Speedway Sedans Australia News
Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
After the opening night of the Super Sedan Grand Prix at the Gulf Western & Independent Oils Raceway, defending Champion Callum Harper leads the points-standings.
Harper is five points clear of Queenslands Steve Jordan, with the pair winning the two preliminary A Mains of Friday night.
In the opening fifteen lap Feature, Jordan and South Australian Champion, Dave Gartner started on the front row, with Gartner getting the best of the early exchange. Queensland Champion, Matt Pascoe, momentarily moved to second, demoting Jordan to third, but in a matter of two laps, Jordan has passed both Pascoe and Gartner to take the lead.
Darren Kane who started on the third row started to make his presence felt, with the National Champion moving to third on lap seven, with a great battle raging for the minor placings which would see Pascoe drop to sixth, as Corey Smith and Steve Latham moved through the field.
Meanwhile, Jordan opened a large gap on the opposition, and was not troubled in the concluding stages, downing Kane, while Dave Gartner finished third in a blanket finish, holding off Steve Latham, Corey Smith and Pascoe, with the quartet separated by just 0.784.
The second preliminary feature was much different to the first, although, Callum Harper, despite winning in a race that went without and incident, did lose the lead to former National Champion, Mick Nicola Snr on lap eleven. Harper immediately took back the lead on lap twelve, a lead he held for the remaining three laps.
Ryan Alexander from South Australia would finish third, a position he held for all fifteen laps, finishing a third of a lap behind Harper. Mick Nicola Jnr would get the better New South Welshman, Andrew White, in the concluding stages to finish fourth, while Robert Bird made up three positions from the commencement of the race, to finish sixth.
Earlier, Steve Jordan, Mick Nicola Jnr and Steve Latham would win the opening round heats, with Jordan winning narrowly, while Nicola Jnr and Latham would be untroubled. Mick Nicola Snr, Matt Pascoe and Callum Harper would be successful in the second round with Mick Nicola Snr narrowly getting the win over Ryan Alexander, while Pascoe and Harper had comfortable victories. Harper, Dave Gartner and Lachlan Onley would record wins in the final round of qualifying heats.
Racing continues tonight, culminating in the 50 lap main event, with the first event scheduled for 6.00pm EDST, with live audio available via Speedway Sedans Australia�s website on Channel 2.
POINTS AFTER NIGHT ONE
T22 Callum Harper 118
Q10 Steve Jordan 113
S8 Dave Gartner 110
V3 Mick Nicola Snr 104
A1 Darren Kane 89
N23 Andrew White 87
S47 Ryan Alexander 85
Q1 Matt Pascoe 84
V23 Mick Nicola Jnr 78
N17 Lachlan Onley 75
T16 Corey Smith 62
T8 Steve Latham 59
N21 Darren Anning 57
T13 Rodney Bates 55
T48 Wayne Dillon 54
V0 Lucas Roberts 51
T71 Robert Bird 49
T24 Anthony Manion 47
Q26 Sean Black 44
T47 Lucas Dillon 32
T25 Joe Breitkopf 31
S93 Kym Jury 31
T3 David Nichols 30
V2 Peter Nicola 10
T41 Adam Beechey 8
Steve Jordan wins preliminary Feature on night one of the Super Sedan Grand Prix. Photo courtesy of Angryman Photography