Darren Kane Wins A Thrilling National Super Sedan Title

by | Mar 9, 2020 | SA, SSA Super Sedans

Author-Allan Smallwood SSA Media

Darren Kane has become just the second driver in the forty nine year history of the SSA National Super Sedan Title to win the event on four occasions with a brilliant drive on Sunday Night at the Borderline Speedway in Mount Gambier South Australia.

Kane defeated hard charging young gun Ryan Alexander by just 0.360 of a second in what was the smallest recorded winning margin in a SSA National Super Sedan Title with defending champion Matt Pascoe finishing 0.731 seconds behind Kane in third.

Fine but chilly conditions once again greeted competitors ahead of the final night of racing at the picturesque Borderline Speedway.

Western Australian Champion Chris Pavlovich opened proceedings with a dominate victory aboard his Southern Haulage backed entry in heat sixteen ahead of Loxton SA resident Kym Hammerstein and Victorian Dave Mackenzie.

After an overnight engine change aboard his Wylie Tiles T22 Bandit, two time National Champion Callum Harper claimed heat seventeen in front of Ryan Alexander who stormed through the field to finish second passing Victorian Lucas Roberts on the final circulation.

By finishing in second place in heat seventeen Ryan Alexander earnt enough points to give himself pole position for the A Main later in the program.

Neil Witnish needed some big points in his final outing after a disappointing opening night with the V56 claiming the victory in heat eighteen.

The IBRP Q36 of Darren Kane had a comfortable victory in heat nineteen ahead of the impressive Mick Nicola Jr and Rockhampton driver Justin Smithwick.

In the final heat race of the title plenty of drama unfolded, firstly with South Australian veteran Robby Marchant hitting the wall on lap two.

Marchant retired from the race with another stoppage occurring on lap eight for the spun Mark Towers.

Mick Nicola Sr and Dave Gartner had battled throughout the event for the lead with the Penola South Australia resident riding the right rear wheel of Nicolas car causing Gartner to hit the wall.

Western Australian Gary Higgs was also caught up in the incident with Nicola Sr recording the victory ahead of Higgs and Bateman Bay New South Wales resident Mark Sommers.

The opening B Main witnessed pole sitter Corey Smith fail to start the race with former Victorian Champion Peter Nicola leading the opening laps.

Nicolas car began to handle horribly in the turns with the V2 heading infield after losing the lead to Darren Giacometti.

Giacometti held on to win from Blackwater Queenslands Leigh Williams and Neil Witnish who started well back in the field.

The final B Main was highlighted by many stoppages in the opening circulations firstly when Kym Leyson and Victorian Trent Susol got together.

Ash Bergmeier and Trent Wilson broke away from the rest of the field after the race got into a rhythm.

Bergmeier defeated Wilson and Justin Smithwick who transferred through to the A Main which featured twenty two starters.

Drama unfolded before the finalists were introduced to the crowd after Neil Witnish withdrew from the A Main which allowed South Australian Steve Schwarz to start the race from position twenty one.

When the lights went green in the A Main for the 2019/2020 SSA National Super Sedan Title, Darren Kane got a great start and opened a small gap to the chasing Alexander, Nicola Jr and Pascoe.

Phil Barton from Broome in Western Australia brought about the first stoppage of the race on lap four when he clipped the infield tyre barrier.

Former Tasmanian Champion Steve Latham hit the wall fairly heavily in turn three straight after the restart with the Nets Tasmania Rocket Chassis becoming the first retirement of the A Main.

The V0 Insane Chassis of Lucas Roberts retired from the race during the caution period with a steering issue after running inside the top ten.

Kane continued to lead away after every stoppage from Alexander and Nicola Jr with the race being set at a cracking pace at the front of the field on the extremely fast race track.

Dave Gartner came to grief on lap seven hitting the concrete wall on the main straight before Darren Giacometti crashed into the back of the statutory S8 Dominator.

Both cars were out of the race with the last stoppage occurring on lap nine when Sam Roza and Mick Nicola Sr got together while battling for sixth place.

Queenslander David Musch was caught up in the incident that had many cars taking evasive action to avoid the accident.

Musch retired from the race as the officials elected to send both Nicola Sr and Roza to the rear of the field for the restart.

The final thirty laps of the race went green without a stoppage as Alexander continued to try and find a way past Kane at the front of the field.

Pascoe worked his way past Nicola Jr for third with eight laps remaining as the leaders snaked their way through lapped cars.

In the end Darren Kane was a deserving winner as he took victory for the fourth time in the SSA National Super Sedan Title ahead of Alexander, Pascoe, Nicola Jr and the ultra impressive Tyson Moon.

Trent Wilson came from deep in the field to finish sixth from Steve Jordan, Ash Bergmeier, Callum Harper and Mick Nicola Sr rounding out the top ten.

New National Champion Darren Kane was extremely emotional in victory lane where he praised his car owner Ian Boettcher and his crew for their hard work over what has been a challenging season so far for the team from Queensland.

The 2021/2022 SSA National Super Sedan Title will be held at the Gulf Western & Independent Oils Raceway in Tasmania in late January 2021.

Official Result of the 2019/2020 SSA National Super Sedan Title

40 Laps: 1. Q36 Darren Kane, 2. S47 Ryan Alexander, 3. A1 Matt Pascoe, 4. V23 Mick Nicola Jr, 5. N57 Tyson Moon, 6. Q44 Trent Wilson, 7. Q7 Steve Jordan, 8. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 9. T22 Callum Harper, 10. V3 Mick Nicola Sr, 11. W81 Gary Higgs (39), 12. Q77 Sam Roza (39), 13. S22 Paul Blenkiron (39), 14. W36 Phil Barton (39), 15. Q63 Justin Smithwick (39), 16. Q4 Leigh Williams (39), 17. S99 Steve Schwarz (39), DNF Q12 David Musch (9), S8 Dave Gartner (7), V12 Darren Giacometti (7), V0 Lucas Roberts (5), T8 Steve Latham (4)

Darren Kane Enjoying the Spoils of Victory

The Placegetters in the 2019/2020 SSA National Super Sedan Title
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