strong podium finish or two. The Victorian Modified Production Association are extremely proud to have such strong entries and interest in the last round of their Series and it is testament to the planning and work and driver support that the class is attracting such interest from so many tracks planning next season’s race calendar already. With a prize purse available over the season in the vicinity of $28,000 not including the end of year prize money it has been a well structured and well supported series with the rewards shared back down the field of drivers as well as rewarding the hard yards put in by the podium placegetters. The support from the Series sponsors has been paramount in getting the Series to where it is and the VMPA would like to again thank:- AUSTRALIAN MULTISKILL TRAINERS AND ASSESSORS Nut’s Wheels Carlin Constructions I & J Speedway Equipment Atkins Autoworks Mac Graphix GW Racing Ern Overall Quality Used Cars Pakenham Plumbing Services Pakenham Crane Trucks Blackwell Race Engines Bass Highway Waste
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:47:09 +0000
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