Victorian youngster Dylan Barrow has tonight outlasted an incredible field of rivals to claim his first SSA Modified Sedan National Title at Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway.
Barrow came into the second night as the points leader and did enough in his heat race to lock in pole position for the forty-lap final alongside Joel Berkley.
Berkley and Barrow battled side by side for the whole first lap as the final went green, neither giving an inch but racing respectfully, never making contact in what was a fierce battle.
The gap was 0.049 seconds at the line in Berkley’s favour at the completion of lap one, while just behind was former National Champions Max Clarke and Jarod Waters fighting hard.
Lap two saw Barrow get the advantage and race into the lead as Berkley went high, which then allowed Clarke through for second the very next lap.
Berkley persisted high and this allowed Waters to also momentarily get by.
With five complete Barrow had a one second lead on Clarke, with Waters and Berkley still side by side while defending National Champion Nathan Macdonald, current SSA Production Sedan National Champion Josh Harm and Victorian Darcy Wilson were just behind.
Finally on lap seven Waters was able to get by Berkley to take third.
Lap thirteen saw Waters close right up on the tail of Clarke but he was unable to get by, the top three now pulling clear of the rest of the field while Barrow still enjoyed nearly a second lead.
That lead however would be eaten into over the next few laps, but it stretched out again when Clarke and Waters made contact in turn three on lap seventeen which let Waters through, then again in turn four which saw Clarke get back by.
By the halfway point Barrow’s lead was out to just over a second once again, with Clarke, Waters, Berkley and Macdonald still the top five.
Five laps later Barrow had not lost nor gained any ground, Clarke, Waters and Berkley now in a tight bunch for second.
With ten to go Barrow was closing in on the first of the lapped traffic, but with five to go he still hadn’t been able to get by and Clarke had closed the gap to 0.3 seconds.
With four to go the gap was down to 0.191 seconds, Barrow desperately trying to get by the lapped car on the bottom with Clarke right behind.
With two to go Barrow finally got by the lapped car but Clarke was right with him, while further back Berkley had also caught and passed Waters for third.
With one to go the gap was back out to half a second as Barrow made all the right moves through the traffic and despite a last lap lunge from Clarke, Barrow held on to lead thirty-nine of the forty laps of the final in a non-stop race.
Clarke came home second ahead of Berkley, Waters and outgoing champion Macdonald in a race that saw twenty of the twenty-one starters also finishing.
A huge congratulations to all drivers on their performance, and thankyou to Toowoomba Speedway for making the 50th Anniversary ENZED SSA Modified Sedan National Title such a success!
Pics Courtesy Shaq’s Speedway Pics
A Main, 40 laps: 1. V17 Dylan Barrow, 2. QA9 Joel Berkley, 3. A1 Nathan Macdonald, 4. V92 Jarod Waters, 5. V5 Darcy Wilson, 6. N15 Max Clarke, 7. Q55 Josh Harm, 8. QA27 Shane Macdonald, 9. Q26 Mason Cameron, 10. V46 Kye Walters, 11. Q15 Tim Atkin, 12. Q28 Aidan Raymont, 13. Q4 Glenn Pagel, 14. Q19 Darran Lester, 15. QA84 Jarrod Peacock, 16. VA17 Brad Wicks, 17. Q27 Mark Raymont, 18. QA22 Jack Cameron,19. Q9 Chris Pagel, 20. V32 Brody Chrystie, 21. V86 Angelo Halacas, 22. QA7 Robert White.
OFFICIAL RESULT
1. V17 Dylan Barrow, 2. N15 Max Clarke, 3. QA9 Joel Berkley, 4. V92 Jarod Waters, 5. A1 Nathan Macdonald, 6. Q55 Josh Harm, 7. V5 Darcy Wilson, 8. QA27 Shane Macdonald, 9. V46 Kye Walters, 10. Q19 Darran Lester, 11. Q28 Aidan Raymont, 12. Q26 Mason Cameron, 13. Q15 Tim Atkin, 14. VA17 Brad Wicks, 15. Q27 Mark Raymont, 16. Q9 Chris Pagel, 17. QA84 Jarrid Peacock, 18. QA22 Jack Cameron, 19. QA7 Robert White, 20. Q4 Glenn Pagel. DNF: V86 Angelo Halacas. DNS: V32 Brody Chrystie. Total Time: 10.51.457. Winning Margin: 0.422. Fastest Lap: 15.833 V17 Dylan Barrow.
