Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
Aidan Raymont, the 2013 National Champion, leads the 2018 Speedway Sedans Australia, National Modified Sedan Title, at the Blue Ribbon Raceway, Horsham, after a gruelling opening night, which produced plenty of spectacular three and four wide racing, but also a multitude of crashes, some of them significant.
Raymont leads V8 Super Car driver, Cam Waters, and former National Junior Sedan Champion, Brock Atkins, who are both tied on 89 points, while Kye Walters sits fourth ahead of four drivers who are all tied on seventy nine points, on a stacked leader-board.
Only three heats of the fifteen contested would go from flag to flag, with some heats taking up to twenty five minutes to complete.
The opening heat would see Cameron Waters open up a four second lead on the field in the first four laps, while Graham West came from position eleven into second place in the same time, before the first of many stoppages, with Neil Watson bringing on the first yellow light stoppage. A lap later, the yellows were on again as Ty Galley spun in turn four, with Jake Taurian spinning soon after causing a multi car collision. Waters would defeat West and Tim Atkin.
Heat two would see a heavy impact crash which would end the National Title for Brett Barron. As many as three cars would hit Barron who was stranded mid track, which resulted in a lengthy delay. Paul Egan, Rachel Pratt and Tim Smith were all involved in the aftermath, but it would be Greg Worling who would be deemed the cause and was sent to the rear of the field. Several minor incidents followed including Peter White and David Smith, before Greg Worling spun on lap eleven. Worling was then disqualified for causing two stoppages. Peter Walters would go on to win the heat, with Brad Warren and David Smith filling the minor placings, with Smith coming from the back of the field.
The incidents continued in heat three, with Martin Hawson spinning on lap two in turn two. Michael Hayden would hit the fence in turn four three laps later, creating the ninth re-start in three heats. Brock Atkins would lead all the way to down Andrew Blackwell and Matt Noakes.
National Production Sedan Champion, Trevor Mills, took the lead on lap four of heat four to record a very narrow victory over Justin Drew and Daniel Simpson, with less than a second separating the trio after twelve laps.
Heat five would see plenty of three and four wide racing throughout the duration of the race, with Aidan Raymont coming from the fifth row, to claim victory. Raymont hounded Robbie Faux in the last five laps of the race, taking the lead on the last lap to win narrowly from Faux with Nick Cockerill third.
Heat six had plenty of lead changes, but it would be a decisive outside move by Brock Atkins at the half way mark which would see him record his second win of the night, after starting from position six. Atkins would win comfortably from Russell Bent and David Smith who started from position nine to record a good third placing.
The seventh heat would send viewers watching at home into a spin at officialdom, who did not penalise Aidan Raymont who appeared to spin in turn two, causing Brad Herbert, Graham West and Marcus Reddecliffe to crash. Raymont restarted in his starting position much to the chagrin of viewers and spectators at the venue. A lap later Nick Cockerill slowed, causing Reddecliffe and Steve Blackburn to spin, with Cockerill sent to the rear of the field. Reddecliffe and Blackburn would be involved in another incident at the restart, with Reddecliffe sustaining a dislocated shoulder and a broken thumb from the contact, ending his Title. Paul Egan would hold off Raymont to win the race, only to be disqualified after the race at post race checks.
Brodie Boss did not even last half a lap in heat eight with a broken rack. A great race followed for second place, which lasted for most of the event, with Aaron Bunton, Matt Gerlach and Cam Waters continually swapping postions. Zac Swanson, who was in control of the race for the first half of the race would be passed by Waters, who drove away from the field in the concluding stages. Brad Warren and Daniel Simpson would claim the minor placings, with Gerlach and Swanson, dead-heating for fourth. Both though would be relegated by officials in what turned out to be a rough-house finish.
Heat nine would see David Head spin in turn three on the opening lap, before Ty Galley spun sideways leaving Trevor Mills nowhere to go on lap four. At the stoppage, Jake Drewett who was leading the race, would also retire, as Trevor Mills stormed through the field to win, after starting from the second back row. Tim Atkin and Justin Drew would fill the minor placings.
Heat ten would see two minor incidents with Rachel Pratt spinning in turn four on lap four. A collision further up the track at the same time between Gerry Flood and Nick Hill would see both drivers retire with front end damage. Brody Chrystie would record a narrow win after leading all the way over Kye Walters and Robbie Faux.
The final round of heats provide more brilliant racing, with heat eleven seeing just seven starters, with many drivers out with damaged cars. Matt Nelson would be the first driver to win a race without a stoppage, defeating Justin Drew and Brad Warren.
Heat twelve would see Aidan Raymont get under both Matty Smith and Brad Herbert at the start to take the lead. Ty Galley would then spin causing a stoppage, with officials then disqualifying Galley for speeding under a yellow light. On the restart Matty Smith got the best of the start, holding off Raymont and Jeff Leahy.
Clint Noakes would win heat thirteen, with six drivers fighting for the lead throughout, with the race going uninterrupted. Noakes would narrowly defeat Robbie Faux and Brad Herbert, while Greg Worling, Brodie Boss and Peter Walters were close behind.
Kye Walters was able to win heat fourteen, recording the quickest twelve lap time of the night. Behind Walters a great battle developed between Graham West, Brody Chrystie and Cam Waters with the trio practically crossing the line together for the minor placings behind Walters.
The final heat of the night would see Russell Bent make very heavy contact with the fence in turn four causing a long delay. Tim Smith would spin sideways in turn two upon the resumption leaving Martin Hawson nowhere to go. Hawson sustained front end damage, while Smith was left with his Nissan 300ZX missing several panels. David Smith would sustain a flat tyre while in second place, leaving a depleted field for the second half of the race. Meanwhile, Mark Sheen drove an excellent race to lead all the way, defeating Andrew Blackwell and Matt Gerlach.
Overall Points After Night One
1. Q28 Aidan Raymont 100
2. V16 Cameron Waters 89
3. V4 Brock Atkins 89
4. V46 Kye Walters 81
5. V21 Brad Warren 79
6. V56 Graham West 79
7. V7 Justin Drew 79
8. V5 Robbie Faux 79
9. N10 Trevor Mills 78
10. V39 Brody Chrystie 72
11. V17 Andrew Blackwell 66
12. Q2 Tim Atkin 64
13. A1 Matty Smith 63
14. T35 Brad Herbert 61
15. V41 Mark Sheen 58
16. W27 Matt Noakes 58
17. W23 Clint Noakes 55
18. V61 Matt Nelson 52
19. V19 David Smith 52
20. V45 Peter Walters 50
21. V33 Daniel Simpson 49
22. V13 Russell Bent 48
23. V11 Jeff Leahy 46
24. V51 Nick Cockerill 41
25. V14 Matt Gerlach 41
26. N77 Dave Clapson 40
27. N75 Shane Murphy 39
28. Q34 David Head 38
29. Q93 Jason Beer 36
30. Q62 Tim Smith 35
31. T32 Jake Taurian 33
32. N65 John Murphy 29
33. Q78 Jason Gray 26
34. Q36 Greg Worling 25
35. Q111 Peter White 24
36. V72 Martin Hawson 23
37. Q12 Brodie Boss 22
38. W74 Allan Mortimer 21
39. V95 Dale Hallett 21
40. V26 Wade McCarthy 20
41. Q42 Shannon Blackburn 19
42. V6 Graeme Gerlach 19
43. V87 Aaron Bunton 18
44. ACT22 Paul Egan 18
45. V94 Rachel Pratt 16
46. V69 Jake Drewett 15
47. Q18 Steve Blackburn 14
48. N24 Gerard Flood 14
49. V15 Zac Swanson 11
50. Q88 Yy Galley 10
51. V25 Nick Hill 10
52. V29 Marcus Reddecliffe 9
53. V31 Michael Hayden 6
54. Q48 Brett Barron 6
55. N92 Clint Watson 5
56. V3 Neil Watson 4
57. V38 Taleah Dolic 0