After a big opening night of racing for the Lincolns Earthmoving SSA Production Sedan National Title at the Speedway Wangaratta, it is Jordan Biviano who leads the overnight points!
Biviano was one of two drivers to score two heat race wins on the opening night of competition, but his second place finish in his other preliminary gives him 100 points, enough to be atop the tree.
Next best is Jaiden Healey with 92 points courtesy of a heat win and two seconds, while Kurtis Peal rounds out the top three with a win, a second and a third to have 87 points. Defending champion Josh Harm and the only other dual heat race winner Dale Corbett round out the top five.
Queensland Champion Kurtis Peall led from the front in the opening heat, with Tasmanian Andy Russell holding on in second but unable to match Peall’s pace. Stephen Laidlaw came from the back to fifth by the halfway point only to blow a hose, sending him infield, but back on track it was all Peall, crossing the line nearly five seconds ahead of Russell with Damien McAlister third.
Dale Corbett was best off the start in heat two, running high, but it only lasted half a lap as Colby Hammond and Michael Sayers made contact, Sayers spinning in front of the field and a group of cars piling in. Luckily all cars were able to restart, with Hammond now coming from the rear. Corbett again got the best of the dispatch and raced away with Cooper Croker in second and Sayers in third, though it didn’t take long for Aussie champion Josh harm to arrive on the scene and take third. Despite the distance, Harm quickly closed the gap on Croker, but was unable to make the move, Corbett defeating Croker and Harm.
Heat three saw the first caution of the evening, Andrew Cunningham leading at the halfway point before the yellows came on for debris. Third placed Trevor Mills would head infield at this point, as did Justin Hawkins. Cunningham led away but the race would only last two more laps before Tom Barnard expired in a huge cloud of smoke and flames to bring out the yellows once again. Jaiden Healey made the most of the restart to take the lead, racing away to take the win from Cunningham and Nathan Barbeler.
New South Wales Champion Jordan Biviano started off the pole position in heat four and didn’t need to be asked twice, racing away with a wet sail. West Australian Clint Noakes grabbed second and set out after Biviano, closing the gap rapidly. Noakes moved to the inside and for the best part of three laps the duo went side by side, Noakes inside and Biviano outside, before Biviano got a break with a few to go. Noakes didn’t give up though, but ultimately fell short, Biviano defeating Noakes and Zac Hignett.
Heat five saw Travis Hutchison away cleanly but it was only to last a lap as Richard Cook hit the back of Jacob Croker, which saw Croker spin and Cook sent to the rear for the restart. Hutchison was never headed on the restart, racing away to defeat Rhys Collins and Matt Nelson.
The final heat of the opening round saw Neil Keldoulis race from position four to the lead quickly, with former National Champion Kyle Sayer into second. The race lasted two laps before the yellows came on as Wes Barnes found himself with a massive hit with the turn one wall, with John Baker also making heavy contact in the incident. After a short delay for a fence repair, the race got back underway with Keldoulis under pressure from Sayer, only for Sayer to pull out of the race with front end damage, while the yellows came on a few laps later after Felicity Roycroft lost a wheel. Keldoulis led the restart and was free to race away with the win from Wayne O’Keefe and Jared Stephenson in a race that took twenty-five minutes to complete.
It was a frantic start to heat seven, but it was Hayden Turner who came out in front, ahead of Nathan Shortis and Jordan Biviano. A stoppage with two complete for a stranded Mitch Coulson didn’t initially change the order, but Biviano grabbed second with two to go, the order unchanged from here.
Heat eight saw Jaiden Healey making the most of his front row start, racing away from the field to lead almost every lap, surviving a restart and nearly becoming the nights first dual winner until matt Vicary went around the outside of him in the last corner to take the win. Healey was second while Andrew Cunningham finished third.
Rodney Anderson led the first half of the ninth heat untroubled, the yellows coming out shortly after as Martin Heiner spun, Mitch Watts nowhere to go and Gavin Thomas going up in a cloud of smoke. Anderson led away and was untroubled until the white flag when Richard Cook drew alongside him at the line, just 0.007 seconds between them. Cook then raced away to claim the win from Anderson with Marty Bassett third.
Rhys Collins set the pace in heat ten, and was never headed, becoming the first Victorian to win a race and the first non-stop event since the fourth heat. He defeated Travis Hutchison and Wayne O’Keefe.
Heat eleven was a bug win to Jacob Croker, racing clear of Thomas Fuller and Dehne Sparrow to cross the line two and a half seconds ahead while the final heat of round two was an all the way win to Kyle Sayer, defeating Kurtis Peall and Josh Harm.
Thirteen proved to be a lucky number for Clint Noakes, kicking off the third round of heats with an all the way win. He would defeat the impressive Jaiden Healey while Marty Bassett claimed third.
A depleted field of seven took the green in heat fourteen but it didn’t last long as Rodney Anderson found himself stuck up against the turn one wall after some ping pong through the pack. All restarted and Cooper Croker was straight into the lead, but again the yellows came out, this time for Marcus Maclean who had to be towed from the circuit. Croker shot away like a bullet from a gun and was three seconds ahead before the front end failed and bought out the yellows with three laps to go. One more lap would be completed with Nathan O’Brien in front before the cautions came out again after contact between Gordon Midolo and Rodney Anderson, leaving just four cars for a green, white, chequer finish. O’Brien led the three car battle to the finish, defeating Anderson and Dehne Sparrow, the top three just 0.7 seconds apart.
Neil Keldoulis led the opening lap of heat fifteen but Bradin Claridge applied the pressure to get by on the second lap. As Keldoulis slowed, Thomas Fuller stepped up to the plate and did all he could to get by Claridge as Kyle Sayer raced into third. Unfortunately Claridge would slow with six complete, bringing out the yellows. Fuller led the field away, and would hold on for the win, defeating Jacob Croker and Sayer.
A number of cars came together at the start of heat sixteen to set up a complete restart, but only six cars would rejoin. Wayne Bourke took full advantage to race into the lead, but Jordan Biviano chased hard and would grab the lead on the sixth circulation. From here it was all elementary, Biviano racing away to claim the win by over four and a half seconds over Bourke while Nicholas Hill raced into third after a spirited battle.
The penultimate heat of the night saw the first full heat of the round hit the track, with Dale Corbett grabbing the lead only for the yellows to come on as Jack Murphy came to a stop in turn three. Corbett led away the restart and was never challenged in the run to the line, defeating Zac Swanson and Matt Nelson in his second win for the night.
The final heat of night one saw nine cars line up but it was all the National Champion Josh Harm, starting on the front row and leading every lap. A stoppage at the halfway point did nothing to upset his momentum and he raced away to take the win from Matt Vicary and Kurtis Peall.
Racing will get underway once again tomorrow night from 4pm, with one final round of heats prior to the B and A Main events. Live coverage will again be available via Clay per View.
Points After Night One
- N18 Jordan Biviano 100
- N9 Jaiden Healey 92
- Q11 Kurtis Peall 87
- A1 Joshua Harm 82
- N47 Dale Corbett 82
- V27 Rhys Collins 81
- Q57 Thomas Fuller 81
- W23 Clint Noakes 77
- N75 Matt Vicary 72
- Q2 Travis Hutchison 69
- N17 Rodney Anderson 69
- N15 Jacob Croker 66
- W95 Kyle Sayer 64
- V91 Dehne Sparrow 59
- N6 Marty Bassett 44
- N27 Wayne Bourke 55
- VA9 Wayne O’Keefe 55
- Q17 Neil Keldoulis 54
- Q48 Hayden Turner 54
- Q8 Nathan Barbeler 53
- N45 Jared Stephenson 53
- V61 Matt Nelson 52
- N21 Andrew Cunnigham 51
- Q15 Richard Cook 50
- V15 Zac Swanson 50
- V11 Nathan O’Brien 47
- V18 Shane Hammond 47
- NSW56 Cooper Croker 46
- N76 Zac Hignett 46
- V84 Nathan Shortis 46
- ACT23 Damien McAlister 46
- T26 Andy Russell 44
- VA18 Brendan Miller 40
- V65 Felicity Roycroft 40
- VA17 Colby Hammond 38
- V26 Nicholas Hill 36
- Q24 Gordon Midolo 35
- V69 Tay Barnard 35
- N54 Mitch Watts 31
- W26 Gemma Laidlaw 30
- V16 Brendan Brewer 30
- V78 Bradin Claridge 29
- Q16 Jim Cowley 27
- QA17 Ian Bell 26
- N2 Brock Cunningham 25
- ACT55 Jack Murphy 24
- V10 Michael Sayers 24
- V34 Brayden Creek 24
- V9 Lucas Conder 20
- VA7 Marcus Maclean 19
- V13 Jaidyn Dredge 18
- V21 Andrew Robl 18
- V71 Martin Heiner 17
- ACT19 Mitch Coulson 17
- V19 Jack Bear 17
- ACT71 Sean Rabbittes 17
- VA69 Tom Barnard 14
- N16 Alex Cheney 12
- V40 Matthew Ismail 10
- V30 Stephen Laidlaw 9
- N5 Scott Hawkins 8
- S18 Jason Duell 8
- Q36 Gavin Thomas 6
- V52 Trevor Mills 4
- N28 Wes Barnes 4
- V7 Connor Claridge 4
- V44 Chris Lack 3
- Q7 John Baker Jnr 3
- N56 Justin Hawkins 3