Albury’s Daniel Mccarten was the winner of round 3 of the Colin Young Memorial for Goulburn Ovens Sedans. Vern Parker Photography.
Wahgunyah Speedway returned on December 30 with not one, not two, but three big feature events plus supporting categories underneath the recently installed led lighting system which replaced the former lights destroyed during the November 2022 flooding of the Corowa – Wahgunyah area.
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State of the art lights in one of the biggest if not the biggest, Speedway nighttime complex in Australia was a huge undertaking and with commercial partners and a huge amount of volunteer hours from local supporters, the club installed the new lights and more in this past off season in readiness for opening night.
The traditional Boxing Day fixture had to be moved a week back due to weather and fans and drivers were treated to a terrific night’s racing with two feature length race records set in Sports Sedans by Josh Service from Melbourne and in Goulburn Ovens Sedans by Daniel McCarten of Albury.
In the traditional Noel McGrath Memorial for Production Sedans drivers from Swan Hill, Bendigo, Leeton, Bega and around the Border towns competed for the victory and in a terrific night of racing Zoey Salau from Swan Hill would hold out Scott Hawkins from Leeton and Chris Fitzgerald from the Wangaratta club.
Hawkins won heat one from Jack Murphy of Bega and local hope Jack Bear by a healthy margin before Salau took victory in the second heat ahead of Michael Sayers and Hawkins. A third different qualifying race winner in the final heat was Chris Fitzgerald in front of Bear and Salau setting up a feature event with a number of potential victors.
Salau took the lead from the drop of the green flag and local hope Bear was the first favoured driver to exit the race. At the halfway point Salau led Hawkins, Fitzgerald, Anthony Hanson, and Leighton Evans. On lap ten Hanson had some drama with a tail slap into the concrete before coming to a stop facing the wall. At the restart two laps later Hanson’s car burst into steam which got shot through the drivers cage steam burning Hanson and putting them out of the race in their class debut.
Evans passed Fitzgerald on lap seventeen before the latter passed right back. At the fall of the chequered flag, Salau had claimed a first blue-ribbon Production Sedan feature event victory in front of Hawkins, Fitzgerald, Evans, and Kenneth Mankey after earlier power steering issues in the night.
The Sports Sedan class were competing for the Grand Slam with $1000 up for grabs to the winner. Dennis Reid, Josh Service and Reid a second time won the three heat races heading into the feature event with Reid’s last win by half a car length at the finish line with Craig Cottier breathing down his neck.
In the feature event for the Sports Sedans Service from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs assumed the race lead on lap one after starting at the front of the field with Reid. Bradin Claridge moved into second spot ahead of Reid on lap eight and at the halfway mark Service led Claridge, Reid, Daryl Joosten and Craig Cottier and that is how things remained.
Forging ahead by almost a quarter track margin, Service went on to win from Claridge by five seconds at the finish line with Reid, Joosten and Cottier rounding out the top five.
Winner of the Noel Mcgrath Memorial for Production Sedans Zoey Salau. Vern Parker Photography.
Racing for the Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association in the second night of two for the Colin Young Memorial sawcompetitors each compete in three of the six qualifiers before their twenty-lap feature event.
State champion Justin Brockley claimed a huge win in heat race number one finishing ahead of potential overall honours combatants Billy O’Donoghue, Tommy Schmetzer and Ben Schmetzer.
Brodie Montague then won heat two, O’Donoghue claimed victory in heat three, Daniel Joosten was a winner in heat four with heats two to four all finishing less than a car length apart. Daniel McCarten took victory in heat five and Daniel Kettels claimed a win in the last heat race.
As the feature event got underway Joosten settled out front ahead of O’Donoghue, Kettels, Brockley and McCarten. Brockley was swamped on lap two dropping back to seventh after dropping offline ever so slightly and on lap five O’Donoghue’s chances took a hit as he dropped out of the top five and out of the race with mechanical issues.
At the halfway mark Joosten led, McCarten, Ross Maclean, Brockley, and Mitch Watts. McCarten then moved to the lead on lap fourteen and with five to go led Joosten, Brockley, Maclean, and Watts.
Brockley moved to second on lap sixteen and Joosten and Maclean swapped positions a number of times lap after lap until McCarten claimed victory by a car length in front of Brockley, Joosten, Maclean and Watts.
In support class action state Standard Saloon champion Rhys Lansdown claimed a win in the twelve-lap final ahead of Trevor Evans.
Evans had the lead of the race briefly before Lansdown moved back to the front of the field. Lansdown from Wahgunyah finished in front of Evans, Josh Delarue, Micheal Fleming-Robertson, and Rhyse Lavender.
In Ladies Sports Sedans Chelsea Hodge from Bendigo claimed the win in front of Lisa Chalcraft, Tara Johannesen, Chloe Creek, and Leah Orgill. A spin during the race to Orgill seen Emma Threlfall come unstuck with contact, a winded Threlfall was cleared by medics soon after.
Two Junior Sedan competitors were given the chance to get valuable lap times in for the nationally aligned up to 1500cc class.
The more experienced Maddy Capon was first to the finish line in the final whilst newcomer Taijan Ussher from the Wangaratta club set a new one lap record time, the first time the class had competed with transponders at the venue. In Unlimited Sedan action Corey McDonald from nearby Mount Beauty club claimed the win ahead of local member Wayne Eames and Peter Camilleri.
New records
VSC Sports Sedans
20 Laps – Josh Service – Alexandra – 8:19.955 – 30/12/23
