Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
Andy Russell took out the twenty lap A Main for Modified Sedans at the Cranes Combined Carrick Speedway on Saturday night, before a healthy opening night crowd.
Russell and Trent Quillerat would start on the front row for the main event, with Quillerat taking the early race lead.
Russell along with Jake Taurian had a good battle for second, before Nathan Russell moved to third demoting Taurian to fourth.
Meanwhile, Trent Quillerat would suffer mechanical issues while in the race lead, which allowed Andy Russell to take control. We had a harmonic balancer fail, which made the engine belt come off, which made me lose power steering, shooting me up to the wall and hitting it, with the back wheel breaking the right rear hub assembly, said Quillerat after the race.
Brad Herbert, moved through the field, and with five laps remaining had moved to second place and tacked on to the back of Russell.
The duo were flying with Russell setting the quickest lap of the race on lap eighteen, just 0.001 quicker than Herberts quickest time. Russell would cross the line a car length ahead of Herbert, while Nathan Russell would finish third.
Taurian slowed in the concluding stages, suffering a flat right hand tyre after running over some debris, finishing fifth behind Marco Taurian.
It was a good night for Russell, going through the night undefeated, winning both of his qualifying heats, while Quillerat would win the other. Heat two would be the most dramatic of the night with both Adrian Jones and Brad Palmer losing wheels at different stages of the race, causing damage to both cars.
:: Modified Sedans
Heat 1, 10 Laps: 1. T26 Andy Russell, 2. T28 Nathan Russell, 3. T32 Jake Taurian, 4. T13 Brodie Piper, 5. T5 Brad Herbert, 6. T8 Brad Palmer, 7. T37 Luke Williams. Time: 3.03.743, Winning Margin: 2.783, Fastest Lap: 18.018 T26 Andy Russell
Heat 2, 10 Laps: 1. T26 Andy Russell, 2. T21 Joshua Stephens, 3. T46 Trent Quillerat, 4. T13 Brodie Piper, 5. T36 Marco Taurian (9 laps). DNF: 6. T64 Adrian Jones (6), 7. T8 Brad Palmer (2). Time: 3.10.936, Winning Margin: 1.156, Fastest Lap: 16.717 T26 Andy Russell
Heat 3, 10 Laps: 1. T46 Trent Quillerat, 2. T28 Nathan Russell, 3. T32 Jake Taurian, 4. T5 Brad Herbert, 5. T21 Joshua Stephens, 6. T36 Marco Taurian. Time: 2.47.949, Winning Margin: 6.890, Fastest Lap: 16.555 T46 Trent Quillerat
A Main, 20 Laps: 1. T26 Andy Russell, 2. T5 Brad Herbert, 3. T28 Nathan Russell, 4. T36 Marco Taurian, 5. T32 Jake Taurian. DNF: 6. T46 Trent Quillerat (11), 7. T21 Joshua Stephens (11), 8. T13 Brodie Piper (4). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.543, Fastest Lap: 16.331 T26 Andy Russell
Andy Russell in action on Saturday night at Carrick. Photo courtesy of Angryman Photography