Mason Whitehead and Cooper Sayer emerged victorious today at the Ellenbrook Speedway after two entertaining SSA Junior Sedan feature races to decide the annual Tom Green Memorials.
The Top Star Feature got underway with Mason Whitehead and Lucas Stevens leading the field into the opening corners, before Jesse Hamon quickly worked his way past Stevens into second. However, the race barely completed a lap before a spectacular six-car pile-up in turn one brought out the yellow lights.
The early stages became a stop-start affair with several cautions interrupting the flow, but each restart saw Whitehead maintain his composure at the front ahead of Hamon and Stevens.
By lap seven, Jamie Comley had found a way underneath Stevens to move into third, while Whitehead and Hamon had begun to edge away from the chasing pack.
As the race reached halfway, Hamon was glued to the rear bumper of Whitehead, searching high and low for a way through but unable to find an opening. Behind them, Comley continued to fend off Stevens in an equally entertaining battle for third.
The two, two car battles continued over the closing laps before Stevens finally made his move, diving underneath Comley with four laps remaining to reclaim third place.
Lapped traffic added another challenge for the leaders, but Whitehead never put a wheel wrong. He negotiated the slower cars perfectly to pull away in the closing stages and secure back-to-back Ellenbrook feature victories, defeating Hamon by 0.975 seconds, with Stevens completing the podium.
The New Star Feature had an eventful beginning, with the opening start abandoned after contact sent Ella Whitehead spinning backwards down the back straight.
When the green flag finally waved, Cohen Brittain made a perfect start, leading Jack Foster and Braxton Bussenschutt into the opening turns. Bussenschutt soon moved into second, while Mannix Wells and Cooper Sayer rounded out the top five as the leaders broke clear.
Sayer quickly found his rhythm, first passing Wells before getting underneath Foster a lap later to move into third and set his sights on Bussenschutt.
By lap five, Sayer had taken over second place, but Brittain had already built a lead of more than two seconds and was beginning to negotiate heavy lapped traffic.
A pair of simultaneous incidents brought out the caution, erasing Brittain’s advantage and placing Sayer right on his rear bumper for the restart. The pair quickly pulled away from Bussenschutt, Foster and Ryker Coyle.
On lap eleven, Sayer made a sensational move underneath Brittain to edge ahead by just 0.031 seconds. Brittain tried the high line but lost momentum before another caution flew after Foster and Coyle came together, unfortunately negating Sayer’s pass and seeing Foster and Coyle on the infield.
Back under green, Brittain again led Sayer while Ella Whitehead charged into contention, applying pressure to Bussenschutt for third.
Lapped traffic again became a major factor as Sayer steadily reeled Brittain in. On lap seventeen, Sayer finally edged ahead by a tiny 0.004 seconds before the pair raced side-by-side through traffic. Brittain fought back to lead by just 0.026 seconds as they received the white flag.
The final lap produced one of the closest finishes seen at Ellenbrook in recent years. Sayer remained glued to Brittain’s rear bumper before pulling alongside out of the final corner. With Sayer low and Brittain high, the pair drag raced to the finish line, with Sayer prevailing by an incredible 0.056 seconds in a thrilling conclusion. Bussenschutt completed the podium after a strong drive.
Ellenbrook Speedway will now have a couple of weeks break prior to the Production Sedan Classic on Father’s Day weekend.
New Star Junior Sedans Feature, 20 laps: 1. W95 Cooper Sayer, 2. W26 Cohen Brittain, 3. WA4 Braxton Bussenschutt, 4. W28 Ella Whitehead, 5. W84 Olivia Higgs, 6. W12 Mitchell Dimasi, 7. W4 Liam Haydon, 8. W38 Nick Amato, 9. W8 Oliver Fraser, 10. W81 Indianna Walker, 11. W15 Axel Crowe, 12. W67 Harper Johnson (19), 13. W45 Baidyn Matthews (18), 14. W41 James Humphrys (18), 15. W55 Mason Stocks (16), 16. W105 Kira Ambrose (14), 17. WA11 Sarah Macalpine (13). DNF: W310 Jack Foster (10), W34 Ryker Coyle (10), W0 Mannix Wells (7), W5 Ivy Bearsby (5), W11 Aubrey Macleod (0). DNS: W20 Blake Noakes, WA34 Cameron Wright. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.056. Fastest Lap: 22.991 W26 Cohen Brittain.
Top Star Junior Sedans Feature, 20 laps: 1. W82 Mason Whitehead, 2. WA5 Jesse Hamon, 3. WX5 Lucas Stevens, 4. W75 Jamie Comley, 5. W34 Baxter Trouchet, 6. W57 Riley Bain, 7. W49 Levi Jenkins, 8. W27 Jake Johnson, 9. W011 Charlie Scott, 10. WA34 Koby Rickerby, 11. W14 Alyssa Whittington (19), 12. W11 Max Macalpine (19), 13. W18 Xavier Crowe (19), 14. W43 Tiffany Humphrys (18). DNF: W88 Mackenzie Silver (13), W65 Kiara Fitzgerald (5), W21 Sebastian Dimasi (3), W81 Noah Harrower (3), W48 Millie Fairbrass (3), W16 Bella Crowe (2), WA11 Leo Poole (1), W71 Travis Leaman (1), W42 Adelayde Humphrys (1). DNS: W10 Jake Huntjens, W20 Wyatt Van Der Mey, W5 Josh Birch. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.975. Fastest Lap: 22.829 W82 Mason Whitehead.
Speedway Sedans Western Australia
Pics Courtesy JSP/DTN Media.