Image Courtesy of Archerfield Speedway
Modified Sedans returned to Archerfield Speedway for their second show in as many months at the state capital.
Darran Lester was victorious in a thrilling twenty-five lap feature on his home track in front of a very big crowd. The feature got underway with Greg Worling getting away with an early lead until the first caution was brought on during lap 3 when Michael Cheeseman spun in turn 1.
At the restart, Worling right rear went flat as Nathan Macdonald railed the fence to take the lead. Macdonald only held the lead momentarily until Darran Lester took control of the feature race and opened up a sizable lead.
Shane Macdonald was making his charge through the field to pass his brother Nathan for second and closed the gap to Lester as the yellows again came on with 9 laps to go. The race got underway with Lester continuing to lead as Shane pushed hard in second.
After dropping back during the start of the feature (caught behind Worling when his tyre went flat) Rodney Pammenter surged back into condition into fourth position when Cheeseman spun again with only four laps to go.
The final restart saw Lester again lead away with a Shane Macdonald hot on his heals. During the final lap, Macdonald made a dive on the bottom, but Lester was able to just hang on by only 0.482 seconds ahead of Shane Macdonald.
Rodney Pammenter made a fantastic pass on the final lap to finish third ahead of Nathan Macdonald and Darren Baldwin. Jake Hawkins finished sixth ahead of Chris Evans who started from 16th in the feature.
Josh Arthur, Alex Sweeney and Peter White rounded the top ten. Leonie Knight was the only other finisher as Greg Worling, David Jacobi, Jason Dreaver, Quinton Clarke, Michael Cheeseman all didn’t finish.
Official Result
A Main, 25 Laps- 1. Q59 Darran Lester, 2. Q27 Shane MacDonald, 3. Q8 Rodney Pammenter, 4. Q32 Nathan MacDonald, 5. Q4 Darren Baldwin, 6. Q51 Jake Hawkins, 7. Q66 Chris Evans, 8. Q85 Josh Arthur, 9. Q108 Alex Sweeney, 10. Q111 Peter White, 11. Q30 Leonie Knight, DNF Q16 Michael Cheeseman (21), Q81 Quntin Clarke (16), Q26 Jason Dreaver (7), Q36 David Jacobi (7), Q3 Greg Worling (5)
Earlier in the night heat 1 saw Rodney Pammenter jump away from pole position to an early lead and run away with a comfortable win. Nathan MacDonald came from fourth to finish second. Darran Lester finished fourth after charging through the field from position eight. Darren Baldwin finished fourth ahead of Russell Harris.
Heat 2 was a cracking race. Jason Dreaver jumped away to the lead. David Jacobi, Shane MacDonald, Greg Worling and Chris Evans had a thrilling race between running side by side lap after lap. On lap 6, Dreaver’s front right collapsed while Chris Evans in the Nissan 300zx also suffered a front left failure in two separate parts of the track both without contact.
Despite both cars retiring to the infield, the rearstart was intense with Shane Macdonald getting to the lead for brief moment until Jacobi was able to get back by and hang on for a narrow win over Greg Worling, Shane MacDonald, Jake Hawkins and Leonie Knight. The third heat got underway with Greg Worling skipping away to a massive lead.
Worling went on to get a win by almost four seconds. The battle for the minors was intense as Darran Lester and Shane Macdonald dished it up for second and third for the entire heat race. Lester held off a last lap move around the top from Shane Macdonald to hang on for second.
Darren Baldwin finished fourth ahead of Alex Sweeney.The final heat was a furious race. Josh Arthur got away to a early lead by Nathan Macdonald chased him down from position six.
With only a couple of laps to go, MacDonald was able to get to the lead and get the win. Arthur finished second, while Jason Dreaver, Jake Hawkins and David Jacobi rounded out the only finishes. Pammenter broke front arm on opening lap retired to infield, Harris broke something in the steering while Peter White didn’t go the distance either. Chris Evans didn’t make it onto the track.
Its certainly great to see semi-regular Modified Sedans racing at Archerfield Speedway again.The Modified Sedans next head of Carina Speedway next Saturday night for the $2,000 to win Carina Classic which will be followed by Round 3 of the SSW Series at Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway on 20 February.
Huge thanks to all the people that turned out to support the Archerfield event along with all the drivers. It was a fantastic night.
WATCH THE A MAIN IN FULL BELOW COURTESY OF ASH MEDIA