Speedway in East Gippsland got underway last Friday at the Bairnsdale Speedway for the new season, with the formula one class of dirt track racing and the sprintcars drawing a significant crowd into the venue.
Geelong racer Jordan Rae left town with the sprintcar victory to his name while Jayden White in limited sportsman, Kate Stuchbery in ladies standard saloons and Jack Yeomans in open standard saloons took wins and records in their classes, while Beau Stuchbery took his first ever division two hot rod victory.
Sixteen powerful sprintcars, all bar one with powerful LS Chevrolet engines, including one driver from New South Wales, raced in two heats each through the evening with all drivers qualifying for the feature event.
With the Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria governing body never holding an event at Bairnsdale previously, starting 10 lap records were set for the class with James Oliver coming away from town with that record of 2:24.511 after winning heat number four.
Before him Sale’s Adam Greenwood, Steven Loader and Rae won the earlier three heats.
The 30-lap feature event was hammer down from the drop of the green flag with Rae leading Oliver and Morwell’s Dennis Jones, Adam Greenwood and Steven Loader right up until the 24-lap mark where Oliver rode the left rear wheel of Rae and Jones right behind him had nowhere to go and ended up stationary in turn four causing a caution light stoppage.
On lap 29, Greenwood dropped out of third spot and the race due to mechanical issues, Loader seizing the moment to move to third as the race came to a conclusion with Rae, Oliver, Loader, Steven Horton and Bairnsdale’s Koby Noonan the top five to finish.
After the race Rae spoke with the track media advising that he was thrilled to start the season with a victory, delighted with the track and the facility, although it would be nice if the track could be widened out a little more for the racers, and that he looks forward to coming back.
Veteran motorsport competitor Keven Stoopman from Sale got his division two hot rod season off to a terrific start winning the first and second heat races of the night before current Victorian champion Leigh Mitchell claimed the win in the third heat.
Bairnsdale racer Beau Stuchbery and Stoopman started the feature race on the front row with the second-year senior racer Stuchbery ripping around the outside of Stoopman through turn two and hitting the lead.
Mitchell hassled Stoopman in a battle for the second spot with Mitchell getting the better of dual on lap eight.
Meanwhile Stuchbery’s margin in the lead had got out to over four seconds as he led the non-stop 15-lap race from start to finish with Mitchell second, Stoopman and Adam Wharton rounding out the finishers after mechanical issues curtailed other driver efforts.
Morwell racer and Bairnsdale member Josh Thomas was off to a hot start in the open standard saloon class as he set about winning the first two of three heat races finishing ahead of Bairnsdale man Daniel Argoon twice before Thomas failed to come out for heat race number three.
His car and race team soon left the venue with unconfirmed mechanical issues.
Moe driver Jack Yeomans then won the third and final heat.
In the final Yeomans led Jamie Prezioso, racing out to a significant margin while Argoon put pressure on Prezioso for the second spot, eventually securing second with Yeomans ahead of him by almost 10 seconds.
When the race came to its end, Yeomans had set a new 20-lap record of 6:39.098 with Argoon, Prezioso, Andrew Cormack and Mitchell Ling the top five finishers.
Darren Adams had a huge win in the first heat of limited sportsman, but in the process he had a night-ending mechanical concerns that did not allow his car back on track.
Daniel Hurley was the last man standing in heat two and beat Jayden White in a short sprint for heat three.
In a first for Jayden White he then led all 10 laps in the final to defeat Daniel Hurley and Mark Both, who broke his tail shaft on the last lap as he ran the final metres to the chequered flag.
Ladies’ competitors with their standard saloons also were part of the night’s entertainment, with Kate Stuchbery winning all three of the heat races heading into the final.
There was some confusion around the final entrants. Initially there were two entrants on track and racing through to a chequered flag finish where it would be amiss not to mention that Michelle George took victory.
Media were then informed this was a non-race, the final competitor, Sharni Stuchbery, stuck behind the track entry gate.
In the re-run, Kate Stuchbery won and set a new six-lap record of 2:08.563
Racing returns to Bairnsdale on November the 8 with the Junior Sedan Promotional Association bringing their drivers from right around Victoria for one of their series rounds in the national governed Speedway Sedans Australia Juniors.
Local competitors will compete in the limited sportsman, division two hot rods, open and ladies standard saloons will also be competing.
