Press Release by Speedway Sedans Victoria
Mildura’s Jacob Drewett has won the 2020-21 SSA Modified Sedan Victorian Title/ Ern Overall Memorial at Ballarat’s Redline Raceway on Saturday Night before a packed house, and against a stellar field of 40 fellow Modified Sedan combatants.
Competitors were met with a wide and well prepared surface for the preliminary heat races that offered hard and fast racing.
Overtaking was difficult at times such was the pace afforded by the track, but rewarding to those brave enough to run the ‘çushion’. The opening heat saw Martin Hawson (Mda 72 VS Commodore) lead to the chequers with Jarrod Waters (Mda 92 Mercedes C350) hot on his heals and followed by Alexandra’s Ricky Cornwall (Ax 15 BA Falcon).
A post race adjustment relegated Hawson one position rewarding Jarrod Waters with the win. Cameron Dike (Ny37 FG Falcon) led all the way in Heat 2 to hold off a hard charging Todd Atkins (Ha 36 BF Falcon) with Redline’s Nick Cockerill (Rdl VE Commodore)coming through form the back of the field to challenge in the latter stages.
Brock Atkins (P0 FGX Falcon) led over polesitter, and the Best Presented car of Bendigo’s Lachlan Fitzpatrick (Bgo 11 FGX Falcon)in the initial laps of Heat 3 until Jake Drewett (Mda 18 ED Falcon)stormed to the front.
Several cars sustained damage during this heat with Drewett running away with the win over Matt Nelson (SB61 FGX Falcon) and Wade McCarthy (Mda 6 AU Falcon) in third.
Heat 4 was notable for the heavy impact experienced by local driver Darcy Wilson. Darcy, who has this season graduated from Junior Sedans to Modifieds, unluckily rode a wheel into turn 3, and bicycled into the concrete wall, sustaining heavy damage that eliminated him from the meeting.
Ty Galley (Mda 88 Toyota Lexcen) greeted the chequer from a hard challenging Brody Chrystie ( AX32 FG Falcon) and Dale Hallett (NY15 VZ Commodore).Mildura competitors were leaving their mark on the event, with Heat 5 being taken out by Wade McCarthy and Jake Drewett storming from rear to take second from Damien Miller ( AX6 BF Falcon) in third.
Australia 1, Kye Walters( AU Falcon) broke through in Heat 6 to take a win from Matt Nelson and Brock Atkins, re-affirming pre-race speculation that he was the man to beat on his home track.
Heat 7 saw Matt Gerlach (AV14 VZ Commodore) take an early lead that he would hold to the end. A charge by Ty Galley to second proved unsuccessful when he sustained a flat tyre, and Dave Jacobi (L36 VF Commodore), all the way down form Lismore to his old home, retired with Flexplate issues. Michael Wicks (Bgo 14 EL Falcon) picked up the second place at race end with Dale Hallett back in third.
The last heat race in the second round, Heat 8 saw the first repeat heat race winner in Jarod Waters holding out a strong finishing Todd Atkins , showing a consistency beyond his years.
Third position was perennial favorite Graham West (Bgo 56 LJTorana) who was struggling with damage from an earlier altercation.Nick Cockerill bounced back from a DNF to win Heat 11 showing his determination on his home track from second placegetter Daniel Wilson (GV19 VT Commodore) who had been battling teething issues in his earlier heats, with Westy in the Torry taking Third.
Kye Walters made a big turn 1 – 2 move around the outside on the opening lap to clinch the lead, and ultimately the win in Heat 10 to hold off a charging Jarod Waters in second and another Mildurite in Wade McCarthy in third.
To keep the Mildura flavour running, Jake Drewett took advantage of his pole start in Heat 11 for an all the way win over Brody Chrystie in second and Todd Atkins third. Nagambie’s Aaron Bunton (Ng87 BA Falcon) was rewarded with a win in the final heat race, Heat 12, over local competitor Lucas Condor(Ball 9 VS Commodore) and Jason Andreata( NY29 FGX Falcon).
The points were tallied, the stage was almost set, the only thing left before the final was the B main. There had been plenty of heartbreak and disappointment throughout the heat races, expectations had not been met, so the B main would present that ‘last chance’.
As the bustling field entered turn 1 on the opening lap, contact between competitors brought many team aspirations to a halt. Rick Cornwall and Jamie Lock( Bgo 43 XF Falcon) were unable to continue when the field restarted.
Brock Atkins charged to the front and seemed destined to proceed to the Main event, however, stoppages due to competitors being dealt with by the stewards and breakages ultimately led to his demise.
At the last stoppage Atkins’car faltered under yellow flag conditions and was eliminated. The race was declared shortly thereafter with Aaron Bunton attributed with the win from Matt Gerlach 2nd, Scott Angus 3rd, MIchael Wicks 4th and Chris Reick (AV 18 VS Commodore) 5th.
The stage was now set, the only hiccup being Graham West who had qualified 13th in the final, withdrew with engine issues. This allowed Chris Reick the opportunity to start the SSA Victorian Modified Sedan Title Final.
Jarod Waters, deemed the polesitter by virtue of having the fastest heat lap time, elected to start the Feature race from position Two allowing Jake Drewett to assume the Pole position. Waters may well have regretted the decision when he caught the cushion into the first turn, handing the lead to Drewett and with Kye Walters and Todd Atkins both in close quarters, Waters settled back into fourth position by the second circulation.
Further back in the field, cars were jostling for position with two and sometimes three wide racing. Marty Hawson was making moves from the midfield and had just cleared a bunch of cars when his right rear wheel broke and parted company bringing the race to a stop.
At this juncture Matt Nelson had already retired with a flat tyre.At the restart the top five cars were Jake Drewett, Kye Walters, Todd Atkins, Jarrod Waters and Wade McCarthy, with Ty Galley succumbing to a flat Right Rear shortly afterwards.
Jake Drewett had established a three car lead on Walters but as they approached the rear of the field to lap cars, Walters closed in and challenged for the lead, and actually poked his nose in front. Drewett, held firm, remained consistent and held his line and drove back around Walters to retain the lead.
Todd Atkins was within a car length of this battle the entire time…..just biding his time…..with Jarod Waters and Wade McCarthy not far back followed by Brody Chrystie and Nick Cockerill.
Todd Atkins saw his effort dissolve in a cloud of steam as a radiator hose burst under his dash, beckoning the next caution period. Todd hastily exited the cabin and the race, unfortunately suffering minor scalding to his lower legs.
Brody Chrystie and Cameron Dike retired at this point too.Jake Drewett led the field away on what transpired to be the final restart, Kye Walters and Jarod Waters in tow with Wade McCarthy and Scott Angus who alongside Matt Gerlach, had charged forwards from the B Main to the top five with Brody Chrystie and Nick Cockerill both retiring in the closing laps.
Finally, the chequered flag fell…Jake Drewett is the new Victoria One for Modified Sedans.
Official Results of the 2020/2021 SSA Modified Sedan Victorian State Title Heat One, Ten Laps- 1. MDA92 Jarod Waters, 2. MDA72 Martin Hawson, 3. AX15 Ricky Cornwall, 4. Q36 David Jacobi, 5. A1 Kye Walters, 6. AX6 Damien Miller, 7. BGO43 Jamie Lock, 8. NG87 Aaron Bunton, 9. AV14 Matt Gerlach
Heat Two, Ten Laps- 1. NY37 Cameron Dike, 2. HA36 Todd Atkins, 3. RDL11 Nick Cockerill, 4. B9 Lucas Conder, 5. ACT3 Matthew Stevenson, 6. DS51 John Dike, 7. MDA61 Shona Bent, 8. NY25 Nicholas Hill, 9. BGO8 Lennie Clark, DNF NY6 Shane Ardley (5)
Heat Three, Ten Laps- 1. MDA18 Jake Drewett, 2. SB61 Matt Nelson, 3. MDA6 Wade McCarthy, 4. NY29 Jason Andreatta, 5. GV52 Mick Boyle, 6. BGO11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick (9), DNF P0 Brock Atkins (6), GV94 Rachel Pratt (2), GV34 Jay Nicolaisen (2) BGO14 Michael Wicks (1)
Heat Four, Ten Laps- 1. MDA88 Ty Galley, 2. AX32 Brody Chrystie, 3. NY15 Dale Hallett, 4. AX61 Simon Bent, 5. AV18 Chris Rieck, 6. MDA23 Trevor Logan, 7. BGO56 Graham West (9), DNF RDL45 Joel Berkley (, GV19 Daniel Wilson (4)
Heat Five, Ten Laps- 1. MDA6 Wade McCarthy, 2. MDA18 Jake Drewett, 3. AX6 Damien Miller, 4. NY11 Scott Angus, 5. BGO43 Jamie Lock, 6. B9 Lucas Conder, 7. AX15 Ricky Cornwall, 8. NY6 Shane Ardley, 9. MDA23 Trevor Logan (9)
Heat Six, Ten Laps- 1. A1 Kye Walters, 2. SB61 Matt Nelson, 3. P0 Brock Atkins, 4. AX32 Brody Chrystie, 5. MDA61 Shona Bent, 6. AX61 Simon Bent, 7. AV18 Chris Rieck, 8. BGO8 Lennie Clark, 9. NG87 Aaron Bunton, 10. MDA72 Martin Hawson, 11. NY37 Cameron Dike (
Heat Seven, Ten Laps- 1. AV14 Matt Gerlach, 2. BGO14 Michael Wicks, 3. NY15 Dale Hallett, 4. NY25 Nicholas Hill, 5. GV94 Rachel Pratt, 6. NY29 Jason Andreatta, 7. ACT3 Matthew Stevenson, 8. MDA88 Ty Galley (9), DNF Q36 David Jacobi (9)
Heat Eight, Ten Laps- 1. MDA92 Jarod Waters, 2. HA36 Todd Atkins, 3. BGO56 Graham West, 4. DS51 John Dike, 5. GV34 Jay Nicolaisen, 6. GV19 Daniel Wilson (9), DNF RDL11 Nick Cockerill (1)
Heat Nine, Ten Laps- 1. RDL11 Nick Cockerill, 2. GV19 Daniel Wilson, 3. BGO56 Graham West, 4. NY37 Cameron Dike, 5. AX15 Ricky Cornwall, 6. SB61 Matt Nelson, 7. P0 Brock Atkins, 8. NY25 Nicholas Hill, 9. BGO14 Michael Wicks, 10. AV14 Matt Gerlach
Heat Ten, Ten Laps- 1. A1 Kye Walters, 2. MDA92 Jarod Waters, 3. MDA6 Wade McCarthy, 4. NY11 Scott Angus, 5. AV18 Chris Rieck, 6. BGO8 Lennie Clark, 7. MDA61 Shona Bent, 8. NY6 Shane Ardley
Heat Eleven, Ten Laps- 1. MDA18 Jake Drewett, 2. AX32 Brody Chrystie, 3. HA36 Todd Atkins, 4. AX6 Damien Miller, 5. BGO11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick, 6. NY15 Dale Hallett, 7. BGO43 Jamie Lock
Heat Twelve, Ten Laps- 1. NG87 Aaron Bunton, 2. B9 Lucas Conder, 3. DS51 John Dike, 4. MDA72 Martin Hawson, 5. MDA88 Ty Galley, 6. NY29 Jason Andreatta, 7. ACT3 Matthew Stevenson, 8. AX61 Simon Bent, 9. GV94 Rachel Pratt
B Main, Ten Laps- 1. NG87 Aaron Bunton, 2. AV14 Matt Gerlach, 3. NY11 Scott Angus, 4. BGO14 Michael Wicks, 5. AV18 Chris Rieck, 6. BGO11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick, 7. GV94 Rachel Pratt, 8. NY6 Shane Ardley, 9. GV19 Daniel Wilson, 10. BGO8 Lennie Clark, DNF P0 Brock Atkins (9), GV34 Jay Nicolaisen (6), ACT3 Matthew Stevenson (6), NY29 Jason Andreatta (2), AX15 Ricky Cornwall (0), AX61 Simon Bent (0), BGO43 Jamie Lock (0)
A Main, Thirty Five Laps- 1. MDA18 Jake Drewett, 2. A1 Kye Walters, 3. MDA92 Jarod Waters, 4. MDA6 Wade McCarthy, 5. NY11 Scott Angus, 6. AV14 Matt Gerlach, 7. NG87 Aaron Bunton, 8. AX6 Damien Miller, 9. AV18 Chris Rieck, 10. BGO14 Michael Wicks, DNF DS51 John Dike (32), RDL11 Nick Cockerill (29), HA36 Todd Atkins (27), AX32 Brody Chrystie (27), NY15 Dale Hallett (26), NY37 Cameron Dike (26), B9 Lucas Conder (25), MDA88 Ty Galley (16), MDA72 Martin Hawson (13), SB61 Matt Nelson (11)Best Presented Car and Team – BGO11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick
