Author : SSA
Barry Rose yesterday held off WA Production Sedan Champion Drew Ogle in a thrilling race to claim his third Production Sedan Championships at Kellerberrin Speedway.
Rose, who has also previously finished runner up in the race twice, started on the front row alongside Ogle for the twenty lap feature race courtesy of his strong heat race results. Row two would be filled by Ellenbrook�s Wayne Leviston and Mount Barker�s Mike Kinnear while row three was to feature father son duo Warren and Daniel Flavel before Daniel withdrew with a blown motor.
As the race went green Rose was quick to jump into the lead while Ogle was hot on his heels.
Over the next few laps Rose and Ogle would pull away from the rest of the field, with Leviston holding strong in third place and fighting off the advances of Kinnear and former Australian Champion Tim Green.
As Ogle continued to look for a way past Rose, behind them Kinnear challenged Leviston, the two making contact and leaving Leviston to slow on the back straight with a flat left rear tyre, bringing out the yellows.
This would bunch the field up for the restart, with Rose again racing away while Green took the opportunity to move through into third. Unfortunately this wouldn�t last long as Green would also head to the pits with engine dramas, elevating Kinnear into third again.
Shortly after, Paul Stevens would make his presence felt as he closed the gap on Kinnear and then moved through into third.
Back up front and despite throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Rose, Ogle just could not get past him, Rose driving a perfect race and giving Ogle no opportunity to get by. Rose would go on to score a close win over Ogle while Stevens would finish in third.
Kinnear held on for fourth while former Australia #3 Jacky Moroney made the best of a rough day with fifth while Jess Hall raced through from the rear to finish in sixth place.
Ricky Williams, Coby Stevens, Mathew Jones, Shaun Brewer and Shane Dubberlin would round out the other finishers.
With his win, Rose has also extended his run to three wins from three starts in the SSD Four Crowns Series. The battle for second place though has tightened up, with Benny Curtin and Daniel Flavel, second and fifth coming into the round, both not starting the feature with motor issues, while Warren Flavel and Wayne Leviston, who were both in the top three, were unable to complete the distance in the feature.
With one round remaining, the Production Sedan Classic at Ellenbrook Speedway on the 27th of August, Rose has all but wrapped up the series, some fifty seven points ahead of second placed Curtin. With forty six points on offer per round, Rose cannot be beaten, but the battle for second is on in earnest with any number of drivers behind Curtin including Warren and Daniel Flavel and Mike Kinnear mathematically capable of making a challenge.
Release by DTN Media.
Production Sedan Feature – 20 laps: 1. W181 Barry Rose, 2. WA1 Drew Ogle, 3. W6 Paul Stevens, 4. W27 Mike Kinnear, 5. W78 Jacky Moroney, 6. W29 Jess Hall, 7. W92 Ricky Williams, 8. W7 Coby Stevens, 9. W31 Mathew Jones, 10. W26 Shaun Brewer, 11. W333 Shane Dubberlin. DNF: W5 Josh Fraser, W65 Keith Fitzgerald, W112 Warren Flavel, W13 Tim Green, W86 Wayne Leviston, W32 Travis Castagna. DNS: W18 Garry Sutton, W33 Reece Parton, W42 Peter Squire, W46 Ajay Hammer, W55 Murray Cleasby, W77 Anthony Hubeck, W99 Benny Curtin, W114 Daniel Flavel.