With only 395 points the difference between first and third in the ladder, it was the battle of the titans with series leader Michael Pickens and 3rd placed Mark Brown battling wheel to wheel in the 30 A Main Feature at Timmis Speedway Mildura. After numerous lead swaps and clashing of wheels in the frantic race, it was Michael Pickens who captured Round 5 of the Speedcar Super Series.

After taking out the Rod Bowen Prestige Smash Repairs pole shuffle, Mark Brown qualified in the number one spot for the A Main after another batch of thrilling battles. Sydneysider Darren Jenkins in the Carline Mufflers N21 progressed from 4th to 2nd on the grid with the Seamount Breka team-mates of Pickens NZ4 and Clarke NZ9 filling 3rd and 4th spots, followed by West Australian Dene McAllan WA25, South Aussie hot-shot Matt Egel SA21, Queensland’s Grant Draney Q2 and New South Welshman Matt Young N6.

At the green, Mark Brown shot to the front with Pickens, Jenkins, Clarke and McAllan screaming into the first corner behind him. Within the first three laps McAllan slipped below Clarke for 3rd before SA8 Tim Crouch in his SSS maiden show became unstuck through turns 1 and 2. With minimal reaction time a collision ensued involving Mark Cooper N7, New Zealand’s Stevie Walsh N27, Ben Wiese SA5, Troy Jordan V11 and Tarin Edge N73. Cars were restarted under the orange unfortunately without Walsh, Wiese and Cooper who all retired with damage.

On the restart Brown and Pickens again jumped ahead of the pack followed by McAllan, Clarke, Jenkins, Egel, Colin Patterson V4, Draney and David Crabtree V97. With 24 laps remaining and the two frontrunners a main straightaway in the lead, Clarke made a move on McAllan, slipping below and sliding into 3rd through turns one and two!

Brown and Pickens hit lapped traffic with seventeen laps remaining; the duo skating between cars for the lead. Pickens, who was at one stage caught in the loose behind the lapped Crabtree, appeared to have lost some valuable ground, before he shot to the low-line under Brown through turns three and four, a clash of wheels seeing Pickens pull ahead with only fifteen laps remaining!

Pickens shot ahead by a corner before the pair hit the next batch of lapped cars resulting in four-wide action on the slick Mildura surface. With Pickens caught off the pole line within the traffic, Brown jumped to the lowline where sparks flew once again as the pair impacted on the back straight with five laps remaining.

Pickens jumped back behind the tail of Brown, trying the high line in an effort to move past the Sydneysider once more. Exiting turn 4, Brown moved slightly up-track with only three laps left on the board allowing Pickens to move below and drive into first.

As the rapt Sunraysia crowd watched, Pickens crossed the line ahead of Brown who despite all efforts was unable to return the favour on Pickens, with Adam Clarke in third, Dene McAllan in fourth and Darren Jenkins in fifth.

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