BROTHERS ON TOP!
In what is a remarkable turn of events, Queensland brothers Shane and Nathan Macdonald sit atop the points chart of the ENZED 2025 SSA Modified Sedan National Title after night one of racing at the B&S Earthworks Timmis Speedway Mildura.
Both drivers went through their three heat races undefeated, Shane on top after night one courtesy of a faster lap time, with Nathan second. Dylan Barrow is third overall on 100 points while Joel Berkley and Daniel Wilson round out the top five on points so far.
A wet track for the opening heat saw the front row drift high and Luke Fraser race into the initial lead before Shane Macdonald took over the point and never looked back, defeating Dylan Barrow and Jakobe Jetson.
Heat two saw Shane Brittain come from nowhere to race into the lead and race away from the field. As the laps wound down Nathan Macdonald made his way through the field and in the dying stages lapped traffic allowed him to get by Brittain for the win.
The third heat got off to a great start for the defending national champion as Jarod Waters raced his way into the lead, but it all ended after three laps, his engine appearing to detonate, emitting a cloud of smoke and seeing him head infield. Daniel Wilson took over the lead and never looked back while Shaun Thompson raced through from the very back of the field for second. Connor Claridge finished third.
Heat Four saw Joel Berkley quickly into the lead and racing away while Matt Noakes and Calon Ball had a good battle for second. The yellows came on for Clint Noakes after an issue in turn two, but Berkley was able to race away again on the restart and claim the win from Matt Noakes and Brett Williams.
Heat five saw Terry Brown lead early but he was quickly under pressure from Will Shore in a battle that lasted half the race before Shore got by. Stuey Robinson was next on the scene and he got by a couple of laps later, the order unchanged from here. Unfortunately Shore did not go to scrutineering and was removed from the final result.
Heat six was an epic battle between Dolic, McGraw, Raymont and Wicks at the front, with Brad Wicks coming out the victor ahead of Tristan McGraw and Aidan Raymont.
The final heat of the opening round saw Darren Lester into the lead quickly while Max Clarke fought into second. The yellows came one with two complete as Jeff Leahy found himself in the back straight wall, then two laps later the yellows were back on for Nathan Shortis and while under yellow the leader retired infield. This left Max Clarke in the lead ahead of Brad Warren and Chris Pagel on the restart, Clarke racing away to win from a hard charging Darcy Wilson and Warren.
Shane Macdonald was an all the way leader in heat eight, crossing the line ahead of Peter Fraser, the lead duo clearing out from the rest of the field while Quinton Clarke finished in third.
Wade McCarthy and Nathan Macdonald would have an epic battle for the lead in heat nine, Macdonald able to race by at the halfway point to take the lead. He would race on to defeat McCarthy and Robinson.
Daniel Wilson cleared out in heat ten and was never challenged while Max Clarke would settle into second. They remained this way for the bulk of the race until Clarke began to slow as he approached the chequered flag, allowing Brett Williams to sneak by on the line by 0.049 seconds.
Heat eleven saw Matt Noakes leading from the front as the rest of the field battled in a huge pack. Daniel Simpson emerged in second and set about closing the gap to Noakes, able to draw alongside and take the lead by 0.045 seconds on lap seven. Jakobe Jetson was also right in the thick of the action, and he too got by Noakes on the white flag lap for second, the order unchanged from here.
The twelfth heat saw Aidan Raymont leading from start to finish, surviving a race that had the most restarts to that point, defeating Will Shore and Lachlan Fitzpatrick.
Heat thirteen proved to be unlucky for Brad Wicks, leading most of the way before succumbing to mechanical issues and heading infield. This saw Dylan Barrow inherit the lead and taking the win from Kye Walters and Kent Menzies.
The final heat of the second round saw disaster once again, a domino effect through the field seeing Jarod Waters, now in the Jakobe Jetson car as a substitute, riding a wheel and cannoning into the turn two wall. The race would resume with just six cars and David Smith took advantage, racing away from the field and recording the fastest lap of the night to claim the win from Joel Berkley and David Head.
To open the final round of heats on night one, Luke Fraser and Nathan Macdonald raced each other through the field, with Fraser able to get to the front first. Macdonald followed in hot pursuit and on lap seven made his move to take over the point, going through the opening night undefeated. Fraser finished second while Terry Brown was third.
Stuey Robinson would take over the lead from Mason Cameron on lap three of heat sixteen and it looked like he was home and hosed, but in the dying stages he would slow. Cameron was able to get back by him and take the win, while Taleah Dolic also raced by for second as Robinson finished third.
Heat seventeen saw Chris Pagel lead the opening lap over Darcy Wilson by 0.049 seconds, a restart lining them all up line astern shortly after. Darcy Wilson stole the lead on the restart, Kent Menzies also able to get by for second, but a couple of laps later he hit the wall and lost a wheel, bringing out the yellows once again. From here Wilson would race away, surviving another restart to take the win from Pagel and Darren Lester.
A depleted field for heat eighteen would line up, including Jakobe Jackson in a heavily patched up machine. Dylan Barrow led from the front, racing away from fellow front row starter David Smith and even survived a restart to take a solid win from Smith and Daniel Simpson.
Heat nineteen was also a smaller field and Kye Walters took advantage, racing into the lead early and although Aidan Raymont did all he could, it simply wasn’t enough to close the gap and make the pass, Walters the winner from Raymont and Lachlan Fitzpatrick.
The penultimate heat of night one was a cracker, a huge five car battle pack fighting for the lead. Angelo Halacas led for the first half of the race but Shane Macdonald raced around the outside to take the lead on lap six. Shortly after, Max Clarke also took over second place but the yellow lights came on, negating the move and putting Halacas back in front of Clarke and behind Macdonald for the restart. Clarke raced by Halacas for second as the race resumed, and after an epic battle to the line through the whole field, Macdonald defeated Clarke and Halacas, Macdonald joining his brother in the undefeated ranks.
Heat twenty-one was just as good of a race as the previous one, and despite the growing number of cars on the infield, Shaun Thompson put on a show to barely hold off Joel Berkley for the win, with Brett Williams holding down third and rounding out the opening night of competition.
Racing will kick off again on Sunday night with one more round of heats prior to a C Main (numbers permitting), two B Mains and a forty-lap feature event to decide the Australian Champion for 2025!
Points After Night One
1. Q27 Shane Macdonald 108
2. Q32 Nathan Macdonald 108
3. V17 Dylan Barrow 100
4. QA9 Joel Berkley 92
5. VA19 Daniel Wilson 89
6. Q28 Aidan Raymont 87
7. N15 Max Clarke 87
8. V36 Stuey Robinson 82
9. V5 Darcy Wilson 81
10. V45 Shaun Thompson 74
11. S32 Brett Williams 74
12. V19 David Smith 72
13. V33 Daniel Simpson 72
14. V46 Kye Walters 68
15. VA6 Wade McCarthy 68
16. T7 Jakobe Jetson 64
17. W20 Matt Noakes 64
18. Q9 Chris Pagel 62
19. VA33 Taleah Dolic 62
20. Q26 Mason Cameron 59
21. W15 Luke Fraser 58
22. V38 Tristan McGraw 58
23. S9 Terry Brown 56
24. V11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick 51
25. W88 Shane Brittain 51
26. V94 Rachel Pratt 51
27. V86 Angelo Halacas 50
28. V15 Will Shore 45
29. W0 Peter Fraser 45
30. V6 Connor Claridge 44
31. VA17 Brad Wicks 41
32. W74 Allan Mortimer 40
33. Q59 Darren Lester 39
34. V9 Caleb Lincoln 38
35. Q5 Kent Menzies 37
36. N81 Quinton Clarke 37
37. V23 Trevor Logan 37
38. Q24 David Head 66
39. W8 Calon Ball 36
40. V14 Heath Baillie 35
41. V62 Brad Warren 35
42. V69 Joshua Brown 35
43. VA15 Dale Hallett 34
44. S18 Brandon Elphick 32
45. V32 Brody Chrystie 31
46. V67 Corey Knox 31
47. Q54 Michael Shelford 28
48. S89 Justin Demaine 28
49. V72 Martin Hawson 24
50. S28 Jason Demaine 24
51. V24 Darren McCarthy 24
52. VB19 Mitchell Smith 23
53. Q22 Charlotte Christensen 23
54. VA0 John Baker Jnr 21
55. V37 Andrew Dike 20
56. T77 Scott Walters 20
57. V44 Aaron Graham 20
58. V82 Shane Roycroft 18
59. S42 Jamie Owens 16
60. Q71 Kev Young 15
61. S68 Kayla Knox 15
62. VA21 Todd Rose 14
63. V66 Benny Aworth 13
64. W3 Clint Noakes 13
65. VIC11 Darren Cockerill 13
66. V74 Steve Ellis 12
67. VA11 Jeff Leahy 12
68. V0 Cameron Dike 12
69. S94 Robert Uren 13
70. V41 Mark Sheen 10
71. A1 Jarod Waters 10
72. V10 Carter Metcalfe 6
73. V55 Nathan Shortis 5
