Press Release Courtesy of Speedway Sedans Western Australia.
Port Hedland’s Jett Downs has continued his love affair with the Hillview Speedway in Newman, going through night one of the Beecroft Bulk Haulage SSA Junior Sedan WA Title undefeated.
Downs was outstanding, recording three heat wins to be on top after the fifteen heats from night one were completed, the only one to win multiple heats as thirteen different drivers would share the wins.
Heat One saw Luke Bailey advance into the lead quickly, pole sitter Jacob Hill behind him and Hanna Tomkins into third. Jett Downs would come from position eight to grab third at the halfway point, then with one and a half laps to go would get by Hill for second. Downs sat on the bumper of Bailey and in the final corner Bailey left the door open, Downs ducking underneath and winning a drag race to the line by 0.128 seconds.
Ian Beard Best Presented winner Haylee Strelley got the initial jump but Harrison Beres would get right on by coming out of turn two to take over the lead. Sophie Goodwin grabbed second while Harrison Riegert would also move into third, the order remaining unchanged.
Jackson Goodwin made the most of his front row start in heat three, streaking away from the rest of the field as Luke Roberts moved past local hope Malik Gordon for second. Roberts would also move away from the rest of the field but was unable to close the gap on Goodwin while the battle for third was intense between five cars, Noah Bain capitalising on a late race mistake from another driver to grab third in the final corner.
Heat four saw the outside row of Kayde Anthony and defending WA Champion Jake Leaman quickly racing away, Leaman able to get by and grab the lead on lap one. Leaman and Anthony would clear out while all eyes were on the battle for third between Archie Root and Sam Mills, Root able to get by before the chequers flew. Leaman would unfortunately lose steering after the finish and find himself in the wall, banking plenty of points but left with plenty of work to do.
The final heat of the opening round saw Jesse Hamon and Mitch Binning just leap into the lead, the duo pulling away very quickly from Charlie Scott and Oscar Amato who would fight for third. Hamon held off a charging Binning while Amato would get the better of Scott for third.
Round two began with the first stoppage of the weekend, cars coming together through the first turn and Katie Beadle finding herself facing the wrong way. Attempt two was much better, Locky Comley leading Jett Downs and Jake Fisher. The top three engaged in a huge battle for the remainder of the race, running side by side much of the time but in the end it was a drag race to the finish with Downs and Comley making contact in the final turn, Downs racing away, Fisher getting into second and Comley slowly rolling across the line for third.
Baxter Trouchet was the initial leader in heat seven but it didn’t take interstate visitor Jackson Gordon long to find his way to the front. Unfortunately the race would be just two laps old when Tyler Scott managed to find the infield berm and roll heavily into turn two, emerging slightly shaken but unhurt. Gordon would lead away the resumption and was never headed as he went on to take the win while Jackson Goodwin grabbed second from Baxter Trouchet with just over a lap remaining.
It would be a bit of a messy start to heat eight as drivers adapted to the changing track, but it would be Brock Lake who led the opening laps. Noah Bain would challenge for the next few laps until Vince Lindsay came from nowhere and passed both drivers on the outside. Lake was able to get back by but all of a sudden Oscar Amato was also in on the battle, a massive four car battle now underway, quickly becoming five as Jesse Hamon also got involved in what was fast becoming the heat race of the night. Bain got clear in the final two turns but contact between the rest of the field saw five cars coming together after the finish line, Lindsay officially second ahead of Amato.
Sam Mills led the early laps of heat nine but it was Jake Leaman, coming from position eight, who carved his way through the field and into second by the end of lap two. Unfortunately Leaman would then slow dramatically and head infield, seeing Harrison Riegert into second ahead of Luke Bailey as Mills held on for the win in what became a hard fought contest right to the final flag.
Flying up the day of the race meeting certainly had no effect on Max Lang in heat ten, racing into the lead early until Luke Martin made his way by. Lang fought back and retook the lead on lap three but the lap wouldn’t count as Haylee Strelley bought on the red lights after rolling heavily in turn four. On the restart Lang was desperately trying to find a way through, biking it in turn two for what seemed like forever, somehow bringing it back own on four wheels and continuing on without losing a spot. Lang just would not give up, even when Zak Turner got involved and made it a three way battle. Mitch Binning threw his hat in the ring in the final lap, also biking it through turn two, but up front Lang was alongside Martin once again, Martin hanging on by just 0.039 seconds from Lang with Turner third.
The third round of heats kicked off with the smallest field of the weekend so far, eight cars taking the green after the demise of Charlie Scott who would lend his car to brother Tyler for a later heat. Jett Downs shot into the lead early ahead of Noah Bain and Jackson Gordon, the order remaining unchanged despite Gordon coming under plenty of pressure from Locky Comley and Jackson Goodwin in the last few laps.
For the third time on night one the red lights came on in heat twelve with Lara Edwards tipping onto her roof as the field entered turn one. The second attempt at a start didn’t last too much longer as a number of cars came together in turn four, seeing the field forming up once again for a complete restart. Jake Fisher would lead away on the third attempt with Sam Mills and Kai Leeson in behind him, the field finally settling down. Unfortunately it would only last a few more laps until Leeson lost a wheel in turn three, bringing the race under caution once again. Fisher however would hold strong at the front, racing on to claim the win from Mills and Luke Roberts.
Cars went four and five wide at the start of heat thirteen, and it was Joel Bowman who came out on top, leading Baxter Trouchet and Kayde Anthony. The battle for third intensified with Mitch Binning also becoming involved, but unfortunately a couple of cars came together bringing on the yellows and seeing Anthony restart at the rear. Bowman maintained his lead after the stoppage and would go on to hold of Binning who got past Trouchet with one lap to go.
With Tyler Scott starting from the rear in a substitute car for heat fourteen, Zak Turner would be elevated to the front row alongide Benji Gordon and the duo would stay side by side for the whole first lap before Oscar Amato arrived on the scene and passed them both to lead lap two by 0.033 seconds. WA Champion Leaman then got involved and grabbed third from Turner, then drew alongside Gordon on lap five, taking the position a lap later. By this time Amato had split the seam, but the yellows would come on with two laps remaining after Turner came to a stop in turn three, both Leaman and Gordon relegated on the restart. Amato however was unfazed, going on to win from Archie Root and Tyler Scott from the rear.
The fifteenth and final heat of night one came under cautions quickly, a number of cars coming together and Luke Martin sent to the rear. Harrison Riegert was the one to beat as he raced into the lead, Max Lang racing under Wyatt van der Mey for second early on. The field would spread out from here, Riegert defeating Lang and van der Mey.
Racing will get underway again tomorrow from 6pm with one more round of heats prior to two B Mains and the all-important twenty five lap feature race.
Points After Night One
1. W89 Jett Downs 108
2. W56 Noah Bain 87
3. W95 Harrison Riegert 87
4. W81 Oscar Amato 82
5. W71 Sam Mills 81
6. W606 Jackson Goodwin 77
7. W10 Mitch Binning 73
8. N51 Jackson Gordon 72
9. WA12 Jake Fisher 70
10. W2 Max Lang 69
11. W15 Luke Bailey 68
12. W23 Archie Root 64
13. WA18 Harrison Beres 62
14. W38 Luke Roberts 59
15. W70 Jake Leaman 58
16. W52 Joel Bowman 58
17. W666 Sophie Goodwin 58
18. W74 Locky Comley 57
19. W5 Jesse Hamon 54
20. W34 Baxter Trouchet 54
21. W144 Luke Martin 54
22. WA10 Kayde Anthony 48
23. W11 Brock Lake 47
24. W08 Tyler Scott 45
25. W22 Zak Turner 45
26. WA88 Jacob Hill 44
27. W40 Vince Lindsay 42
28. W20 Wyatt van der Mey 37
29. WA82 Mason Whitehead 36
30. W82 Sophie Amato 36
31. N96 Benji Gordon 36
32. W18 Reuben Walsh 31
33. W61 Hannah Tomkins 28
34. W27 Malik Gordon 28
35. WA56 Ayden Mills 27
36. W011 Charlie Scott 21
37. W26 Zakiya Costa 21
38. W83 Kai Leeson 20
39. W12 Mikayla Steele 20
40. W78 Colby Bosley 19
41. W4 Alyssa Halliday 19
42. W25 Chloe Munro 19
43. W88 James Monks 19
44. W7 Haylee Strelley 18
45. WA95 Lara Edwards 18
46. W19 Katie Beadle 17
47. W24 Chloe Lawton 16
