Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
Kyle Sayer has won the final Production Sedan Feature Race at the Quit Collie Speedway on Saturday night, prior to the Speedway Sedans WA State Title at the same venue in a months time.
A large field of Production Sedans fronted the Coalfields venue, and they did not disappoint on a cold and windy Saturday night, which would later in the evening be affected by rain.
Wayne Leviston would win the opening heat convincingly from Kane McDiarmid and Paul Stevens, before former National Champion, Rod Musarra took out heat two, defeating State Champion, Drew Ogle and Kyle Sayer.
Ogle would get his first win of the night in heat three, defeating Wayne Leviston and Coby Stevens in an entertaining race, which paled into insignificance after the brilliant race which followed, heat four. Kane McDiarmid, Kyle Sayer and eventual winner Barry Rose literally raced two and three wide for the entire eight lap journey, with all three in front at some stage, all using multiple lines, in one of the races of 2017. One car length would separate the trio at race end.
Sayer, would win his first heat of the night in heat five, defeating McDiarmid and Rose, with the latter pair again racing side by side throughout, with Sayer ruining any replication of heat four, by winning by five car lengths.
The final heat would see Coby Stevens hold a handy lead, only to have State Champion, Drew Ogle narrow the lead to a car length with two laps remaining. Stevens held her nerve through lap seven, with Ogle making the winning pass in turn three on the final lap to claim a great win with Paul Stevens finishing third.
The Feature race would see Drew Ogle and Kane McDiarmid on the front row for the twenty lap decider with Sayer and Wayne Leviston on the second row, while Barry Rose would start on row three.
It would not be a happy race for Ogle or Leviston, both retired in the opening laps with mechanical issues, while Sayer took the lead only to be harassed by McDiarmid and Rose in a brilliant spectactle.
Sayer, who was quick all night opened a small gap, as Rose and McDiarmid, as they appeared to do for most of the night ran side by side, followed closely by Rod Musarra.
A restart on lap four would be required when Rickie Nuccini stopped on the back straight, which saw Shannon Cherry receive the wrath of the officials for the second time for the night.
On the resultant restart, light rain started to fall, with Kyle Sayer leading McDiarmid, Rose and Musarra, with Rose pulling off a remarkable move on the outside to take second place on lap five, while Musarra moved under McDiarmid to take third such was the closeness.
On lap eight Robbie Trenaman lost a wheel in the main straight, which required a stoppage.
The rain started to get heavier but did not affect the racing, as Musarra and Rose ran the first lap back under racing conditions side by side, with Musarra moving to second place. Rose moved back to second place half a lap later, making a move under Musarra, as Sayer opened a small gap on the field.
Musarra would last just one further lap before hitting the concrete wall in turn three after losing a wheel. The rain reached its heaviest during the removal of Musarras car, but the race would resume with Sayer leading Rose, with Coby Stevens and Beau Riley passing Kane McDiarmid on the back straight, but Stevens would spin, necessitating another stoppage. The race was reduced to fifteen laps with more rain nearing the venue, with Rose hounding the back end of Sayer. Behind McDiarmid, Coby Stevens, Beau Riley and Rickie Nuccini would run side by side for two laps, as Rose hounded the inside of Sayer in what was looking like being a thrilling finish.
The yellows would be brought on again, when Coby Stevens found herself in reverse in turn one, which was enough for the officials to declare the race, with Beau Riley deemed the cause.
The racing was top shelf and augers well for a thrilling WA Production Sedan Title on the Australia Day Long Weekend at the Coalfields venue.
:: Production Sedans
Heat 1, 8 Laps: 1. W86 Wayne Leviston, 2. W31 Kane McDiarmid, 3. W6 Paul Stevens, 4. W181 Barry Rose, 5. W83 Daren Currell, 6. W4 Laura Byrnes, 7. W7 Coby Stevens, 8. W26 Robbie Trenaman, 9. W57 Kelsie Beard (7 laps)
Heat 2, 8 Laps: 1. W12 Rod Musarra, 2. W1 Drew Ogle, 3. W95 Kyle Sayer, 4. W40 Beau Riley, 5. W13 Shannon Cherry, 6. W41 Rickie Nuccini, 7. W17 Darren Johnson, 8. W22 Jamie Graham, 9. W20 Graeme Riley.
Heat 3, 8 Laps: 1. W1 Drew Ogle, 2. W86 Wayne Leviston, 3. W7 Coby Stevens, 4. W12 Rod Musarra, 5. W13 Shannon Cherry, 6. W17 Darren Johnson (6 laps), 7. W41 Rickie Nuccini (0)
Heat 4, 8 Laps: 1. W181 Barry Rose, 2. W31 Kane McDiarmid, 3. W95 Kyle Sayer, 4. W83 Daren Currell, 5. W6 Paul Stevens, 6. W26 Robbie Trenaman, 7. W57 Kelsie Beard
Heat 5, 8 Laps: 1. W95 Kyle Sayer, 2. W31 Kane McDiarmid, 3. W181 Barry Rose, 4. W13 Shannon Cherry, 5. W86 Wayne Leviston, 6. W40 Beau Riley, 7. W57 Kelsey Beard (6 laps)
Heat 6, 8 Laps: 1. W1 Drew Ogle, 2. W7 Coby Stevens, 3. W6 Paul Stevens, 4. W83 Daren Currell, 5. W4 Laura Byrnes, 6. W20 Graeme Riley, 7. W26 Robbie Trenaman
Feature Race, 20 Laps: 1. W95 Kyle Sayer, 2. W181 Barry Rose, 3. W31 Kane McDiarmid, 4. W41 Rickie Nuccini, 5. W7 Coby Stevens, 6. W6 Paul Stevens, 7. W83 Daren Currell, 8. W13 Shannon Cherry, 9. W4 Laura Byrnes, 10. W57 Kelsey Beard, 11. W20 Graeme Riley, 12. W40 Beau Riley, 13. W12 Rod Musarra (9 laps), 14. W26 Robbie Trenaman (7), 15. W86 Wayne Leviston, 16 W1 Drew Ogle. (Race Declared on lap 12, rain pending)
Kyle Sayer in action at the Quit Collie Speedway on Saturday night. Photo courtesy of Fastlane Photography