Chris Pagel has dominated Round 2 of the Fox Shocks Labs Australia Production Sedan Series at Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway after winning both his heats, and leading every lap of the epic feature race.
While Zac Brims dominated the Junior Sedans to win Round 3 of the Speedway Sedans Australia 5 Star Series.Pagel started from pole and got away to an early lead until Joel Berkley quickly narrowed the gap after starting 8th in the feature (after dropping a heat earlier in the night).
Berkley quickly moved to the top of the track and passed a tonne of cars to close in on Stuart Fawcett and Chris Pagel. The three had a thrilling race to the flag, but Pagel was able to hold on to win by 0.827 seconds over Berkley. Fawcett slowed on the final lap to finish in sixth.
Jason Dreaver finished third ahead of Darran Lester (who started 24th), Daniel Henshaw, Stuart Fawcett, Ash McKellar, Thomas Fuller, Amy Evans and Beau Smithwick who rounded out your top ten.
Earlier in the night the heat races where action packed. Heat 1 saw a furious battle unfold for the lead. Despite countless stoppages including a big wreck from Chris Evans who was tagged and ended up hitting the wall hard almost inverting his Ford Cortina.
Jason Dreaver was impressive to hang on to win the first ahead of Stuart Fawcett, Travis Hutchison, Ricky Ingham and Richard Cook.Heat 2 was just as intense with plenty of nail biting action right throughout the field.
Berkley made the front row start count to win ahead Adrian Stott. Dan Henshaw charged through the field to finish third ahead of Maddi McGee and Amy Evans.
The third heat was worth the price of admission alone, as Queensland Champion Chris Pagel started off the back row and railed around the top of the track to pass the entire field to capture a brilliant win. Pagel beat home Thomas Fuller and Ash Mckellar.Pagel then started pole in his fourth heat and was never troubled running away and almost breaking the Toowoomba one lap record for Production Sedans.
Ricky Ingham from Gladstone maintained his good form, finishing second ahead of Norm Townsend.
Heat 5 was another intense one. The start saw cars four wide down the back straight as Joel Berkley attempted an outside move around half of the field. Berkley was hit on the inside which cut down his left rear and forced him out of the event.
Ash McKellar was leading into turn one when Jack Graham and Jason Dreaver made contact causing Graham to spear into McKellar resulting in him spinning in front of the oncoming field. At the restart Adrian Stott swept around the top into the lead and with only corner to go destroyed his clutch, which made for a grand stand finish.
Maddi McGee was able to get the win by 0.103 seconds ahead of Ricky Hazelgrove, Ash McKellar and a coasting Stott crossing in fourth almost four wide with the winners.The final heat race of the night saw Josh Boyd get to an early lead until he spun and got sent to the rear. At the restart, Stuart Fawcett ran away to win ahead of Beau Smithwick, Daniel Henshaw, Amy Evans and Thomas Fuller.
The Junior Sedans were simply sensational in Toowoomba tonight with super clean and exciting racing during the entire night. In fact, the Junior Sedans only had 2 yellow light stoppages for the entire night and those where for spinouts not caused by other cars. This demonstrated the skill and fantastic show witnessed during Round 3 of the SSA Series.
Despite starting from pole in the feature after win all of this three heat races, Zac Brims dropped back to third during the opening lap. Brims was able to work his way forward as he engaged in an epic battle with Jaiden Santin and Jayden Hancock. The three raced toe to toe throughout the feature, but it was Zac Brims that greeted the chequered flag first.
Santin finished second ahead of Hancock, JJ Hamilton and Brodie Hollyman rounding out the top 5. The New stars were equally impressive throughout the feature with Jacob Waller, Harry Fowler and Bailey Payne running side by side for a number of laps.
The three put on a terrific dual during the closing stages that ended up seeing Jacob Waller holding on to win ahead of Harry Fowler, Bailey Payne, Brayden Hayes and Em Whell.Heat 1 was won by Jaiden Santin while Jacob Waller was first home for the New Stars. Zac Brims won the second heat with Jacob Waller again finishing first for the new star drivers.
The third heat was again won by Zac Brims while Bailey Payne was first home in the new star division. The final heat was again won by Zac Brims making it 3 from 3 during the night, while Jacob Waller also made it a perfect night for him being first home in the new stars for the third time during the night.It was a brilliant night of speedway that saw 47 event events successfully completed before 10:30pm.
The 50/50 raffle paid over $900 to win once again showing the current strength of the Queensland speedway landscape with another great crowd rolling into the venue to witness an exciting and action packed night of speedway.
Huge thanks must go to all the drivers, crews and their families to supporting sedan racing in Toowoomba. Thanks must also go to the officials, scrutineers and everyone else that makes the events at Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway possible.
Finally, massive thanks to Fox Shocks Labs Australia and Speedway Sedans Australia along with Firebrand Queensland for their support of the events tonight.
Production Sedans return to Toowoomba for Round 3 on 13 March, while Junior Sedans return for Round 4 on 25 April alongside the Queensland Sprintcar Title.
Official Results
SSA Production Sedans A Main, 20 Laps- 1. Q1 Chris Pagel, 2. A1 Joel Berkley, 3. Q26 Jason Dreaver, 4. Q59 Darran Lester, 5. Q10 Daniel Henshaw, 6. N65 Stuart Fawcett, 7. CR9 Ash McKellar, 8. Q57 Thomas Fuller, 9. Q96 Amy Evans, 10. Q63 Beau Smithwick, 11. Q32 Maddi McGee, 12. Q6 Ricky Hazelgrove, 13. N11 Josh Boyd, 14. Q61 Ricky Ingham, 15. N71 Mark Quirk, 16. Q46 Michael Mason (19), 17. Q22 Charlotte Christensen (18), 18. Q45 Josh Manser (18), 19. Q19 Ian Bell (17), DNF Q15 Richard Cook (17), N55 Jack Graham (16), Q64 Stephen Holmes (7)
SSA Junior Sedans A Main, 15 Laps- 1. N29 Zac Brims, 2. N17 Jaiden Santin, 3. M7 Jayden Hancock, 4. Q19 JJ Hamilton, 5. N5 Jacob Waller, 6. N23 Harry Fowler, 7. CR12 Bailey Payne, 8. C12 Brodie Hollyman (14), 9. Q34 Branden Hayes (14), 10. CR7 Em Whell (14), 11. Q11 Brock Lewis (14), 12. Q27 Hannah Christensen (14), 13. N71 Jackson Brims (13), 14. Q3 Chloe Lebeter (13)