Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
Barry Rose has continued his stellar season, when he won the Race of Champions at the Make Smoking History Collie Speedway on Saturday night.
On a remarkable night of racing, where it was just as remarkable that the event went ahead, after constant drizzle made everything damp at the venue, but it made the race track extremely fast.
The qualifying laps to determine starting positions for the event would see two times National Champion, Ron Belfield set the quickest time, and then accepted the added incentive of starting from the rear of the field for a cash bonus should he be successful. At the end of qualifying under yellow, Robbie Faux, a two time National Street Stock Champion, lost a wheel, which went under the car, forcing the car to roll violently into the catch fence. Faux was able to walk away, but the car he borrowed for the event (Damon Thomson) was destroyed in the incident.
Barry Rose and Jamie Oldfield would start on the front row for the twenty lap main event, which boasted five National Titles and eleven State Title wins amongst the field, with Oldfield taking the lead.
After leading the opening two laps, Rose took the lead from Oldfield who started to have issues getting through the turns. Former National Production Sedan Champion, Tim Green moved to third on lap six, with former State Modified Sedan Champion, Shane Brittain, fourth.
Meanwhile, Ron Belfield was making steady process through the field and moved to fourth on lap ten, before a competition yellow light to re-bunch the field for the second half of the race.
The second half of the race would see Rose lead throughout, while Oldfield settled for second. Belfield and Green had a brilliant battle for third which would see the duo swap positions continually through the final laps.
:: Race of Champions
Qualifying, 2 laps: 1. W61 Rob Belfield 20.894, 2. WA1 Barry Rose 21.054, 3. W0 Jamie Oldfield 21.101, 4. W53 Matthew Amato 21.246, 5. W40 Shane Brittain 21.309, 6. W00 Hamish Macalpine 21.326, 7. W12 Travis Castagna 21.543, 8. W10 Tim Green 21.652, 9. V10 Robbie Faux 21.980, 10. W31 Anthony King 23.281.
Feature, 20 laps: 1. WA1 Barry Rose, 2. W0 Jamie Oldfield, 3. W10 Tim Green, 4. W61 Ron Belfield, 5. W40 Shane Brittain, 6. W12 Travis Castagna. DNF: W31 Anthony King. DNS: W00 Hamish Macalpine, V10 Robbie Faux, W53 Matthew Amato. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 3.280. Fastest Lap: 20.719 WA1 Barry Rose.
Barry Rose on the inside of team mate, Nuno Mendes earlier in the night. Photo courtesy of Fastlane Photography