In a blistering pace, Mark 'Browndog' Brown claimed victory last Saturday night ahead of West Australians Dene Mcallan and Neville Lance at Gilgandra Speedway for round 4 of the Speedcar Super Series.

Showcasing a flash of history in front of Gilgandra Speedway’s biggest recorded crowd with Bill Lawler’s Vintage Speedcar on the circuit and another bout of intense Speedcar racing throughout the entire SSS field; the tight competition resulted in roll-overs by three of the big guns; Darren Jenkins (time trials), Troy Jenkins (heat) and Neville Lance (poll shuffle).

After a viscous and somewhat controversial pole shuffle Mark Brown advanced two spaces on the grid to line up in third place beside Nathan Smee and behind the two top qualifiers Dene Mcallan and Neville Lance for the 30-lap A Main event.

Mcallan took the lead at the drop of the green, followed by Brown and Smee before the cautions were pulled before the completion of the first lap, Sydney’s Matt Young in Swarfega Rapid Hand Cleaner N67 machine had come to a halt on the back-straight with driveline problems. Pushed infield, Peter Bourke soon followed suit with a flat right rear tyre after on-track contact. 

Back underway after a full restart, Mcallan again took the front line advantage into the lead, followed this time by Lance and Smee, with Brown pushed back into fourth. With the top four battling it out over the smallest of track space, Smee took to the highline to test the top, only to be caught out wide and pushed back to 5th as Brown and Troy Jenkins in the BOC Gases machine slipped into 3rd and 4th respectively. 

Up front Lance was now riding the tail of the Mcallan MAC/Barry Graham Hawk machine, diving to the low-line only to be held out by the young gun with 27 laps left on the board; followed by Brown, Jenkins, Smee, Brett Morris, Tony Abson and Mark Cooper.

Lance hit trouble only laps later when riding a rut which sent him straight to the highline; Mark Brown jumping through to claim the number two position down the back straight and into turn three. Brett Morris meanwhile claimed two positions after screaming past Smee and Jenkins, only to lose his newfound placing the following corner as the duo shot back through on the low-line.

As lapped cars came into contention, Mcallan began to use the higher parts of the track, whilst Brown in the Rondalee N11 machine stuck down low; the duo sparing through the traffic with 20 laps remaining.

Jenkins also used the traffic to his advantage, jumping to the outside of Lance into turn 1 claiming 3rd out of turn two and down the back-straight, before Smee shot low on Lance a lap later to snatch 4th position from Lance’s hands.

The yellows were quickly pulled once again with Jenkins parked on the exit of turn 2 with a broken radius rod. While reforming, the protest flag and rear of field board were raised to a questioning Smee who was deemed responsible for the stoppage after the two cars made contact when he captured 3rd position through turns 1 and 2.  

With the cars regrouping for the restart, Mcallan led the pack from Brown and Lance at the drop of the green. Charging through turns 1 and 2, Brown was glued to Mcallan's tail tank vying for the position. Shooting to the low line into turn 3, Brown skillfully slipped under Mcallan and exited turn 4 with the lead.

Running higher into turn 1, Lance swept to the low line to steal 2nd from Mcallan. Crossing up his car exiting turn 2, Mcallan lost valuable ground thus allowing Lance to grab his position and gain a five car length advantage.

Further down the field with only 6 laps remaining, Smee was on the move from the rear. Fighting through the field and now back in 8th position an exchange began with Cooper. Sneaking under, Smee took the spot with Cooper wheel standing through turns 1 and 2 to regain 7th. Both shot under Malouf before chasing down Victorian Harley Bishop in the Fuchs Oils V2.

Three laps left on the leader board, Brown began to pull away from the field with Mcallan retaking 2nd position from Lance. Tearing around the raceway, the field began to spread out for the first time in the 30 lap event; with Mark Brown capturing his first A main glory of the 06/07 SSS ahead of Dene Mcallan, Neville Lance, hard charger Brett Morris, Harley Bishop, Nathan Smee, Mark Cooper, Tim Evans, Ben Wiese, Troy Jordan, Richard Malouf, Grant Draney, Peter Ghent Jnr, Tony Abson, Troy Jenkins, Rod Francis, Alan Day, Peter Bourke, and Matt Young.

Winner Mark Brown is now the fourth different driver to win a round of the 2006-2007 Speedcar Super Series! The 6 round show now travels to Charlton Raceway for Round 5, one week before the Australian Championship; the 20 January 2007 event is sure to be a thriller!

PHOTO BY www.KingImages.com.au