Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
Night one of the fifth annual Brett Johnson Memorial is done and dusted at Nickol Bay Speedway and it is local driver Matt Herbert who leads the points race, but it was defending champion Paul Joss who took out the preliminary feature race and grabbed some cash in the process.
High points man Matt Herbert elected not to start the preliminary feature after some earlier damage was sustained in the heat races, while Joss would start alongside Margaret River visitor Clint Hadley for the fifteen lap preliminary final.
Joss would take the lead from Albanys Peter Herbert (the winner of the preliminary feature race last year) and Kununurras Russell Gunn who raced into the minor placing at the end of the first lap, with Derbys Jake Hoath in fourth and Hadley dropping back to fifth.
Hoath moved into third past Gunn a lap later but up front it was Joss who simply pulled away from Herbert who in turn opened up a gap between himself and the battling duo of Hoath and Gunn.
With six complete Craig Clayton became the first withdrawal of the race, while a lap later chaos ensued, with Gunn spinning and being hit heavily by a number of cars including Paul Bowman and Hadley, seeing the first and only yellow flag of the race.
Only Gunn was able to restart, with Joss leading Herbert and Hoath away on the restart.
From here it was all Joss and despite some action behind him with Brad Wilde spinning while placed prominently and dropping back through the field, and a couple of other cars fighting for position in what was a great display of racing, Joss would go on to take a convincing win ahead of Herbert and Hoath.
Earlier in the night, Bunburys Wayne Thomson, a regular competitor in the Brett Johnson Memorial race, presented event founders Leanne and Al Couper, along with Nickol Bay President Brett Armstrong, with a plaque to capture the history of the event.
The sixteen heats were fast and furious, with four wide racing the highlight of many of the preliminary races. Heat nine saw a number of restarts with Alex Williams, who was leading the points at the time, spinning in front of the field while heat twelve saw the biggest incident of the heats when Steve Griffiths had a moment, leaving Daniel Stanley nowhere to go, with Petrus Lamprecht coming to a stop behind them before catching fire.
Racing recommences tomorrow at 6pm, with Street Stocks competing in two more rounds of heats before the all-important feature event.
Preliminary Feature, 15 laps: 1. W8 Paul Joss, 2. W6 Clint Hadley, 3. W4 Peter Herbert, 4. W72 Russell Gunn, 5. W97 Brad Wilde, 6. W29 Jake Hoath, 7. W35 Craig Clayton, 8. W52 Paul Bowman, 9. W14 Alex Williams, 10. W15 Wayne Thomson, 11. W11 Rowan Drysdale, 12. W43 Brian Herbert, 13. W7 Clint Marks, 14. W19 Stevie ODowd, 15. W39 Al Couper, 16. W41 Leanne Couper.
RESULT
1. W8 Paul Joss, 2. W4 Peter Herbert, 3. W29 Jake Hoath, 4. W15 Wayne Thomson, 5. W14 Alex Williams, 6. W7 Clint Marks, 7. W39 Al Couper, 8. W11 Rowan Drysdale, 9. W97 Brad Wilde, 10. W41 Leanne Couper, 11. W72 Russell Gunn. DNF: W6 Clint Hadley (7), W52 Paul Bowman (7), W43 Brian Herbert (7), W35 Craig Clayton (6). DNS: W19 Stevie ODowd. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.933. Fastest Lap: 20.200 W8 Paul Joss.
Points After Night One
1. W42 Matt Herbert 136
2. W8 Paul Joss 131
3. W6 Clint Hadley 120
4. W4 Peter Herbert 118
5. W72 Russell Gunn 109
6. W97 Brad Wilde 109
7. W96 Jack McAuley 105
8. W29 Jake Hoath 105
9. W35 Craig Clayton 91
10. W52 Paul Bowman 89
11. W14 Alex Williams 88
12. W15 Wayne Thomson 87
13. W11 Rowan Drysdale 76
14. W43 Brian Herbert 73
15. W7 Clint Marks 66
16. W19 Stevie ODowd 65
17. W39 Al Couper 64
18. W41 Leanne Couper 53
19. W20 Clinton Waldron 52
20. W9 Ben Ridley 51
21. W18 Daniel Stanley 50
22. W82 Colm ORiordan 46
23. W94 Petrus Lamprecht 43
24. W37 Jeremy Ferris 41
25. W27 Shane Snell 39
26. W23 Steve Griffiths 34
27. W32 Ben Ferris 32
28. W44 Marty Coutts 31
29. W95 Lourens Lamprecht 22
Details courtesy of Scott Beattie