Press Release by Speedway Sedans Western Australia
Former National Champion Rod Musarra and Katanning’s Jake Blight are tied at the top of the tree after the first night of racing for the 2023 SSA Production Sedan WA State Title at the Tyrepower Manjimup Speedway.
With fifteen heats completed tonight, both Musarra and Blight recorded two heat wins and a second place to have 100 points each, with Musarra on top courtesy of a faster lap time across the night.
Surprise package Gaje Price is next best with eighty-seven points, tied with Kalgoorlie Speedway President Hamish Macalpine, both drivers having claimed a win, a second and a third in the opening night heat races.
The night opened with former WA champion Kye Blight winning the first heat race, holding off Mitchell Baker and Mitchell Killeen, with defending champion Kyle Sayer crossing the line in second but relegated to fourth after being deemed to have made an infield pass.
Jacky Moroney and Kane McDiarmid had a rough start to their title campaigns in the second heat, coming together in turn three to end their race early, while Jake Avins would also suffer major issues with his right rear tyre a lap later.
In the end it was Hamish Macalpine in his #00 Cortina racing to the win, holding off Benny Curtin who charged from position eight to finish second.
Heat three was a solid win to Gaje Price, holding off Frank Does while Beau Riley crossed the line in third place, but had already been disqualified after his window net came down.
Rickie Nuccini collected the back straight wall heavily in the fourth heat, while local hero Drew Ogle raced away to the first of his two heat wins of the night, defeating Jake Blight and Moora’s Jayden McCuish.
The first round of heats was rounded out by current WA Modified Sedan Champion Jason Batchelor racing away to the win ahead of Rod Musarra and Ashley Baker.
Batchelor would also set the quickest lap of the night, scoring himself an extra prize from the Manjimup Speedway.
Round two of heat races kicked off with Rod Musarra coming from position eight to take the heat six win ahead of Mitchell Killeen and Price, while heat seven saw Jake Avins bounce back from his earlier DNF to record the win from Tylar Main and Beau Riley.
Kye Blight would claim his second heat of the night in the eighth preliminary race, defeating Rickie Nuccini who managed to get his ailing car across the line in second before withdrawing from the title.
Ashley Baker was the victor in heat nine, defeating Macalpine and local star Shane Whild after a last lap pass on Macalpine, while the final heat of round two saw much the same, Jake Blight stealing the win from Peter Katona Junior on the last lap in an epic race.
The final round of heats kicked off with Roc Musarra wrestling the lead away from Aydan Trewern to take his second heat of the night, while heat twelve saw Ogle back on top after a tough second heat, claiming his second heat win of the evening.
Heat Thirteen was lucky for Ricky Williams, racing from the front row to an all the way win as he held off Trent Claybrook while heat fourteen was the biggest margin of the night, Jake Blight racing from position six to grab the lead on lap two, and then go on to win by nearly eight seconds over Benny Curtin.
The final event of the evening saw Albany local Paul Bowman make the most of his pole position start, going on to take the win while Gaje Price came from position seven to finish second.
The racing across all heat races was sensational with plenty of passing, and the track conditions ended up being perfect, conducive to side by side racing on both the top and the bottom.
Racing will begin again tomorrow with the Grand Parade at 5,30pm, followed by action kicking off officially at 6pm.
All drivers will contest one more round of heats prior to two B Main/s and a twenty-two car, forty lap championship feature race.
Overall Points After Night One
1. WA21 Rod Musarra 100
2. W61 Jake Blight 100
3. W15 Gaje Price 87
4. W00 Hamish Macalpine 87
5. W13 Drew Ogle 82
6. W41 Kye Blight 78
7. W46 Jason Batchelor 76
8. W99 Benny Curtin 73
9. W7 Tylar Main 68
10. W11 Ashley Baker 65
11. W12 Aydan Trewern 64
12. WX11 Jake Avins 63
13. W3 Frank Does 61
14. W4 Mitchell Killeen 59
15. W52 Paul Bowman 59
16. WA1 Kyle Sayer 57
17. W92 Ricky Williams 57
18. W16 Peter Katona 56
19. W21 Trent Claybrook 53
20. W9 Mitchell Baker 51
21. W28 Michael Clark 49
22. W58 Jayden McCuish 45
23. W96 Jack McAuley 43
24. W8 Calon Ball 41
25. W211 Rowan Drysdale 40
26. W2 Shane Whild 38
27. W75 Stephen Pearce 38
28. W86 Wayne Leviston 37
29. W14 Anthony Page 37
30. W27 Jackson derrick 36
31. W40 Beau Riley 33
32. WA41 Rickie Nuccini 32
33. W51 Cody Blight 31
34. WA92 Shane Devonshire 31
35. WA13 Rowan Burrell 29
36. W36 Joe Wilson 29
37. W19 Josh Stewart 27
38. S25 Dwayne Meagher 25
39. WA3 Rob Fraser 24
40. W57 Kelsey Beard 23
41. W26 Gemma Laidlaw 22
42. W31 Kane McDiarmid 20
43. W77 Possum Lawrence 16
44. W122 Stacey Lake 13
45. W778 Jacky Moroney 8
46. W48 Matthew Jones 6
