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Speedway Sedans Australia News
Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
Joel Berkley has capped off a brilliant season, a season in which he won the National Production Sedan Title, by winning the New South Wales Title on Saturday night at the Surfair Speedway, Moruya.
Berkley would start on the front row with Damien McAlister, with Chris Blyton and Trevor Mills starting on row two. The A Main, was always going to be closely contested, as the six heats were won by six different drivers with McAlister, Mills, Wes Barnes, Jim Cowley, Jacob Mills and Berkley winning the preliminaries.
Ultimately, Berkley would lead all the way, with Trevor Mills chasing the Queenslander all the way.
Steve Jordan, the defending Champion, finished ninth, second and third in his heats, which had him starting on the sixth row, but he left his best till last, systematically passing a car every five laps until he found himself in third with four laps remaining.
Berkley though, despite some stoppages, was too good, winning by just under two seconds from Mills, both of whom were well clear of the remainder of the field. Jordan narrowly finished third ahead of Victorian Ray Ussher, who started on the fourth row, while Damien McAlister and Jim Cowley rounded out the top six.
For nineteen year old Berkley, it was his twelfth win of the season, the most by a senior driver in 2018/2019.
RESULTS
Heat 1, 12 Laps: 1. ACT23 Damien McAlister, 2. N91 Chris Blyton, 3. V30 Stephen Laidlaw, 4. N49 Johnny Ralph, 5. ACT19 Monique Bailey, 6. V9 Shona Bent, 7. ACT91 Terry Mulach, 8. N51 Brent Croker, 9. ACT71 Sean Rabbitte, 10. N37 Rodney Craig-Smith, 11. N66 Steve Downes (11 laps). Time: 4.16.102, Winning Margin: 2.023, Fastest Lap: 20.663 N91 Chris Blyton
Heat 2, 12 Laps: 1. N10 Trevor Mills, 2. A1 Joel Berkley, 3. V98 Ray Ussher, 4. N12 Jacob Mills, 5. N9 Kiel Rosevear, 6. Q61 Jim Cowley, 7. N28 Wes Barnes, 8. ACT32 Craig McAlister, 9. N1 Steve Jordan, 10. Q17 Neil Keldoulis, 11. N8 Lindsay Foster. Time: 3.57.941, Winning Margin: 0.198, Fastest Lap: 19.429 A1 Joel Berkley
Heat 3, 12 Laps: 1. N28 Wes Barnes, 2. N49 Johnny Ralph, 3. N10 Trevor Mills, 4. ACT23 Damien McAlister, 5. ACT91 Terry Mulach, 6. N9 Kiel Rosevear, 7. N37 Rodney Craig-Smith (11 laps), 8. ACT19 Monique Bailey (11), 9. N8 Lindsay Foster (11), 10. ACT71 Sean Rabbitte (1). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 4.436, Fastest Lap: 19.439 N28 Wes Barnes
Heat 4, 12 Laps: 1. Q61 Jim Cowley, 2. N1 Steve Jordan, 3. V98 Ray Ussher, 4. Q17 Neil Keldoulis, 5. A1 Joel Berkley, 6. V30 Stephen Laidlaw, 7. N66 Steve Downes, 8. N91 Chris Blyton, 9. N51 Brent Croker, 10. V9 Shona Bent, 11. N12 Jacob Mills (4 laps). DNS: ACT32 Craig McAlister. Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.305, Fastest Lap: 19.631 Q61 Jim Cowley
Heat 5, 12 Laps: 1. N12 Jacob Mills, 2. Q17 Neil Keldoulis, 3. N91 Chris Blyton, 4. ACT91 Terry Mulach, 5. V9 Shona Bent, 6. Q61 Jim Cowley, 7. N10 Trevor Mills, 8. V98 Ray Ussher, 9. N49 Johnny Ralph, 10. ACT19 Monique Bailey. DNS: N66 Steve Downes. Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.069, Fastest Lap: 19.350 N91 Chris Blyton
Heat 6, 12 Laps: 1. A1 Joel Berkley, 2. N9 Kiel Rosevear, 3. ACT23 Damien McAlister, 4. N51 Brent Croker, 5. N37 Rodney Craig-Smith, 6. ACT71 Sean Rabbitte, 7. N1 Steve Jordan (5 laps). Time: 3.58.678, Winning Margin: 1.647, Fastest Lap: 19.441 A1 Joel Berkley
A Main, 35 Laps: 1. A1 Joel Berkley, 2. N10 Trevor Mills, 3. N1 Steve Jordan, 4. V98 Ray Ussher, 5. ACT23 Damien McAlister, 6. Q61 Jim Cowley, 7. N49 Johnny Ralph, 8. N9 Kiel Rosevear, 9. ACT91 Terry Mulach, 10. V9 Shona Bent, 11. N37 Rodney Craig-Smith (33 laps), 12. ACT71 Sean Rabbitte (33), 13. ACT19 Monique Bailey (29), 14. N12 Jacob Mills (25), 15. N51 Brent Croker (22), 16. N28 Wes Barnes (21), 17. N8 Lindsay Foster (9), 18. N91 Chris Blyton (6), 19. Q17 Neil Keldoulis (1). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 1.869, Fastest Lap: 18.942 N10 Trevor Mills