Cars gathered at the WSS stop at Archerfield Speedway (Archerfield Speedway PR)
(Archerfield Speedway PR) Two-time national champ Dave Murcott led throughout the 30-lap feature event to win a raucous round 11 of the 2016/2017 World Series Sprintcar Championship at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Wednesday night (January 4). On a night that saw numerous spectacular incidents and some frayed tempers, Murcott avoided the mayhem and methodically went about securing his first WSS win for the season. Championship contender Jamie Veal narrowed the gap in his pursuit of series leader James McFadden with a runner-up finish, a result made somewhat sweeter by McFadden's demise on lap 21.
World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz finished in third spot ahead of Andrew Scheuerle and Luke Oldfield who, for the second meeting in a row, had to undertake an extensive rebuild following a heat race crash in order to take his place in the field.
Logan Schuchart finished sixth ahead of current Australian champion Kerry Madsen, who stormed through the field after starting 15th, with Brooke Tatnell, Bryan Mann and Daniel Harding completing the top ten in the 30-lap feature race presented by Performance Wholesale. Lucas Wolfe was next best ahead of Darren Jensen, Jack Lee, Andrew Wright and Callum Zizek. Joining McFadden in the non-finishers club were Peter Lack, Californian gun Carson Macedo, Lachlan McHugh and Brent Kratzmann, whose frustration was understandable but not articulated particularly well in the aftermath of his spectacular exit with just six laps remaining.
On a track that was understandably soft given the amount of rain in Brisbane on the days prior to the event, it was Oldfield who best handled the conditions in time trials, stopping the clock at 11.496 to secure Revolution Racegear Fast Time. Veal (11.623) was second quickest ahead of Mann, Murcott and Kratzmann, with Callum Walker the last of the sub-12 runners, only to be stripped of his points for failing to take his car to scales immediately after his run against the clock. Harding, Lack, Schuchart and Tatnell completed the top ten.
Schatz, Wright and Scheuerle were next best, with McFadden down the order in 19th and Madsen languishing back in 27th spot. Others to finish further down the order than expected included Wolfe (17th), McHugh (18th), Marcedo (23rd) and Mitchell Gee (25th).
The opening heat race saw Jensen begin his climb back up the overall order when he outgunned Wolfe, Schatz and Murcott.
Madsen was untroubled in winning heat two from the front row, downing McHugh and Schuchart in a race that ended Walker�s night when whacked the main straight wall and flipped.
McFadden advanced from position five to win heat three, leading home Scheuerle and Brett Minett.
All four Americans hit the track together in a star-studded heat four, but it was Madsen who prevailed again, leading home Macedo, Schatz, Wolfe, Murcott, Veal and Schuchart.
McFadden also doubled up when he downed Jensen, Scheuerle and Gee in heat five, with Oldfield crashing heavily along the main straight to put his feature race prospects in jeopardy.
The final heat saw Dylan Menz produce his best performance in Sprintcar competition to grab a win over McHugh and Zizek. Both Bryan Mann and Brett Minett flipped out in separate incidents, but both would return to the track.
Jensen led for much of the B Main before Madsen pounced late in the race to secure the win, taking Jensen, Macedo, Wright, Lee and Zizek with him in transferring to the main event. Gee rode out another wild ride in his pursuit of a spot in the feature, with Paul Rooks also inverting after clashing with teammate Andrew Liebke in the final corner, a tangle that seemed unnecessary given that neither driver was in a transfer position at the time.
Only seven drivers took part in the Pole Shootout with Oldfield still in the midst of effecting repairs to the Q17. It was Veal who emerged from the Gold round with pole position for the main event, to be joined on the front row by Murcott. Harding and Scheuerle would share row two, followed by McFadden, Schatz, Schuchart and Oldfield.
While many of those who struck trouble looked to blame the track or other drivers for their woes, the likes of Murcott, Veal and Schatz simply adapted to the conditions and got on with the job. Outpacing Veal into the first corner, Murcott hit the lead and never surrendered his ascendancy for the duration. Yet to win a feature race here despite his remarkable record of success elsewhere, Veal loomed large in his pursuit on a couple of occasions, but Murcott has completed plenty of laps of the Archerfield circuit and would not be denied. The race ran without interruption until lap 21 when 4th-placed McFadden collected the turn four wall.
The ensuing restart only made it as far as the back straight before Lack and Macedo tangled and headed infield, to be joined by McHugh soon after when he clobbered the concrete and limped to the grass. The luckless Kratzmann was the final casualty, crashing out through turn four on lap 24 when a top-five result was looking likely.
Despite a couple of late withdrawals, a good field of Midgets fronted for round four of the Polar Ice Track Championship, their final hit-out before the upcoming World Championship and Australian Championship events.
Charlie Brown looked to the opening heat safely in his keeping until an engine breakage just two laps from home handed the win to Adam Wallis over Michael Harders and Cal Whatmore.
Mark George kept Darren Vine at bay to win heat two, with Reid Mackay in third spot.
Heat three saw Wallis advance from position five to assume the lead, only to spin himself out of contention on lap seven. Brock Dean inherited the top spot and led Whatmore to the chequer, with Wallis recovering for third.
George doubled up to win the final heat over Vine again, with Rodney Harders third on this occasion.
Starting from the outside front row for the 20-lap feature race, Dean powered to the front at the drop of the green and proceeded to lead every circulation. Former state champ Rusty Whittaker narrowed the gap considerably as the laps wound down and clocked the fastest lap of the race along the way, but he couldn't wrest the lead and had to settle for second. Wallis finished third ahead of Troy Ware, who bounced back from a heat race crash, with Michael Harders and Vine next in line. Brad Young, Rodney Harders, Allan Woods and Cal Whatmore completed the top ten.
World Series Sprintcars continues at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway this weekend with the prestigious 50-lap Australian Open over two nights of racing on Friday/Saturday (January 6 & 7).
Feature Results:
1. David Murcott Q83
2. Jamie Veal V35
3. Donny Schatz USA15
4. Andrew Scheuerle Q25
5. Luke Oldfield Q17
6. Logan Schuchart USA1s
7. Kerry Madsen A1
8. Brooke Tatnell W2
9. Bryan Mann Q16
10. Daniel Harding W12
11. Lucas Wolfe USA1z
12. Darren Jensen Q75
13. Jack Lee V25
14. Andrew Wright N78
15. Callum Zizek T22