Press Release Courtesy of the VMPA
Driving the family owned and ran Portland Zero, Brock Atkins had it put together spectacularly all night long.
Atkins would go on to dominate both heat races, take out the True Design Homes Pole Shuffle and sew up the A Main win to cap off a perfect night.
Modified Sedan and Sprintcar fans alike piled into Blue Ribbon Raceway Horsham, the tight knit farm based track out in Kalkee, Victoria.
What would take place as round two of the Tritech Lubricants VMPA Series 2021/22 and a round of the Eureka Garages and Sheds sprintcar series.
Local compatriot Daniel Simpson would be the first to leave his mark on the night’s proceedings. The locally ran and sponsored Horsham #33 found the front and never looked back, he would win from Jarod Waters and Wade McCarthy.
Heat race number 1B was another clinical performance from Brock Atkins, after battling with Walters and Gerlach, Brock would charge ahead and win by a fair margin over Kye Walters and Matt Gerlach in second and third respectively.
Taleah Dolic would light the fire under the MDA 33 in heat race 1C, she ran from deep in the field to claw her way through and eventually snare the lead holding out Lennie Clark and Andrew Dike.
Brock Atkins would repeat his fast form in the second round of heats, making it back to back wins and claiming the top qualifying position ahead of the True Design Homes Pole Shuffle.
Jarod Waters got the Merc motoring along in heat race 2B, he socially distanced himself with a five second lead over Taleah Dolic and Daniel Simpson.
Graham West electrified the RJ Batteries BGO 56 in the final heat race of the night, the crowd would erupt to see ‘Westy’ take the win from Darcy Wilson and the Fast FWD Magna of Mark Deckert.
After battling fierce with the top four cars in Dash number one, Mick Boyle would arise as Victor over Andrew Dike, Aaron Bunton and Damien Miller.
Dash number two would see Karen Ferguson up on the wheel in one of her best drives to date.
Mark Deckert would charge over a few rows to eventually find himself leading, and would take that all the way to chequers, taking Michael Wicks in second, Ferguson in third and Lachlan Fitzpatrick fourth.
The True Design Homes Pole Shuffle was another master-class in entertainment value. The spectators around Blue Ribbon Raceway Horsham would cling to the fence for the best view of the 1 versus 1 format over 2 laps a piece.
Wade McCarthy was the first to tackle Lennie Clark in the opening Shuffle for position 7 and 8. McCarthy would succumb to pressure from Graham West who would pass both McCarthy and Kye Walters to have fans erupting.
It would take a last corner pass from Daniel Simpson to put the West charge on hold for position three and four.
Jarod Waters would get the job done on Simpson to take the front row spot.
The battle for the illusive pole position would go down to the wire between highest points scorer Brock Atkins and Waters, but it would be the first corner that decided Atkins as the winner leading from there.
Following the four wide salute signalled by the whole A Main field that it was the feature race of the night, the race struggled to get a solid rhythm going.
A few early stoppages and spins from the tail would plague the opening 5 laps in particular. Jarod Waters would put pressure on a slick moving Atkins early on before Atkins would really find a groove and step away.
Multiple battles for the top five would occur with many of them residing infield by the end of the race. Among the unlucky ones would be Walters, Simpson and West who were all within ear shot of a podium finish.
Taleah Dolic would arise keeping her nose clean and charging up to second place by this point. A few late race stoppages that would come into play would give Brock Atkins open track to run home with the emphatic win.
Dolic would be ecstatic to arrive in second with Avalon’s Matt Gerlach finding yet another podium for the father and son team.
Graham West would finish in fourth with Andrew Dike rounding out the top five. Mark Deckert, Damien Miller and Wade McCarthy finalised the top eight. With Lennie Clark and Tristan McGraw consolidating the top ten. Karen Ferguson, Darcy Wilson, Lachlan Fitzpatrick and Mick Boyle would be the last of the cars to cross the line finishing.
Official Result
A Main, 30 Laps- 1. P0 Brock Atkins, 2. MDA33 Taleah Dolic, 3. AV14 Matt Gerlach, 4. BGO56 Graham West, 5. DS5 Andrew Dike, 6. HO4 Mark Deckert, 7. AX6 Damien Miller, 8. MDA6 Wade McCarthy (29), 9. BGO8 Lenny Clark (29), 10. CR38 Tristan McGraw (28), 11. L11 Karen Ferguson (28), 12. B5 Darcy Wilson (28), 13. BGO11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick (28), 14. GV52 Michael Boyle (26), DNF MDA92 Jarod Waters (17), BGO14 Michael Wicks (14), GV94 Kye Walters (13), HO33 Daniel Simpson (13), NG87 Aaron Bunton (13), GV19 Daniel Wilson (10), B9 Lucas Conder (8), HL45 Shaun Thompson (5).
ENDS RELEASE…
The VMPA Tritech Lubricants Series proudly partners with the following in season 2021/22:
Tritech Lubricants
True Design Homes
Adam Holt Industries
Down Under Graphics
Higgs Contracting
Highline Racewear
Revegetation Victoria
Anthony Chrystie Transport and Crane Hire
Norman Street Automotive
Heartland Raceway Moama
