General News
25 March, 2021
Off and racing in Darlington
MID-WESTERN Speedway got its condensed 2020/2021 season underway last weekend in Darlington.
MID-WESTERN Speedway got its condensed 2020/2021 season underway last weekend in Darlington.
The standard saloons put on a show for fans among the healthy crowd, supported by junior sedan racing, sports sedans and mini sprints.
The executive committee and volunteers have been working hard behind the scenes to perform maintenance and upgrades on the facilities and its assets. With a second event scheduled for April 17, they look well on their way to further upgrades.
Racing on Saturday night for the Mortlake 500 standard saloons saw Brent Clark from Portland and Tim Hutchinson from Geelong performing strongest in the qualifying races.
The feature race saw some crashes including Jacob Head and Lachie Chivers colliding, leaving both cars damaged and stuck along the concrete fence. Not long after a rollover left Ian Walsh from Ballarat on his roof.
Hutchinson, who had won three from three in qualifying races, went on to lead every lap of the switch and go final with laps in both anti-clockwise then clockwise directions to defeat Patrick Walsh, Brent Clark, Sam Rundell and Austin Chivers.
In the junior sedans nationally governed class, new star racer Miller Throckmorton from Colac showed superstar potential as he claimed two of the three qualifying race wins before securing a wonderful victory in front of his grandfather and father, both former race drivers with great talent.
Thockmorton defeated Jake Bradley, Shaqkira Blake, Jackson Annett and Levi Blake.
Arthur Hutchinson, nephew to Tim Hutchinson, also had a win on race night in the state governed 1200cc junior sedan class.
Hutchinson won two of the three heat races in the lead up to the final with Jemma Woods the other. Hutchinson proved to be a little too strong for Bryce Leek, Woods, Riley Taylor and Brock Stephenson.
The most thrilling feature event was in the sports sedans where the potential win result changed between turns three and four on the last lap as south west born-and-raised Daniel Brittain in a brand-new purchase picked off Ian Bartlett in the last turn to win the final.
Mortlake Club member Dean Pederson was third with Rhys Flavell the only other finisher in the final. Pederson had earlier won two qualifying races while Brittain had threatened to win.
Wrapping up the results was the visiting mini sprints, one of a couple of classes brought in on short notice prior to the race date.
A gentle rollover to Ally Moore ended her race in the final while Jason Lynn, who won all three of the heat races, secured the clean sweep with victory over Rahmon Rivero and Maureen Sell.
Racing returns on April 17 with super rods, formula 500s and formula 500s juniors, limited sportsman, standard saloons, SDAV hot rods and mini sprints.