|
 Adam
Clarke has returned to the winner’s podium after
bringing home a Seamount Racing one-two with team-mate
Michael Pickens
in his Breka/Ed Pink Ford ride
at Borderline Speedway on Saturday January 7th. With an
unbelievable race finish battle between the duo, the
late hour and dropping temperatures meant little to the
crowd as they eagerly took in the Mighty Midgets at the
Mt Gambier circuit for the first time in over four
years!
Hot-shot New Zealander Michael Pickens qualified off
pole for the Feature after taking out the night’s
Shuffle. The side-by-side 2-lap pole shuffles the SSS is
constantly praised for again offered fans superb
Speedcar action with Mark Cooper N7 beating both Nathan
Smee N81 (breaking the 2 lap record 27.77) and Mark
Brown N42, before his forward progression was halted by
WA’s Dene McAllan on the low-line.
Adam Clarke was McAllan’s next challenger who took the
lead from his inside line starting grid. McAllan’s
efforts in taking back the position resulted in his car
spinning to the infield and flipping after steering the
car away from on-track officials. Unharmed and
qualifying from 5th position for the A Main, the McAllan
Team had their work cut out for them upon returning to
the pits.
Steven Graham A1 went on to challenge and beat Adam
Clarke further reducing the 2 lap record to 27.56,
before being taken by Darren Jenkins in the Bourke N21
machine. But it was Pickens who took the Rod Bowen
sponsored pole position after a dicey lead-swapping
2-lap dash with Jenkins across all lines of the track.
The A Main went green with Pickens quickly taking the
lead with 2nd place starter Darren Jenkins falling back
through the pack on the start (he later retired with
engine issues). Graham, who had settled into 2nd behind
Pickens, shot underneath for the lead before the end of
the first lap, leaving Pickens on his tail and fighting
for the lead. Behind them Brown, McAllan, Jenkins and
Clarke fought furiously for podium placings before the
N6 of Matt Young spun mid turns 1 & 2, where he was
tagged by Stevie Walsh N27 and Darren Hossack V22 who
flipped after the collision.
At the restart, Graham forged ahead of the pack as Brown
dove under Pickens on the front straight. Pickens
screamed around the highline into the back straight to
recapture 2nd followed swiftly by McAllan relegating
Brown to 4th. Pickens meanwhile was intent on retaking
the lead and jumped under Graham through turns three and
four with 23 laps to go.
One lap later David Crabtree in the V97 spun through
turn four bringing on the yellows and regrouping the
field with Pickens ahead of Graham, McAllan, Brown,
Clarke and Nathan Smee N81. Pickens stormed away from
the pack on the restart while Graham endured an attack
from McAllan and Brown. With 19 laps remaining, Graham
had held fast to 2nd place and was regaining lost ground
on the leader while Clarke slipped past Brown in turns 3
& 4.
As the top five began to spread with fourteen laps
remaining, lapped traffic came into play allowing Clarke
to make his move into 3rd when McAllan was caught out on
the low line behind a lapped car. Unfortunately for
Clarke, Harley Bishop V0 spun mid turns one and two
forcing on the yellows, moving Clarke back behind
McAllan. As the duo restarted in third and fourth,
Clarke again raced around the highline into 3rd before
McAllan returned the favour moving under both Clarke and
Graham for 2nd! Within a lap, Clarke had skipped under
McAllan for 2nd through turns one and two followed by
Graham on turns three and four forcing McAllan back into
4th.
With only six laps remaining the V27 of Jason Forbes
spun bringing on the yellows and again reforming the
super-competitive front runners. On the restart McAllan
appeared to have mechanical failure, his speed dwindling
as he fell back through the pack before coming together
with another car flipping him in turn 3.
On the restart Clarke made his move on Pickens resulting
in wheel-to-wheel racing, switching race lines and the
lead a number of times. The Team drivers were
unrelenting in the fight for the lead with both pushing
each other to the limit.
The chequered flag dropped with Adam Clarke taking the
win ahead of Michael Pickens, Steven Graham, Mark Brown,
Mark Cooper, Nathan Smee, Grant Draney, Michael Pope,
Ben Wiese & Stevie Walsh.
Time Trials:
1. A1 Steven Graham 13.15, 2. Dene McAllan 13.47, 3. Adam
Clarke 13.48, 4. Darren Jenkins 13.56, 5. Michael
Pickens 13.61, 6. Mark Brown 13.62, 7. Troy Jordan
13.65, 8. Nathan Smee 13.67, 9. Grant Draney 13.74, 10.
Michael Pope 13.81, 11. Matt Young 13.90, 12. Ben Wiese
13.91, 13. Mark Cooper 13.99, 14. Matt Egel 14.01, 15.
Harley Bishop 14.05, 16. Paul Farrell 14.05, 17. Darren
Hossack 14.12, 18. David Crabtree 14.12, 19. Stevie
Walsh 14.20, 20. Tarin Edge 14.28, 21. Jason Forbes
14.51, 22. Craig Smith 14.98
NSI $100 Top Time Trial Winner: Steven Graham (new one
lap record 13:15).
HEAT 1:
1. Adam Clarke, 2. Harley Bishop, 3. Mark Brown, 4.
Grant Draney, 5. Ben Wiese, 6. David Crabtree, 7. Jason
Forbes, 8. Craig Smith
HEAT 2:
1. Michael Pickens, 2. Nathan Smee, 3. Dene McAllan, 4.
Matt Egel, 5. Darren Hossack, 6. Matt Young (DNF), 7.
Tarin Edge (DNF)
HEAT 3:
1. Steven Graham, 2. Darren Jenkins, 3. Mark Cooper, 4.
Troy Jordan, 5. Stevie Walsh, 6. Michael Pope, 7. Paul
Farrell (DNS)
HEAT 4:
1. Michael Pickens, 2. Mark Brown, 3. Ben Wiese, 4.
Darren Hossack, 5. Matt Young, 6. David Crabtree, 7.
Craig Smith
HEAT 5:
1. Stevie Walsh, 2. Mark Cooper, 3. Adam Clarke, 4.
Steven Graham, 5. Grant Draney, 6. Harley Bishop, 7.
Troy Jordan, 8. Jason Forbes
HEAT 6:
1. Darren Jenkins, 2. Nathan Smee, 3. Dene McAllan, 4.
Tarin Edge, 5. Michael Pope (DNF), 6. Paul Farrell,
7. Matt Egel
POLE SHUFFLE:
Cooper vs Smee = Cooper
Cooper vs Brown = Cooper
Cooper vs McAllan = McAllan
McAllan vs Clarke = Clarke
Clarke vs Graham = Graham
Graham vs Jenkins = Jenkins
Pickens vs Jenkins = Pickens (Pole Shuffle Winner)
A-Main:
1. Adam Clarke, 2. Michael Pickens, 3. Steven Graham, 4.
Mark Brown, 5. Mark Cooper, 6. Nathan Smee, 7. Grant
Draney, 8. Michael Pope, 9. Ben Wiese, 10. Stevie Walsh,
11. Craig Smith, 12. Jason Forbes, 13. Tarin Edge, 14.
David Crabtree, 15. Dene McAllan, 16. Troy Jordan, 17.
Harley Bishop, 18. Darren Jenkins, 19. Matt Young, 20.
Matt Egel, 21. Darren Hossack, 22. Paul Farrell
$2000 A Main – Adam Clarke NZ9
10th Place M & W Aluminium Voucher – Stevie
Walsh N27
Photo’s courtesy
Ralph Meznar UNIQUE Photography |
